The Charleston Tigers easily defeated the Choctaw County Chargers 54-14 Friday night, punching their ticket to the Class 2A North State championship game on Black (and Gold) Friday, Nov. 25.
They will play the Eupora Eagles, who walloped Northside 58-18 in their quarterfinal contest at Shelby Friday night.
Charleston officials say they were told after Friday's game that they will be playing host to Eupora at Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers will carry a 10-3 record into the match, while Eupora brings a mark of 11-2 to Tallahatchie County.
The winner will advance to the 2A state championship game against either the 11-2 Scott Central Rebels or the 8-4 Velma Jackson Falcons. Those two teams play in the 2A South State championship next week.
The 2A state title game will be played on Saturday, Dec. 3, at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
Charleston led 20-0 over Choctaw County at the half before blowing the game wide open with a 26-point third-quarter performance.
Corterrius Johnson had touchdown runs of 24 and 2 yards, Rod O'bannon scored on a pair of 3-yard carries, Deonte Boyd had a 44-yard fumble return for a TD, Latese Edwards had a pick-six of about 45 yards, Devon Olive passed to Terrence Marco for a 3-yard score and Quentin Carter carried for a 21-yard touchdown.
The Chargers' Terence Mcneal scored on a 72-yard kick return and Antonio Kennedy ran for a 1-yard TD inside the final 2 minutes.
The Tigers defense basically shut down Choctaw County's top three weapons. Running back Kennedy was limited to 28 yards on eight carries, quarterback K.J. Cork was 4-of-10 passing for minus-8 yards and two interceptions, and wide receiver Caleb Cunningham had just three catches for minus-6 yards.
Meanwhile, Charleston's O'bannon was 3-of-5 passing for 60 yards, and Olive was 2-of-2 for 13 yards. Johnson led the CHS ground game with 12 carries for 87 yards, but Marcus Flowers was not far behind with nine runs for 70 yards. Carter had five totes for 30 yards.
Marco caught two passes for 38 yards and Riley had three grabs for 35 yards.
