The surprising playoff run ended for Yazoo City High on Friday night when they fell to perennial power Noxubee County 39-0.
A team that few people believed in was able to win game after game before finally falling in the second round.
Yazoo City head coach Timothy Johnson felt his team simply wasn’t experienced enough to defeat the senior-laden group from Noxubee.
“My guys played really hard,” Johnson said. “I’m really proud of that. When you play a team like Noxubee with 16 true seniors, though, it is tough. My starting left tackle is a senior, but this is his second year to play football. My safety is a senior, but this is his first year to play football. We had a lot of seniors on paper, but they didn’t have the experience of seniors. Torey Haymer is one of my best defensive linemen, but this was his first year on the offensive line. We had older guys, but we were still young.”
Although the final score did not look good on paper, it certainly didn’t start that way. Defensive penalties and a pass from Roncedrick Weekly to Tommy Washington had the Indians in Noxubee territory, but their drive ended when a bad snap on a punt forced them to run the ball, allowing the Tigers to take over at their own 30.
The Tigers marched down the field meticulously, earning each and every first down along the way, before scoring on a screen pass to take a 7-0 lead with 2:16 remaining in the first quarter, which was also the score at the end of the quarter.
After forcing a punt, the Tigers scored their second touchdown of the night on a passing play to go up 14-0 with 9:29 remaining in the second quarter.
The defense for the Tigers stepped up once again, giving their offense the opportunity to throw another touchdown pass, making it a 20-0 game.
Yazoo City’s offense pieced together some plays and got deep into Noxubee territory, but they were unable to move the chains, but the Tigers gave it right back to them with a pick in the end zone.
Unfortunately for the Indians, Noxubee had a player of their own get a pick, and he returned it all the way for six points, making it a 26-0 game at the half.
Noxubee extended their lead with 2:59 remaining in the third with a touchdown run, making it a 33-0 game.
The final score of the evening came when the Indians tried a little trickery with a reverse pass and tossed another pick-6, bringing the final score to 39-0 and effectively ending the season for the Indians.
Senior quarterback Roncedrick Weekly went 6-for-13 through the air for 78 yards with one interception. He also added 55 yards on 12 carries.
Senior wide receiver Tommy Washington caught four passes for 55 yards and contributed two tackles in the season-ending loss.
Javarious Grady did not want his season to end against Noxubee County. The senior racked up 18 total tackles, five of which were for loss, and three sacks in the losing effort.
Rorecoss Willis had seven total tackles in the defeat, while Malik Clark had six tackles.
Parviz King had five total tackles, one of which was for a loss, with a sack and a fumble recovery.
Stanleigh Bentley picked off a pass and returned it 53 yards to go with his three tackles.
To get better, the Indians must be proactive in the offseason.
Johnson is doing this by both trying to bring back a program of need and implementing a new rule for his skill guys.
“We’re trying to get power lifting approved by the board,” Johnson said. “We feel that’s something we need to have as a program. Yazoo City hasn’t had it in years. They see how strong some other teams we play are, and they need to know that they can get to that point. We hope to start after Thanksgiving. All of our skill guys will be running track in February. That’s mandatory. We’re going to get them all faster.”
Aside from football, Johnson wants to make sure his players succeed in life, and he’s putting in the necessary work to make sure they have a shot to do just that.
“We’re trying to make sure all of our seniors graduate high school,” Johnson said. “That’s our first order of business. I want them all to have a plan right after they graduate, something to prepare them for the rest of their lives. Football-wise, we have to get bigger, faster, and stronger, both mentally and physically. I think we have all the talent returning that we need to go even further. We know what we have to do.”
The Indians ended the season with a 7-5 overall record.
