Even though the Noxubee County Tigers are just 2-4 on the year, falling to Kemper County 26-21 last Friday night, the Whippets know better than to look at their record.
The Tigers are still favored to win Region 4-4A and have fallen to the likes of Starkville (6A), Meridian (6A), West Point (5A) and Kemper County (3A)––all of whom are expected to go deep into the MHSAA Playoffs in their respective classifications.
“It’s really the same old story with them,” said Whippet head coach Chad Peterson. “They are big and physical and fast and have a lot of athletes. They do have some younger players, the quarterback (Maliek Stallings) is a sophomore, but it will still be like every other year in that it will be a huge challenge for us to be able to stay with them because they are good at every position. We are excited about it; we are excited that we have them coming in here and Friday night will be a huge game for us.”
On the offensive side of the ball the Tigers are led by Stallings, who is 88-of-178 through the air for 1224 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions. The leading ground gainer for the Tigers will be senior running back Jakerrius Oliver who has amassed 315 yards on 72 carries with two touchdowns. Sophomore wide receiver Kyziah Pruitt leads all pass catchers with 37 catches for 529 yards and four touchdowns while Kymbotric Mason has 22 catches for 315 yards.
Defensively, Noxubee County is led by senior linebacker Kalmorris Robinson with 43 tackles; senior linebacker Jimmy Morris with 33 tackles and senior defensive back Joshua Little with 26 tackles.
The Whippets have lost 10 straight to the Tigers, last winning 36-28 in 2006.
