As it has so many times over the past 16 years, the road to the football state championship game runs through Charleston.
The Charleston Tigers, 54-14 winners over Choctaw County in the Class 2A football quarterfinals last week, will host the Eupora Eagles Friday night, with the North 2A crown and a berth to the state title game on the line.
Kickoff at Tiger Stadium is at 7 p.m.
“It’s an honor, it’s a blessing, to still be playing right now,” said CHS head coach LaDon Taylor, speaking early Monday afternoon after the Tigers’ first practice of the week. The school is out for Thanksgiving break.
“A lot of people would prefer to be practicing today versus just off for Thanksgiving,” he added. “So it’s a blessing to still be playing. We try not to take it for granted.”
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As a program, CHS is no stranger to playing during Thanksgiving week.
Friday night will mark Charleston’s 10th appearance in the north half contest since their first in 2005. They won that game but lost at state.
In 2011, the Tigers, then in Class 3A, won their first and, to date, only state championship.
That was the first of six consecutive North State berths, from 2011-2016. During that stretch, they went 5-1 in the north half matches, but 1-4 in the state title game bouts.
By then in Class 2A, the Tigers made the north championship game again in 2019 and 2021, logging single-digit losses both times.
CHS did not play football in 2020 due to COVID, so the team has made the north half trip in each of the last three seasons that they have played.
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Charleston enters Friday’s game 10-3, riding an eight-game winning streak.
Eupora is 11-2, having won 10 in a row, including 58-18 over Northside last week. The Eagles are 5-0 in road games.
“Just watching film, [Eupora] is a very well-coached team. They’ve got a quarterback who is really impressive,” said Taylor.
Senior Ty Murphy has completed 65% of his 144 pass attempts for 1,513 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Murphy also is Eupora’s leading rusher, with 176 carries for 1,550 yards, an 8.8-yard average, and 20 TDs.
Those 3,063 yards make Murphy the fifth-ranked player in all of 2A in terms of offensive yards gained.
Murphy has accounted for 67% of Eupora’s offense, but the Tigers defense has a knack for turning a team’s strength into a weakness.
CHS hamstrung Calhoun County’s top three weapons, limiting running back Antonio Kennedy, quarterback K.J. Cork and wide receiver Caleb Cunningham to just 30 yards between them.
Taylor said Eupora is more of a running team.
“They will throw it, but we know going in that we’re going to have to be good on run [defense],” he noted. “We’re going to have to be just as good on the run as we were this past week. Some of their run schemes are similar to ones we saw last week, so we just have to continue to remember to do our jobs, be in the position we’re supposed to be in and let the defense work as a unit, not as a single person.”
Taylor said he hopes to see a strong showing of CHS fans for Friday’s game.
“These young men work every day just to give the town, the community, something to come together for on Friday night,” he noted. “I hope people will come out and show their appreciation to the kids for what they’re doing.”
Friday night’s winner will advance to face the victor of Friday’s South 2A clash featuring 8-4 Velma Jackson at 11-2 Scott Central.
The 2A state championship game will be played Dec. 3 at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
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Charleston ended Choctaw County’s campaign at 7-6 by playing stingy defense and disciplined offensive football.
“Overall, I thought we played well against Choctaw,” Taylor said.
Shutting down the Chargers’ top three offensive weapons took a team effort.
“Everybody had an assignment that they had to do in order for the overall scheme to work,” Taylor said. “The guys bought into that.”
Keeping Cork off-balance all night by applying steady defensive pressure — he completed 4 of 10 passes for minus-8 yards and tossed two interceptions — also limited the playmaking ability of Cunningham. The projected 5-star recruit had just three receptions for minus-6 yards.
Kennedy, the bruising 6-1, 217-pound runner who came in averaging more than 7 yards per play, was smacked early and often, gaining just 28 yards on eight carries.
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Choctaw County won the toss and elected to receive Friday night, but after starting at their own 31, the Chargers went three-and-out, the line of scrimmage then at the 16. The punt went straight up and landed at the Choctaw 29.
It took Charleston just two plays to capitalize, with Corterrius Johnson breaking a 24-yard touchdown run. The two-point play failed, but CHS led 6-0 at 9:59.
Just 47 seconds later, Charleston’s Rod O’bannon, from his cornerback position, recovered a Chargers fumble at the Choctaw 48.
The ensuing four-play drive included a 35-yard pass play from O’bannon, now at his quarterback spot, to Terrance Marco, setting up first-and-goal at the 3-yard line. O’bannon covered that on the next snap. The conversion again failed. CHS led 12-0 with 7:50 in the first quarter.
After another quick three-and-out by Choctaw, O’bannon broke a 60-yard run to the Chargers 5 at 5:37, but the play was called back on a holding call and the drive eventually fizzled.
The interception of an O’bannon pass at the Choc-taw 48 was rectified three plays later when Cork had his arm hit by a defender, knocking the ball out. Deonte Boyd, a 6-1, 265-pound defensive tackle, plucked the pigskin from midair. Some 44 yards later, Boyd crossed the goal line for a fumble return for a touchdown. O’bannon passed to Marco for the conversion, and CHS led 20-0 with 8:45 in the second quarter.
That score would hold up through the intermission.
In the third quarter, Charleston would score four touchdowns to blow the game wide open.
The first came following a 10-play, 62-yard drive to open the third period. Facing a fourth-and-8 at the Choctaw 26, O’bannon hit Dre Riley for a 25-yard pass to the Chargers’ 1-yard line. Johnson ran it in on the next play. The conversion again failed, but CHS led 26-0 with 7:15 in the third period.
Just 16 seconds later, the score became 32-0 after Latese Edwards scored on a 45-yard pick-6. The two-point try failed, but the Tigers pushed their advantage to 32-0 with 6:59 in the third.
The Chargers caught a little lightning when Terence McNeal returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards for a touchdown to put the visitors on the scoreboard. The PAT failed, and CHS led 32-6 at 6:35.
The Tigers responded with an eight-play, 50-yard drive that chewed up more than 5 minutes of clock before O’bannon scored on a 3-yard run at 1:19. The conversion failed, but CHS led 38-6.
On the second play of Choctaw’s following drive, a deep pass by Cork was intercepted by Riley and returned about 70 yards to the Chargers’ 3-yard line. Devon Olive passed to Marco for the 3-yard score, then to Omar Wilson for the conversion, giving the home team a 46-6 lead with 30 seconds in the third.
Shortly thereafter, the clock began running continuously.
The Tigers scored again on a 21-yard Quentin Carter run with 8:20 in the fourth period. Carter carried for the two-point play, making it 54-6.
Choctaw scored offensively against CHS reserves when Kennedy carried for a 1-yard TD to cap a six-play, 67-yard drive. Cunningham kicked the PAT for the game’s final points with 1:42 remaining.
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Statistically, O’bannon was 3-of-5 for 60 yards and Olive 2-of-2 for 13.
Marco had two receptions for 38 yards and Riley snared three for 35.
Johnson led the ground attack, racking up 87 yards on 12 carries. Freshman Marcus Flowers added nine totes for 70 yards, Carter had five runs for 30 yards, O’bannon ran nine times for 9 yards and Riley carried once for a 5-yard gain.
