The Charleston High School Tigers’ football season came to a close Friday night, Nov. 21, after a 61-40 defeat at the hands of the East Webster Wolverines in a third-round state playoff.
Charleston finished the season at 8-3.
East Webster advanced to host Kemper County for the 2A North State championship on Nov. 28, winning that contest 21-14.
East Webster (13-1) now faces the defending 2A state champion Heidelberg Oilers (12-2) in the state title game on Dec. 6 at Mississippi State University. The game kicks off at 3:30 p.m.
The complete 2A bracket is available for viewing here.
— * —
2025 saw Charleston’s earliest exit from the playoffs since 2018, when they lost a third-round game.
The Tigers had played in the north half contest during each of the past five seasons and had advanced to the state championship game in 2022, 2023 and 2024, winning the program’s second-ever state title in 2023.
The combined total of 101 points in the Nov. 21 match were the most scored in a Charleston game since Nov. 15, 2013, when the Tigers beat Aberdeen 56-41 in a second-round playoff that tallied 97.
“It’s not the ending that we wanted,” CHS first-year head coach Rasheed DeBerry said when discussing the 2025 season. “Overall, I’m still proud of my guys. They fought absolutely to the end and kept us in the game despite some early setbacks that were ultimately just too great to overcome against a team of that caliber.”
Asked where he thought some of the misfires occurred Friday night, DeBerry pointed to some breakdowns in communication and responsibilities in pass coverage.
“We just didn’t make our plays on defense,” he noted. “There were a couple of mental lapses, and at times we were not as physical as we have been.”
DeBerry paid credit to East Webster for playing “some really great football Friday night” and noted that it was the wrong night for his team “to have some crucial mistakes.”
“But I still stand behind my guys and am still really proud of how hard we fought this year,” he added.
— * —
Charleston won the toss and deferred in the Nov. 21 East Webster contest. The Tigers would never lead in the game.
The Wolverines began their first drive at the 37, and three plays later, they completed a pass for a 53-yard touchdown. The PAT was good, and East Webster led 7-0 with 10:10 in the first quarter.
The Tigers went three-and-out on their first offensive possession. The visitors responded with a four-play, 77-yard drive that included a 66-yard touchdown pass. After the PAT, the Wolverines took a 14-0 lead with 6:41 remaining in the first period.
Charleston came to life with a methodical 10-play, 64-yard drive that included a 25-yard scramble by quarterback Devon Olive on the first play. Olive threw passes of 14 yards to Demarion Johnson 11 yards to Quintavious Cashaw. Running back Marcus “Deuce” Flowers Jr., a point of emphasis for the defense, had three carries on the drive for 2 yards. On third-and-5 from the East Webster 6, Olive hit Josh Hardiman in the back of the end zone for the 6-yard TD. Deuce carried for the two-point conversion, cutting the Tigers’ deficit to 14-8 with 2 minutes left in the opening period.
On the ensuing kickoff, East Webster returned the ball 26 yards to their own 48. Three plays later, a defensive back slipped on a 12-yard pass completion that the receiver stretched into a 50-yard TD. A two-point try was no good, but the Wolverines led 20-8 with 12.9 seconds in the first frame.
Charleston mounted a five-play, 60-yard drive, with Olive escaping a defensive charge and finding Johnson downfield for a 44-yard touchdown. Deuce ran for the two-pointer to make the score 20-16, East Webster, with 10:25 in the second act.
A 26-yard Wolverines kick return set them up at midfield. Five plays later, quarterback Kross Avent ran up the gut and cut outside en route to a 25-yard TD. Again, a two-point try was no good, but the visitors had stretched their lead to 26-16 at the 7:22 mark.
On the ensuing kickoff, Deuce turned in an exciting return of 38 yards, all the way to the East Webster 34-yard line. Olive connected with Tristen Flowers on a 29-yard pass play to the 5. Deuce ran it in for the score moments later. The conversion failed, and the Wolverines maintained a 26-22 advantage with 6:51 in the second act.
