The Charleston High School Tigers will kick off the 2022 varsity football season Friday night by traveling to Webb to face cross-county rival, the West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws.
The "Battle of the Golden Egg" will determine which of the two schools can claim bragging rights of varsity football supremacy in Tallahatchie County for the coming year.
It's been all Charleston for more than three decades, as the Tigers have won 33 consecutive matches between the two teams, beginning in 1985.
While the in-county scrap is a longtime local tradition, it will soon pale in comparison as both CHS and WTHS settle into their remaining schedule of 2022 games.
Due to a Mississippi High School Activities Association ruling, all varsity football games through the end of September will kick off at 7:30 p.m. — 30 minutes later than usual — to help combat the heat of summer. Beginning Oct. 7 and thereafter, games start at 7.
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The Tigers are coming off a 2021 campaign that saw them limp out to a 2-3 start before sweeping Region 3-2A to win the region championship and finish the regular season 6-3, eventually ascending to 9-4 overall.
CHS kicked its machinery into overdrive to blow out Eupora (46-18) in the first round of the state playoffs, crush J.Z. George (56-12) in the second and sail past Baldwyn (28-10) in the third. However, the season came to an end Nov. 26 with a 24-22 home loss to Leflore County in the Class 2A North State championship game.
The Tigers' success in 2021 came despite having not played football in 2020, missing spring 2021 practices, getting a late start for fall 2021 practices — all of that thanks to COVID, of course — and having a head coach in his first year of action. (Technically, it was LaDon Taylor's second year at the helm of the program, but he gets a mulligan for a 2020 scratch that was out of his hands).
During graduation in May, CHS football lost nine seniors — all of them starters, and five of them two-way starters — and will be a much younger team in 2022.
Where does this place the Tigers? Time will tell.
After visiting West Tally Friday night, the Tigers will host home games against North Pontotoc on Sept. 2 and recent nemesis Leflore County on Sept. 9. North Pontotoc was 4-5 last year, but Leflore County finished at 10-4 after being trounced by Scott Central (72-24) in the 2A state championship match.
The Tigers visit Pelahatchie (8-6 and a third-round playoff loser to Scott Central in 2021) on Sept. 16 and host Clarksdale (9-2 and a second-round playoff loser a year ago) on Sept. 23.
On Sept. 30 and Oct. 7, CHS visits North Panola and North Side, respectively.
North Panola finished 10-2 and advanced to the Class 3A North State championship game in 2021, where they lost to Amory. After long dominating North Panola, who used to be conference/division/region rivals, Charleston has lost the last three games played against the Cougars, including back-to-back season-ending playoff contests in 2018 and 2019. This should be an interesting renewal of the former rivalry.
North Side finished 9-2 in 2021 after losing to Leflore County in a second-round playoff.
Taylor's Tigers close out the regular season by hosting Strayhorn (2-6 a year ago) for homecoming on Oct. 14, visiting M.S. Palmer (2-10) at Marks on Oct. 21 and playing host to Coahoma County (3-6) on Oct. 27.
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Like Charleston, West Tallahatchie did not play in 2020. They also missed spring 2021 training, got a late start on summer workouts and had to forfeit their first two games of the regular season after the school district switched to virtual learning for two weeks.
Still, first-year head coach Shane Hargett's team compiled a 6-6 record and earned a first-round playoff appearance. Unfortunately, the road playoff at Tupelo Christian Prep was a dismal affair, with the Chocs losing 45-0 to a buzz saw team that advanced to the Class 1A North State championship before losing to then undefeated Simmons.
In games they actually played, the Chocs compiled a 5-3 regular-season mark in 2021, with Hargett grading the season a success considering all of the challenges.
The team lost only two starters to graduation, which, on paper, should put them on a solid footing entering 2022.
The schedule serves the Webb crew a lot of home cooking early on, with the first two games of the season — and four of the first six — being played within the friendly confines of Choctaw Stadium.
After dueling Charleston Aug. 26, West Tally faces O'Bannon (4-6 and, like West Tally, suffering a lopsided first-round playoff loss) on Sept. 2.
The Choctaws will travel to Coahoma County (3-6 a year ago after a first-round blowout) on Sept. 9, followed by another road trip to Riverside (0-9) on Sept. 16.
On Sept. 23, the Chocs welcome the West Bolivar Eagles (2-8) for homecoming festivities in Webb.
McEvans High School of Shaw (9-3 after dropping a second-round playoff at Tupelo Christian Prep) closes out West Tally's long string of home contests on Sept. 30.
In games that matter most — Region 2-1A matches that determine playoff eligibility and seeding — the Choctaws close out the regular season by playing four out of five of those on the road.
Opening a series of three straight games on the road, West Tally travels to Coldwater (3-7) on Oct. 7 and visits South Delta in Rolling Fork (9-3) on Oct. 14.
In perhaps their stiffest challenge of the regular season, Hargett's troops will travel to Hollandale Oct. 21 to battle the Simmons Blue Devils (13-1 and the 1A state runner-up in 2021).
The Chocs host McAdams (2-11) on Oct. 28 and travel to Yalobusha County to face Coffeeville (4-6) in the regular-season finale on Nov. 4.
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For a second consecutive year, the MHSAA football state championship games will be played at M.M. Roberts Stadium on the Hattiesburg campus of the University of Southern Mississippi. Those games are scheduled for Dec. 2-3.
Editor's note: This story has been edited to update the fact that West Tallahatchie's Sept. 9 game against Coahoma County will be an away game.
