SHELBY — The Charleston High School Tigers locked down the Region 3-2A championship for a sixth consecutive year Friday night by edging top challenger Northside 34-30 here.
The Tigers improved to 6-3 while the Gators fell to 6-2.
This Thursday night, CHS will close out the regular season at Marks by playing the 0-9 M.S. Palmer Dragons. Kickoff is at 7.
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Asked about some fans’ social media posts critical of officiating in the Northside game, Charleston head coach Rasheed DeBerry would only say last week’s contest was “one of the most controversial games that I’ve been a part of.”
DeBerry said Northside High is “always a hostile environment” because the Gators “always play really tough at home.”
Last week, he noted, “We had a lot of plays to get called back, a lot of momentum stoppers. ... But our kids showed a lot of resilience, showed a lot of heart, and played four quarters.”
One of the first sour pills was self-administered in the form of a bad snap that sailed over the head of the Charleston quarterback on the fourth play of the game. A Gators defender scooped up the ball and raced 20 yards to the end zone for a touchdown. Northside ran for the conversion to take an early 8-0 lead.
The Tigers responded later in the first quarter on a Quay Kimble 19-yard pass for a touchdown. The conversion failed, and CHS trailed 8-6.
On Northside’s ensuing drive, Kimble intercepted a pass at the Gators’ 40-yard line that a short while later he parlayed into a 49-yard TD pass to Coreyun Spearman. Spearman ran for the two-pointer and a 14-8 CHS lead.
Northside responded with a 2-yard rushing TD and ran for the conversion to retake the lead at 16-14 at the end of the first period.
A Tigers fumble set up the Gators at their own 40 and led to a rushing TD late in the second quarter. Northside held a 22-14 halftime lead.
DeBerry said Charleston made some adjustments at the break, including some personnel changes to add “a few bigger bodies.” Mostly, he noted, coaches challenged the kids to adjust their attitudes “to hone in on what we do.”
The Tigers’ Demarion Johnson intercepted a Northside pass in the third quarter and another CHS defender recovered a Gators fumble, the latter leading to a 20-yard Kimble rushing touchdown. The rushing two-point try failed. Northside led 22-20.
After forcing the Gators to turn the ball over on downs at the Charleston 29 a few minutes later, the Tigers drove into Northside territory where Laryce Bradley completed a 42-yard TD pass to Jayden Browley. Again, the two-point run was stopped short, but Charleston led 26-22.
The visitors extended the lead early in the fourth quarter when Kimble connected with Browley on a 40-yard touchdown pass. This time, Kimble completed a pass to Michael Hill for the conversion, giving the Tigers a 34-22 advantage.
The Gators’ ensuing possession would result in a drive ending in a 1-yard TD run and a successful two-point rush, pulling the home team to within four, at 34-30, with just over 2 minutes remaining.
Northside attempted an onside kick, but Charleston’s Aybekia Bradley recovered the ball at midfield.
The Tigers were forced to punt, giving the Gators one last-gasp opportunity, but it was instead the visitors’ prayers that were answered when Ta’marcus Taylor intercepted a Northside pass at the Charleston 45-yard line to seal the road win.
DeBerry said the game had a lot of ebbs and flows, “but, all in all, we found a way.”
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Although this week’s opponent is winless, with a regular-season losing streak of 24 games dating to late 2024, the Tigers cannot assume M.S. Palmer will be an easy mark when Charleston travels to Quitman County for their Thursday night matchup.
“Palmer always has some pretty good size, good-looking athletes, and we’re going down there for their senior night, so I’m pretty sure their seniors will be pumped up,” said DeBerry.
“We just need to be on our game and expect any type of trick plays or things to account for that we may or may not have seen on film,” he continued. “We’re just trying to make sure we’re communicating and firing on all cylinders on our end and pretty much focused.”
DeBerry added that it is important for the Tigers to stay sharp.
“It’s always good to remain focused and not overlook the team, and also not indulge in any type of undisciplined behavior,” the coach noted. “When you have a team that hasn’t won a game, we want to make sure that we don’t get involved in any type of mischief or any type of undisciplined actions on the field or off the field after the game.”
Charleston will host a first-round state playoff on Nov. 6.
