Noxubee grabs first-round win

By By Rocky Higginbotham/special to The Star
November 8, 2003
MACON Neshoba Central head football coach Jim Ray said his football team did everything it was supposed to do to win.
Noxubee County head coach M.C. Miller agreed.
But it was Miller's team which left Tiger Stadium here Friday night with a first-round victory in the Class 4A state playoffs.
Homestanding Noxubee County got a pair of second-half touchdowns from Reggie Smith, then recovered a fumble with Neshoba Central driving at the 7-yard line with 13 seconds left to preserve a 13-6 victory over the Rockets.
Noxubee, the Region 1-4A champion, improved to 8-3 overall and will host Pontotoc in second-round playoff action next week. Neshoba, the fourth-seeded team out of Region 4-4A, finished 5-6.
Ray didn't get any arguments from Miller, who was relieved that his team was able to pull out a victory over its former division rival.
Neshoba held the edge in first downs (13-10) and total yardage (275-206), and Noxubee racked up 14 penalties for 107 yards. But it was the battle-tested Tigers who came through with the win.
Smith, a senior slot man who has played four different positions on offense, has been through the wars with the Tigers in past seasons, and Miller said his team's history of close games helped pull Noxubee through.
Smith's first touchdown came on the very first play of Noxubee's second drive of the third quarter. The Tigers took over at midfield, and Smith took a handoff from James Patterson, went right, broke two tackles and reversed his field for a 50-yard touchdown. After a penalty, Noxubee missed the PAT and was clinging to its 6-0 lead.
Neshoba tied it on a pair of field goals from Kyle Vowell. The first came from 22 yards out with 1:24 left in the third quarter after the Rockets had a 1-yard scoring run by Kevin Marshall nullified due to a motion penalty on a fourth-and-goal play.
The second field goal which tied it at 6-6 came with just 9:11 remaining, when Vowell hit a 36-yarder after Marshall's 28-yard run put Neshoba in business.
The contest appeared headed to overtime, but Noxubee's big-play offense finally came through. After pinning the Rockets deep and forcing a punt, Noxubee took over at the Neshoba 36 and needed just four plays to score.
Patterson hit Smith in stride for a 21-yard touchdown, and Deon Bryant's kick made it 13-6 with 2:31 left.
Neshoba went to its passing attack on the ensuing drive, moving Vowell to receiver and bringing Taylor Petty into the game under center. Petty then hit Vowell, Marshall and William Adkins on big passes, moving the Rockets deep into Noxubee territory.
Neshoba's pass on a fourth-and-4 from the Tiger 25 fell incomplete, but the Rockets were given new life on a pass interference call that gave Central the ball at the Noxubee 12. Two plays later, the Rockets spiked it with just 22 seconds remaining; and on the next-to-last play of the game, Noxubee's Smith recovered Neshoba's fumble at the 7 to clinch the win for the Tigers.
Smith had 103 yards on nine carries to lead Noxubee, while Marshall ran for 109 yards on 24 carries and Thomas Stewart 85 yards on 12 carries to lead Neshoba.