Charleston High School senior night festivities will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, prior to the kickoff of the game pitting the CHS Tigers against the North Side Gators.
Charleston enters the game with an overall record of 6-2. North Side is 7-1.
The game will decide the Region 3-2A championship.
The Gators are 3-0 in the region and the Tigers are 2-0.
One tier down sit the Leflore County Tigers, 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the region.
“North Side has already beaten Leflore, so that makes this game against North Side even more important for us,” said CHS head coach LaDon Taylor, whose troupe will face Leflore County at Itta Bena in the regular-season finale on Thursday, Oct. 26.
Last week, North Side defeated Riverside 42-0 while Charleston easily dispatched Greenville O’Bannon 40-8.
Taylor said North Side will be their usual competitive selves.
“Obviously, plenty of athletes at all positions. A well-coached team, as well,” Taylor noted. “It will definitely be a test for us this week.”
The game kicks off at 7, following senior night activities in Tiger Stadium.
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Taylor said he was “proud of the overall performance of the guys” against O’Bannon last week.
“When we go on the road, we always talk about being down 14-0 when we get there,” said Taylor, alluding to a theoretical two-touchdown disadvantage that awaits them in away games.
Charleston High School head football coach LaDon Taylor (Photo by Kelly Paris)
“I’m just proud of the guys going out and executing and erasing the 14 points that we were already down and getting that division win,” the coach noted.
In actuality, the Tigers set the tone from the outset, jumping out to an 8-0 first-quarter lead before exploding for 26 second-quarter points to take a 34-0 advantage at the half.
Marcus “Deuce” Flowers opened the scoring with a 5-yard TD run. Latese Edwards carried to tack on the two-point conversion.
In the second quarter, quarterback Devon Olive connected with Dre Riley for a 40-yard touchdown pass play. Flowers carried for the conversion and the 16-0 lead.
Flowers added another touchdown of his own minutes later when he broke away for an 11-yard scoring run. The conversion failed, but the visitors led 22-0.
Quentin Carter’s 1-yard rushing TD and Omar Wilson’s 1-yard TD reception on a pass from Olive finished out second-quarter scoring.
Charleston opened the third quarter with an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Riley. The conversion failed.
O’Bannon finally tacked on some points later in the third period on a 42-yard TD run and a rush for the two-point conversion.
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Statistically, Charleston outgained O’Bannon 278-148 in offensive yardage.
Carter led the Tigers’ ground attack with six rushes for 95 yards. Flowers had 10 totes for 93 yards and Olive four carries for 14 yards.
Olive hit 6-of-11 passes for 76 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Riley hauled in two receptions for 36 yards and one TD, Carter had one catch for 18 yards, Kashwaun Drain tacked on one for 13, Martiquez Lathan added one for 8 and Wilson caught the 1-yard TD pass.
Defensively, sophomore Waylon Clinton led Charles-ton with six individual tackles and two assists.
Timothy Kirk Jr. had four solo stops for CHS. Kameron Andrews made three individual tackles and two assists.
Lamarion Brown had two solo tackles. Edwards and Eric Hampton had one solo and two assists for a total of three tackles each.
Both Riley and Kyntorris Williams snared interceptions for the Charleston defense.
Taylor said he was appreciative, as always, for fans who showed up in Washington County to root on the Tigers.
“It’s a long trip to Greenville, and we’re thankful for the fans that did travel with us to support us,” he noted.
