The Charleston High School Tigers will have more time than usual to lick their wounds following a 49-14 loss at DeSoto Central High School last week due to an unscheduled open date this Friday, Oct. 3.
CHS was to play a homecoming game against the Mobile (Alabama) Christian High School Leopards this week, but officials from the school notified Charleston last Thursday that they were canceling the appearance.
Because of the reversal, ETSD Athletic Director LaDon Taylor said Oct. 3 will be an open date for the Tigers — their second after an Aug. 29 open date on what would have been the first game of the regular season.
An official statement from the East Tallahatchie School District central office last Friday noted, “Due to circumstances beyond our control, Charleston High School’s homecoming and related festivities have been rescheduled. The homecoming festivities will now take place the week of Oct. 20, 2025, and a game is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 24.”
Taylor would not state on the record a reason for Mobile Christian’s cancellation, but he noted that it was not the fault of Charleston.
The homecoming match on Oct. 24, Charleston’s next available home date — the Tigers play at Leland Oct. 10 and at J.Z. George Oct. 17, both Region 3-2A games — will bring the Northside Gators of Shelby to Tiger Stadium for an important Region 3-2A showdown. Northside is 4-0 on the season.
Charleston head coach Rasheed DeBerry said his team is looking at the open date as a bye week.
“This week, we can focus on getting better, mentally tougher, our assignments and being more technically sound,” he explained. “Next week is fall break, too, so we’ll have more time for practice.”
— * —
Class 2A Charleston’s 49-14 loss to the Class 7A DeSoto Central Jaguars was their greatest margin of defeat (35 points) and the most points the Tigers have allowed since Aug. 31, 2018, in a 52-12 loss at Horn Lake.
DeSoto Central improved to 3-2 on the season while Charleston fell to 2-2.
DeBerry knew going in that it would be a tough assignment for the Tigers against a team that had 114 players on their roster, but he was thankful that his players toughed it out and suffered no injuries.
“That’s the one positive thing when playing a school that big,” he noted. “We pretty much played both sides of the ball, so getting out healthy is always a positive. I just wish we could have put a better outing on the field.”
For years now, Charleston football has stepped up in class as part of their non-regional regular-season schedule to play much larger teams, the goal being the honing of their skills and learning toughness and perseverance so they will be primed for a regional slate and, hopefully, a postseason run.
The formula has worked well for CHS.
During the aforementioned 2018 season, those Tigers finished the regular season 9-2, won the Region 3-3A title and advanced to the third round of the state playoffs.
— * —
DeBerry said his team “had some bright spots to grow on” at DeSoto Central but also “missed a lot of opportunities” and had critical lapses that led to some big plays for the home team.
“We didn’t really play assignment football, mistake-free football,” he noted. “We’ve got to knuckle down on some of those missed assignments, be gap sound, disciplined and not let one thing lead to another by giving up so many big plays.”
Quarterback Eric Perry scored three rushing touchdowns of 20 or more yards.
Perry’s first TD came on a 32-yard run with 10 minutes in the first quarter. Jackson Canizaro kicked the PAT to give the Jaguars a 7-0 lead.
Later in the first, Perry hit LaQuonton Evans on a 60-yard touchdown pass. Canizaro’s PAT made it 14-0.
Cade Rodgers broke through for a 60-yard rushing touchdown midway through the second quarter. After the PAT, the Jags led 21-0.
Minutes later, Demaury Bishop intercepted a CHS pass, soon setting up what would be a rushing TD by Rodgers with about 2 minutes left in the half. The PAT gave the Jags a 28-0 lead.
Charleston received the football to open the third quarter and finally scored on a 30-yard pass from Devon Olive to Marcus “Deuce” Flowers. The conversion pass was good, cutting the Tigers’ deficit to 28-8.
DeSoto Central responded with three consecutive scoring drives, the first a 20-yard Perry rushing touchdown, then a 32-yard Perry rushing TD and, finally, a Christian Wilbourn rushing score.
Down 49-8, Charleston’s Flowers notched his second touchdown of the night on about a 60-yard run. The conversion try failed.
No official game stats were available to The Sun-Sentinel as of Tuesday night, but DeBerry did say that Flowers finished the game with 12 carries for 167 yards and a touchdown, plus three receptions for 69 yards and a TD.
DeBerry said his team has to “keep on getting better,” adding, “We’re a little immature on the field right now.”
He hopes the open date will help, saying, “We will try to focus on us, get a little more teaching in and get healthier.”
