The Charleston High School Tigers dropped a 24-22 decision to the North Pontotoc Vikings during their home opener at Tiger Stadium on Friday night, Sept. 2.
Charleston fell to 1-1. North Pontotoc improved to 2-0.
CHS head coach LaDon Taylor called the game “a really tough one” to lose.
The Tigers gave up three turnovers and two safeties in the two-point loss.
“Three turnovers against a really good, well-coached 4A football team like North Pontotoc, that will come back to haunt you,” said Taylor.
Despite the miscues, the CHS coach said his team “played well overall.”
“I thought we played hard, we fought to the end, but it just wasn’t our night.”
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The Vikings jumped out to a 6-0 lead at 6:14 in the first quarter on a 3-yard TD run by Drew Winfun. The PAT was blocked.
Charleston answered at the 3:15 mark when Marcus Flowers broke a 40-yard scoring run. He carried for the two-point conversion.
The Tigers extended their lead to 14-6 at 11:14 in the second quarter on a 13-yard run by Corterrius Johnson, who failed to convert after.
With 8:22 left in the half, the Tigers gave up a safety when backup quarterback Latese Edwards was taken down in the end zone.
“In trying to make a play, he kept going backward to try to get around the edge, and he never made it,” said Taylor. “That was a young quarterback making a mistake on that.” The line of scrimmage on that play was about the CHS 10.
CHS led 14-8 at the half.
The Tigers built upon their lead when Flowers scored on a 3-yard carry with 3:40 in the third quarter. Johnson ran for the two-pointer to give the home team a 22-8 advantage.
Then the wheels came off.
The Vikings answered Charleston’s score with a 9-yard run by Reece Kentner with 2:10 in the third quarter and Luis Guerrero kicked the PAT to cut the deficit to 22-15.
In the fourth quarter, Kentner passed to Tyler Pickens for a 33-yard score, and Guerrero again booted the PAT to tie up the game at 22 with 8:59 left.
The second safety of the night occurred with 1:57 remaining when the Tigers lined up for a punt deep in their own territory. A bad snap found the punter scrambling for the ball and then getting trapped in the end zone.
“We had a few bad snaps throughout the night on the punt, so that’s something we’re going to have to really work on and focus on this week,” noted Taylor.
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Statistically, Devon Olive completed 1-of-2 passes for 38 yards, Edwards 3-of-7 for 17 and Rod Obannon 1-of-6 for 9 yards. Obannon, the starter, went out with a shoulder separation in the second quarter and did not return.
Dre Rioley had two receptions for 56 yards and Johnson snared one for 9 yards.
On the ground, Johnson led Charleston with 10 carries for 102 yards. Flowers had nine runs for 80 yards, Edwards eight for 19, Obannon six for 10 and Riley one for 2 yards.
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Friday, Sept. 9, Charleston plays host to 1-1 Leflore County, the team that beat the Tigers twice in 2021, including ending their season by dealing CHS a 24-22 loss in the North State championship game.
“Leflore County is always going to have athletes, and they like to spread you out and throw it around a lot, same as last year,” noted Taylor. “... We are looking for the same type of team that we played in the North Half championship last year.”
Taylor said his guys understand that Charleston’s schedule is built tough early on to toughen them up for an anticipated playoff run.
“It’s put together that way not for the front part of the season, but for the back end. ... We have tall tasks every week at the beginning of the season, and it’s up to us to fight and grind and get it done,” the coach noted. “But we can’t hang our heads if that doesn’t happen in one game, because the next game will be just as tough. So we’ve just got to continue to work and try to see if we can get this next task done.”
