The Charleston High School football Tigers will kick off the 2025 season Friday night by hosting the North Panola Cougars at Tiger Stadium. Kickoff is at 7, and general admission is $8.
Fans attending Friday’s game will notice new fencing; a brand new track surface; freshly-repainted press box, field house and other facilities in a hue of gray; and a new head coach roaming the home sideline.
Rasheed DeBerry is not new to the program, having served for several years as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator under former head coach LaDon Taylor, who announced in April that he would be ceding the reins of the football program to DeBerry while continuing to serve as athletic director.
The Tigers this year will seek to punch their ticket to a fourth straight state championship game appearance, a feat unmatched in any sport in school history.
In four seasons of action under Taylor, the Tigers went 1-2 in state title games, in 2023 winning the second state crown in school history. The first, a 34-8 beatdown of Hazlehurst, came in 2011 under head coach Tony Vance.
In 2024, the Tigers (12-3) won their region and North State 2A for a third consecutive year before falling in the state title game, 38-6, to Heidelberg in a rematch of the 2023 state championship contest that was won by Charleston (13-2) by a final score of 26-22.
Clarksdale travel artist and muralist Aikee "Artkee" Matthews details signage on the press box at Tiger Stadium late Thursday afternoon in preparation for Friday night's first game of the regular season. (Photo by Clay McFerrin, Copyright 2025, Emmerich Newspapers Inc.)
In 2022, CHS (11-4) dropped the state title game to Scott Central, 42-12.
Charleston previously appeared in three consecutive state title games under head coach Scott Martin in 2014, 2015 and 2016, losing all three by a cumulative total of 14 points.
To reach the ultimate goal this year, the Tigers must navigate a revamped schedule that includes four teams they did not face a year ago — DeSoto Central (6-5), Mobile Christian (3-7), Leland (2-7) and J.Z. George (2-7) — and a new region lineup that after realignment includes J.Z. George, M.S. Palmer (2-10) and the familiar Northside, who at 10-4 finished as last year’s regional runner-up to Charleston.
Charleston High School head football coach Rasheed DeBerry
On his official Facebook page, DeBerry has sought to rally support for the Tigers.
In a July post revealing the football schedule, DeBerry wrote, “Charleston let’s ride! Please support us on this journey this year! We all we got ... We all we need!”
