LELAND — The West Tallahatchie High School Choctaws have put finishing touches on their best regular-season record in seven years and now turn their attention to a first-round playoff game this week in Webb.
West Tally defeated Leland 36-0 here Friday night to finish the regular season 7-2 for the program’s first seven-win campaign since 2017, when a Lorenzo Pimpton team went 8-3 en route to a 9-4 overall mark after two playoff games.
The Choctaws finished as Region 5-1A runners-up this season behind Simmons, giving West Tally the right to host a first-round playoff tilt this Friday night. Kickoff is at 7 in Choctaw Stadium.
Their draw is a visit from the Region 8-1A third-place finisher, the 8-2 Sacred Heart Crusaders of Hattiesburg.
Sacred Heart’s two losses were by a total of 5 points — first, 8-7 to East Marion, and then 39-35 to Lumberton — teams that finished second and first, respectively, in the region.
In their regular-season finale on Nov. 1, Sacred Heart topped 6-4 Enterprise 28-20.
“They look really good on film, and they’re a solid football team,” West Tally head coach Shane Hargett said of the Crusaders.
However, the coach said he sees a path to victory, noting, “If we can eliminate our penalties and turnovers, we have a great chance to win this ballgame on Friday.”
West Tally star running back Isaac Day, who has nursed a quad injury and was held out of last week’s contest at Leland to give him rest, will start in the playoff game.
“It’s all hands on deck,” said Hargett. “It’s lose or go home right now, and that’s what we’ve been telling the kids. Everybody’s pretty much banged up a little bit this time of year, but you’ve just got to play through it, because unless you win, there’s not a tomorrow.”
Hargett encouraged West Tally fans to “come out and support us Friday,” adding, “We need to have a pretty loud environment to welcome these guests from Hattiesburg, Mississippi.”
The winner will move on to face the victor of Friday’s 0-9 Mount Olive Pirates at 8-1 Velma Jackson Falcons game. The top four teams in each region make the playoffs, and Mount Olive finished last in the four-team Region 7-1A.
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Leland, which finished the regular season at 2-7, was no match for even a banged up West Tally team.
“We played well,” said Hargett. “We were a little wounded and held out some of our starters. We got a lot of young kids some playing time and, fortunately, took care of the football.”
Although full game stats were unavailable, according to Hargett, he noted that senior quarterback Tristian Hill had a big game.
“Tristian Hill again, just like he’s done all year, came up big for us,” said Hargett. “He had 218 yards rushing, three touchdowns and a passing touchdown to Roosevelt Phillips.”
Senior Jamerrius Johnson also scored a touchdown in the game, which saw the Choctaws take a 30-0 lead at the half.
The only score in the second half was a scoop and score by senior defensive tackle Antonio Gipson, who picked up a fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
“It was very entertaining,” Hargett said of the Gipson score. “You always like to see those big guys get in the end zone.”
The Choctaws were able to give a lot of youngsters playing time in the second half.