Punts and one fumble recovery by Charleston marked the rest of the second quarter, and East Webster led 26-22 at the half.
CHS received the second-half kickoff. After an 8-yard run by Deuce made for a promising start, a second-down pass by Olive was intercepted when the defender jumped the route at the CHS 46 and returned to the 28. Five plays later, the Wolverines scored on an 8-yard TD pass. The PAT was good, and the visitors led 33-22 with 8:45 in the third.
The Tigers went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, and East Webster mounted a three-play, 73-yard drive that included a 57-yard TD pass to a receiver who got behind defenders. The PAT gave the Wolverines a 40-22 lead with 5:27 in the third.
CHS responded with a six-play, 59-yard drive that included a run of 13 yards by Olive, passes of 14 and 20 yards to Deuce, and a 15-yard TD run by Olive. The two-point run attempt failed. Charleston trailed 40-28 at 3:59 in the third quarter.
East Webster then mounted a seven-play, 72-yard drive to paydirt that included a fourth-and-1 run from their own 36 that gained 6 yards. A 48-yard pass was the scoring play. The PAT was true, and the Wolverines led 47-28 with 34.1 seconds left in the third.
Charleston’s fourth-and-4 pass play on their next drive fell incomplete, giving the visitors the football at the CHS 48-yard line. Five plays later, R.T. Moye ran for an 18-yard touchdown. The PAT made it 54-28 with 9:19 to go in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers scored on the second play of the ensuing drive when Olive hit Johnson for a 56-yard score. The conversion run again failed, and East Webster led 54-34 with 8:25 remaining in the game.
The Charleston defense forced a three-and-out on East Webster’s next possession, and the Tigers mounted an eight-play, 59-yard drive that included a run of 12 yards by Olive, passes of 13 yards to Deuce and 25 yards to Tristen Flowers. Olive carried for a 3-yard touchdown. Again, the conversion try failed, and the Tigers trailed 54-40 with 4:24 left in the contest.
The Wolverines went three-and-out on their next possession but managed to milk the clock to 2:33 before punting.
The Tigers began the ensuing drive at their own 33. A first-down pass to Quay Kimble picked up 16 yards, but on the sixth play of the drive a East Webster defender intercepted the ball and returned it 61 yards for a pick-6 with 34.6 seconds in the game. The PAT made it 61-40.
Olive ran one play for 5 yards before time expired.
— * —
East Webster’s two rotating quarterbacks racked up 415 yards on 17-of-26 passing for six touchdowns and no interceptions. The Wolverines rushed for 137 yards, a total offensive output of 552 yards.
For Charleston, Olive completed 21-of-32 passes for 314 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. The Tigers ran for 96 yards for a total of 410 offensive yards.
Johnson snared five passes for 119 yards, Tristen Flowers five for 78 yards, Deuce four for 51, P.J. Goliday three for 26, Quentin Carter two for 18, Kimble one for 16 and Elijah Gipson one for 6.
Olive led the Tigers in rushing with 17 carries for 79 yards. Deuce had nine totes for 17 yards in the game.
— * —
DeBerry said his team had to deal with several unique circumstances this year, including not being able to secure an opponent for Week 1 of the season and having their scheduled homecoming opponent cancel on them.
“We only played eight games, where we normally play 10,” he said. “That would have been two more games to develop and become more cohesive and more ready for a moment like Friday night.”
Charleston has 15 seniors on the roster, and many of them have played in three state championship games.
“We have a great group of seniors,” DeBerry said. “I’m really going to hate to see them leave. I definitely thank them for all of their hard work, dedication and commitment to the program and game. They will be missed.”
He added, “You think about Deuce Flowers, Devon Olive, Lemar Frost — these guys have been four-year starters. Other guys in their class have been two- and three-year starters. ... We’re going to have our work cut out for us in developing some younger guys in the place of this senior class.”
DeBerry praised his fellow coaches, singling out Offensive Coordinator Larry Richardson for “an outstanding job this year.”
In the end, DeBerry said, “We’re just ready to get back to work,” noting that players will be hitting the weight room again in the near future.
