WEBB — The West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws will host the 6-1 South Delta Bulldogs of Rolling Fork for homecoming at Choctaw Stadium on Friday night.
South Delta is fresh from a 60-0 win over McAdams and has dominated competition throughout the season, outscoring opponents 240-62.
West Tally head coach Shane Hargett said South Delta was not the originally intended homecoming opponent. He noted that a scheduling issue forced the matter.
An unusually tough homecoming foe is just the first hurdle in a two-week "trial by fire" for the 3-3 Choctaws, who will travel to Hollandale Oct. 22 to face the presently 6-0 Simmons Blue Devils. Simmons has outscored opponents 244-20 and on Sept. 24 defeated South Delta 42-14.
"South Delta and Simmons are probably the two best 1A teams in the state right now, and both of them are loaded with experience," said Hargett.
In spite of those tall challenges, Hargett said the competition can be good for his young squad.
"It's a chance to get better and see where we need to improve to go forward," he noted.
At present, the Choctaws, South Delta and McEvans, all at 2-1 in Region 3-1A action, are tied for second place behind Simmons, which is 3-0 in regional play.
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Head coach Shane Hargett
Last Friday night, the Choctaws defeated the Coldwater Cougars 16-14.
The Choctaws now have won three of their last four games to improve to 3-3. Coldwater slumped to 2-4.
“I’m proud of the guys,” said Hargett, who nonetheless explained that the game was “a little more sloppy than we’d like,” no doubt referring, at least in part, to the six turnovers — five fumbles and one interception — given up by his team.
Hargett said the Choctaws turned the ball over on their first three offensive possessions of the game but noted that the Choctaws were able to overcome the adversity, due in part to three turnovers committed by Coldwater.
However, the coach knows that turnovers can be kryptonite to a team.
"One good thing we've done all year is limit our turnovers, and that's something that plagued us Friday that we've got to correct," he said.
Ja’Quarius McGee scored on a 35-yard run and quarterback Roddarius Moss passed to tight end Sentrell Howard for the 2-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead in the second quarter and into the half.
Coldwater scored in the third quarter, cutting the Choctaws’ lead to 8-6, before Moss ran for a TD and the 2-point play to make it 16-6. The Cougars scored again in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter and converted the 2-pointer to make it a 2-point game, but the home team recovered an onside kick and ran out the clock.
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Statistically, Moss completed 7-of-12 passes for 69 yards, including three strikes to Artavis Pimpton for 30 yards, one to Issac Day for 20 and three to McGee for 19.
McGee led the Choctaws with 16 rushes for 143 yards. Moss had 13 totes for 72, Day 12 for 56 and Tony Young five for 34.
Defensively, McGee led with eight solo tackles and two assists. Moss had five solos and Young posted three solos and one assist.
McGee, Jamarria Bailey and Reginald Walker Jr. had one interception apiece.
