WEBB — The West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws punched their ticket to the postseason by defeating the Coffeeville Pirates 30-20 in a battle royal here last Thursday night, Nov. 4.
The two teams were dueling for the fourth and final playoff spot in Region 2-1A.
The 5-5 Choctaws will travel Friday, Nov. 12, to Belden, in Lee County, where they will face the Region 1-1A champions, the 7-2 Tupelo Christian Prep Eagles, in a first-round state playoff.
“They’re a very good football team, well coached,” said West Tally head coach Shane Hargett. “The main thing we’re going to do is just try to protect the football and do the best we can.”
Friday’s winner will advance to face the victor of this week’s 8-2 Smithville Seminoles at 9-2 McEvans Hawks contest in Shaw.
Hargett mentioned the fact that in games his team has actually played this season, they are 5-3. Two other early losses were forfeits when the school was on distance learning due to COVID-19.
He said he is proud of the progression the Choctaws have made as a young team and is excited that they are able to reap the fruits of their labor with a playoff contest.
“If nothing else, it gives us experience to build on going forward,” Hargett added.
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In addition to postseason implications, last week’s game also was senior night and served as the Raphael S. Davis Memorial Classic, in memory of the Army National Guard specialist, a former Choctaw athlete, who was killed while serving his country in Iraq in 2003.
“We were happy to get the win on a night when we were honoring the family of Raphael Davis,” said Hargett.
The Choctaws scored on their opening possession after a 30-yard rush by Issac Day set up a 5-yard touchdown run by quarterback Roddarius Moss. Day ran in the two-point play for an 8-0 lead.
Coffeeville answered later in the first, but West Tally blew up their conversion try to retain an 8-6 advantage.
Just before the half, momentum shifted to the Choctaws when Ja’Quarius McGee picked off a high pass intended for a Pirates running back and returned it 75 yards for a pick six. The two-point attempt failed, but West Tally carried a 14-6 lead into the locker room at intermission.
The third quarter was scoreless, but the two teams made up for that dearth of points by scoring three touchdowns between them in a span of 2 minutes, 5 seconds in the fourth quarter.
The first advantage went to the Pirates after the Choctaws found themselves in a fourth-and-6 punting situation at their own 27. Unfortunately for them, a backup long snapper who was forced into action on that play due to an equipment issue snapped the ball over the punter’s head. Coffeeville tackled the punter at the 1-yard line.
On the next play, the Pirates scored a 1-yard touchdown but failed on the two-pointer. The home team led 14-12 with 10:28 in the fourth act.
On the ensuing kickoff, Choctaw Stadium erupted with excitement as Day escaped the grasp of several would-be tacklers en route to returning the football 86 yards for a touchdown to answer. Moss ran in the two-point play and West Tally went up 22-12 at 10:08 in the fourth.
On their next possession, the Pirates faced third-and-6 at midfield when the signal-caller found an open receiver near the south sideline for a 45-yard pass play to the West Tally 5. Coffeeville scored on the next play, then ran in the two-pointer to pull to within 22-20 at the 8:23 mark.
McGee returned the ensuing squib kick to the West Tally 48 with 8:13 remaining. It was then that the Choctaws mounted their most time-consuming drive of the night, a 12-play march on the ground that chewed up 6 minutes, 43 seconds of game clock — converting two third downs along the way — before coming up 1 yard short on a fourth-and-5 run to the Coffeeville 6-yard line.
“We were just trying to protect the football and eat as much clock as we could,” Hargett said.
Mission accomplished.
The Pirates took over at the 6 with only 1:30 remaining. The first play was a 13-yard run to the 19, but that would be the only plus yardage. Adalius Christian sacked the quarterback for a 7-yard loss on the next play. After the QB spiked the ball to stop the clock, Coffeeville faced a third-and-17 from their own 12. Latoris Williams crashed in for a sack at the 1-yard line.
“I’m proud of the effort of the defense right there when it counted,” noted Hargett. “It was a situation where you knew they were going to have to throw the football, and we just pinned our ears back and went after them.”
West Tally's Ja'Quarius McGee runs back an interception for a game-sealing touchdown with mere seconds left in Friday night's game. (Photo by Clay McFerrin)
Another defender iced the game on Coffeeville’s fourth-and-28 play. With the clock running and the pressure on, the Pirates signal-caller put up a prayer that was intercepted by McGee at the 25-yard line and returned for his second pick 6 of the night with 9 seconds left. Moss ran in the conversion for a 30-20 lead.
Coffeeville returned the kickoff to the West Tally 46 with all zeroes on the clock.
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Statistically, Moss completed 5-of-10 passes for 97 yards. McGee had two grabs for 31 yards, Sentrell Howard one for 30, Lavoriontaye Willis one for 19, and Tony Young one for 17.
West Tally rushers netted 388 yards, led by Day led with 20 carries for 198 yards. McGee also topped the century mark with 14 totes for 105 yards. Moss had 12 runs for 66 yards and Tony Young three for 19. Day had 286 all-purpose yards in the game.
Defensively, Young paced the team with 13 solo tackles and four assists, including three tackles for a loss. Christian made seven solos and four assists, with five tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Williams added eight tackles, Moss seven and Day six.
