It all comes down to this.
After 10 grueling games, a regular-season winning record and a postseason berth both hang in the balance for the West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws Thursday night.
In the regular-season finale, 5-5 West Tally travels into Yalobusha County to battle the 3-7 Coffeeville High School Pirates.
The winner punches their ticket to the state playoffs. The loser stays home.
The Webb and Coffeeville squads are tied with a 3-3 record in Region 2-1A play.
Thursday night’s victor will secure the fourth and final playoff seed within the region.
2021 saw the same scenario. These two teams battled in the last game of the season for the final playoff spot. The Choctaws won 30-20 in Webb and advanced.
While saying Coffeeville is “improved,” West Tally head coach Shane Hargett noted that they still have a straightforward offensive game plan.
“They don’t run a lot of spread-out. They like to overload, two tight ends, run I formation, maybe a little offset, but it’s mostly right at you,” he noted. “They don’t try to surprise you with anything.”
Hargett said the two teams are fairly evenly matched, adding, “In a game like this, it’s just going to come down to who makes less mistakes.”
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The Choctaws whipped the McAdams High School Bulldogs 48-0 last Friday in Webb. McAdams fell to 1-9.
In addition to senior night, the Choctaws held their annual Raphael S. Davis Memorial Classic, in memory of the Army National Guard specialist, a former Choctaw athlete, killed in Iraq in 2003.
The coach said he was pleased with the turnout to honor Davis’ family.
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Hargett lauded his players.
“They handled business,” he said of the McAdams win. “They executed and played a clean football game, which is what we try to do every week. Most of the time, if we do that, we will be successful.”
Hargett added, “I just hope we can carry that momentum into this last game for all the marbles.”
Sophomore Isaac Day was the workhorse for the Choctaws, running the ball 16 times for 203 yards, including a long of 65 yards, and scoring two rushing touchdowns. He also had a 78-yard punt return for a TD, said Hargett.
Coach Shane Hargett
Sophomore Tristan Hill had eight carries for 104 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a two-point conversion run and threw a two-point conversion pass to Drexel Miller, the coach noted.
Junior Lavoriontaye Willis ran three times for 87 yards, including a long of 54, and scored a rushing touchdown.
Senior Tony Young carried five times for 32 yards and scored a 9-yard touchdown.
Sophomore Roderick Thomas scored on a two-point conversion run.
Defensively, Hargett lauded Young. In addition to handling some offensive chores, he also is a tackling machine at linebacker. Last week, he had 14 solo tackles and one assist to top 100 for 2022.
“He’s been a rock for us in the middle of the defense all year,” the coach said. “He’s a phenomenal kid, great student and we’re going to hate to see him go.”
In other defensive stats from Friday, Miller recorded six individual tackles, including two for a loss, and had two quarterback sacks; Donovon McCord made five solo stops; Adalius Christian notched three solos, one sack and two tackles for a loss; and Day and Artavis Pimpton had three individual tackles apiece in the contest.
