The Charleston High School Tigers and the West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws will renew their football rivalry in the annual “Battle of the Golden Egg” Friday night.
This year’s contest featuring the longtime cross-county rivals will be played at Tiger Stadium in Charleston. Kickoff is 7 p.m. Admission is $8. The winner will claim a brass football trophy and countywide bragging rights.
The Class 2A Tigers will enter the contest with a 1-1 record, while the Class 1A Choctaws are 3-0 on the young season.
According to a 1955 story in The Sumner Sentinel, the first game of the series was played in 1950 — a 19-0 Charleston Warriors win.
The Tallahatchie County clash has been played practically every year since, with the exception of a four-year stretch from 1974-1977, as well as 1996, 1998, and the COVID-impacted years of 2020 and 2021.
Charleston has held crowing rights in the series for over three decades, winning 36 consecutive matches, including last year’s 52-24 at Choctaw Stadium in Webb. The game alternates between the two schools.
West Tally last defeated the Tigers in 1984, a 24-12 home victory. At that time, the Choctaws had won three of the last four head-to-head matches between the schools.
Charleston head coach Rasheed DeBerry said, “It’s always a fun game, always a highly intense game, but we need to treat it as just another game, another business trip.”
Added West Tallahatchie head coach Shane Hargett, “We hope to bring a good crowd and make a good game out of it and just do the best we can,” and “give it all we’ve got.”
