WEBB — The Charleston High School Tigers defeated the West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws 34-16 in varsity football Friday night.
This was the Tigers’ 38th consecutive win over the Choctaws in this cross-county rivalry match dubbed the “Battle of the Golden Egg.”
Charleston improved to 3-1 on the season while West Tallahatchie slipped to 1-3.
Despite the loss, West Tally got out to a quick start Friday when Althavion Hoskins returned the game’s opening kickoff about 80 yards for a touchdown. R.J. Phillips earned the two-point conversion, giving the home team an 8-0 lead right out of the gate.
“We had a good, low kick to return, we blocked it well and put it in the end zone,” Choctaws head coach Shane Hargett noted of the score.
Conversely, Tigers head coach Rasheed DeBerry said allowing the kick return was reminiscent of a late score by Clarksdale that sealed his team’s fate two weeks ago.
“We’re still trying to fix up special teams and make sure we emphasize that pretty good,” DeBerry noted. ... “But hats off to West Tally.”
The Choctaws played a winning first quarter, handing the Tigers their only scoreless frame of the contest.
“We played pretty good defense early,” said Hargett. “We bent a little, we gave up a fourth-and-long when we shouldn’t have and ended up stopping them.”
On the flip side, DeBerry lamented his team’s “sluggish start” in the game, chalking it up in part to “a young mentality as far as starting with a certain intensity. Hopefully, we’ll get that corrected soon.”
Charleston scored twice in both the second and third quarters while holding West Tally out of the end zone.
In the second, Coreyun Spearman scored for CHS on a 26-yard run, and Santonio Bradley passed to Quin Cashaw for the two-pointer to knot the game at 8 each.
Later, Bradley hit Quay Kimble for a 36-yard TD. The conversion failed, but Charleston led 14-8.
The Choctaws drove into scoring position near the end of the first half, but a mental error derailed a scoring try.
Out of timeouts, and sitting at the 12-yard line with 9 seconds remaining, Hargett said his quarterback was supposed to spike the ball to kill the clock but instead took a knee.
“God bless him, he knew immediately he messed up,” said Hargett. “We would have had at least another play to try and get a touchdown before the half.”
The Choctaws coach called it a “self-inflicted wound,” saying, “We have to eliminate those. We have a very, very young team and that will come in time, but the sooner the better.”
Charleston took a 26-8 advantage after a pair of third-quarter rushing touchdowns by Spearman (15 yards) and Bradley (8 yards), with both two-point tries failing.
In the fourth quarter, West Tally's Josiah Pickett hit Ahmad Ranson for a touchdown and then threw to Amari Applewhite for the conversion, cutting the Choctaws’ deficit to 10, at 26-16.
However, the Tigers roared right back when Michael Hill broke a 57-yard TD run and Bradley passed to Jayden Browley for the conversion, capping all scoring.
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Bradley went 3-of-13 for 89 yards and one touchdown.
Kimble had two receptions for 70 yards, Cashaw one for 24 and Spearman one for 14.
D’andre Booker led CHS rushing with four carries for 81 yards, including a long of 30. Spearman carried seven times for 81 yards. Hill netted 55 yards on two runs.
E.J. Powell led the Tigers with seven tackles, six of which were individuals. Spearman had four tackles, including three solos.
West Tallahatchie statistics were unavailable Tuesday.
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This week, Class 2A Charleston hits the road for the second of three straight away games when they visit Class 7A DeSoto Central (2-1) in Southaven.
“They are going to be physical up front, well coached, and they’ve got us in numbers, so we’ll have to make sure we’re in good shape,” noted DeBerry. “We’ve got to make sure we’re starting off with a certain amount of intensity from the jump. ... We can’t afford to give up any cheap special team plays or start off the least bit sluggish.”
West Tallahatchie will be off this week. Ashland was originally scheduled to come to Webb but canceled, Hargett said. He noted that an official with the Mississippi High School Activities Association told him the Choctaws will be given a 2-0 forfeiture win for the unexpected open date.
Hargett said his team will “do a lot of weightlifting and a lot of individual stuff. Even though we’re off, we’re not going to take any days off. We’re going to be practicing.”
Looking ahead: Next week, on Oct. 2, Charleston will return to DeSoto County to take on Olive Branch (presently 2-2 pending the outcome of their Sept. 25 game) while West Tallahatchie will host North Panola (presently 0-3 pending the outcome of their Sept. 25 match) for homecoming at Choctaw Stadium in Webb.
