SARDIS — Despite playing a self-described “real sloppy game,” Charleston High School head coach Rasheed DeBerry’s Tigers (2-0) emerged victorious in a 24-14 win at North Panola (0-2).
Charleston turned the ball over five times on three fumbles and two interceptions and was flagged 18 times for 155 yards but still overcame.
“For a while there, anything that could go wrong, did go wrong, whether it was a fumble, some youth and inexperience of going the wrong way on a play, a busted play,” said DeBerry. “It could have spiraled out of control. We could have let one bad thing turn into another and so on. You kind of find out a lot about yourself in games like those. We did show some resilience, especially in the second half, and I was happy to see that.”
After a North Panola TD late in the first quarter, CHS battled back to take an 8-6 lead at the half and doubled up the Cougars in the third and fourth quarters.
Quarterback Laryce Bradley completed 4-of-6 passes for 123 yards and one touchdown, while fellow signal-caller Santonio Bradley, no relation, was 4-of-5 for 12 yards and one TD.
Quay Kimble snared three catches for 72 yards and one touchdown.
Coreyun Spearman, who rushed 12 times for 69 yards, had a pair of TDs — one rushing and a 9-yard catch.
Senior defensive end Aybekia Bradley led the team with four tackles, three assists and one quarterback hurry. Spearman had three tackles and three assists. Trey Smith recorded one sack and one quarterback hurry.
Outside linebacker, senior D’andre Booker, had a big game, too, recording four tackles, one assist, one pass defensed, one fumble recovery and one fumble caused.
“As ugly as it may have been at times, it was preparing us for this coming week with Clarksdale and some tougher teams and larger schools,” DeBerry said of his team’s somewhat lackluster performance at Sardis. “I believe we needed a little bit of that after coming off a 42-0 win in Week 1. Sometimes you kind of get on your high horse before you really have arrived. That was a pretty decent situation for us to come out of last week.”
This Friday night, the Tigers host the 1-1 Clarksdale Wildcats in the home opener. Kickoff is at 7.
“It’s always a tough test for us, a good week to find out what you’re made of,” DeBerry said of Clarksdale. “They’re going to always be scrappy, physical up front and play a good brand of physical football.”
The Tigers will be without the services of Laryce Bradley at quarterback, who broke his thumb and is expected to miss “a few weeks” at the position, noted DeBerry, who said it is possible, but not certain, that Bradley will be able to suit up on defense with his thumb wrapped.
