For a third straight year, Charleston has swept their slate of Region 3-2A opponents to win the regional championship and now gears up for a first-round playoff match at home..
They clinched the 2023 region crown by dispatching Leflore County, 32-14, at Itta Bena on Thursday, Oct. 26.
Charleston finished the regular season at 8-2 while Leflore posted a mark of 6-4.
The two teams were tied at 8 apiece at the half before the Tigers exploded for 24 second-half points and held Leflore mostly in check.
“I’m extremely proud of the kids’ effort and the perseverance of the kids,” said CHS head coach LaDon Taylor. “We have to make sure we’re doing the right things at all times and well. In the second half, I thought we did a good job of that.”
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Charleston will host the 4-7 Walnut Wildcats, the Region 1 fourth seed, in the opening round of the state playoffs Friday night. Kickoff is at 7.
Walnut lost three straight, and four of their last five, to close out the regular season, including falling 44-22 to East Union last week.
However, Taylor said the Wildcats will pose some challenges, starting with their style of offense.
“Mostly, we’ve seen a lot of spread offense this year, but Walnut is more of a single-wing type team,” he noted. “In that particular offense, your eyes can fool you, and somebody will be running free if you’re not very disciplined. That’s going to be key for us.”
CHS Coach LaDon Taylor (By Kelly Paris)
Taylor said Walnut is a team with “some big, very good guys, noting, “We just have to be ready to play Charleston football on Friday night.”
The winner of this game will move on to face the victor of this week’s 3-7 Philadelphia at 4-6 Water Valley matchup.
A win by Charleston would guarantee that the higher-seeded Tigers will host the Nov. 10 second-round contest.
Taylor is not taking anything for granted and hopes the fans won’t either.
“We’re looking for all the support that these young men can have on Friday night,” he said. “A lot of time, people say, ‘Well, it’s the first round, we’re going to win [and I should not bother going to the game]. I’m just not the type to believe that. I just think any Friday, anything can happen, and we have to remain focused. And we hope our fans will come support our kids as much as they can.”
Tickets for playoff games are $10, a price set by the state high school activities association, and these tickets are available at the gate.
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After a scoreless first quarter, Leflore scored on a 25-yard touchdown pass at 5:22 in the second quarter. Leflore ran for the two-point play.
Charleston responded by marching 55 yards in eight plays, capped by a 12-yard TD run by Marcus “Deuce” Flowers. Quarterback Devon Olive hit Dre Riley for the conversion pass to knot matters at 8 all with 2:24 left in the first half of play.
CHS took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and marched 52 yards in eight plays, with Flowers covering the final 5 yards on the ground. Olive connected with Eric Hampton for the conversion and a 16-8 lead with 9:06 showing on the clock.
The Tigers forced Leflore to punt on the ensuing possession, but a CHS return man mishandled the ball and the home team recovered at the Charleston 40. Nine plays later, Leflore scored on a 3-yard run. The two-point try failed, and the visitors led 16-14 at 1:17 in the third.
The fourth quarter was all Charleston, with Olive hitting Riley for a 42-yard TD to cap a five-play drive. Flowers ran for the conversion, giving CHS a 24-14 lead.
The Tigers would score once more, this time on a 28-yard pass from Olive to Riley with 3:10 left in the game. Latese Edwards ran for the conversion.
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Olive completed 3-of-8 passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns, with Riley on the receiving end of all three completions.
Flowers led Charleston rushers with 24 carries for 131 yards and two TDs.
Defensively, junior linebacker Timothy Kirk led the charge for the Tigers with 10 total tackles — seven individuals and three assists.
Riley notched six solos.
Kameron Andrews made four solos and had three assists, for a total of seven.
Hampton had three each of individual and assisted tackles, for a total of six.
Both Edwards and Montra Sanford had five tackles — Edwards, four solos and one assists, and Sanford, two solos and three assists.
Sanford brought down the Leflore quarterback on two sacks for losses of 16 yards. Hampton had one sack.
