Unanswered revenge: Tigers swarm St. Stanislaus in 4A title game
OXFORD - Everything St. Stanislaus did this season was geared toward another Class 4A championship game collision with Noxubee County. Last season's 21-point loss to the Tigers didn't sit right with the Rockachaws so they scheduled tougher, trained harder and were focused on a potential rematch.
The Rockachaws got their chance at revenge Saturday but the Tigers once again proved to be too much. Led by super recruit Jeffery Simmons, Noxubee County rolled to a 44-23 victory at Ole Miss' Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The Tigers' (12-4 overall) victory marked their third state championship in four seasons.
"They were flat out better than we were. Flat out better," SSC coach Bill Conides said. "We couldn't protect. We tried to use an extra offensive lineman and he got gassed. It is what it is.
"They're a talented bunch. It's hard to play in 4A when you have to play a team like that."
Simmons made his presence felt in a number of ways for a second straight year.
The standout defensive end led Noxubee County's defense with four tackles, three sacks and four quarterback hurries.
SSC tried a number of ways to slow Simmons,like bringing in extra linemen to get in his way, but the senior sliced through whoever the Rockachaws put between him and quarterback Myles Brennan. The times Simmons didn't record a sack, he either disrupted the play or at the very least flushed Brennan from the pocket.
"I wanted to be aware of him," Brennan said of Simmons, who also scored on a 1-yard run. "It's frustrating because it starts messing with your mind and makes it tough to focus on reads down field."
The Rockachws (11-4) failed to convert their 10 third-down opportunities and were 0-for-2 on fourth-down conversions.
By comparison, the Tigers 8 of 15 third downs and 4 of 5 fourth downs.
"That's been our problem all year, we got to third down but couldn't get off the field and finish," said senior lineman Tommy Reeder, who had eight tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and blocked an extra point. "We had some problems tackling in the open field."
When Brennan wasn't being chased by Simmons, quarterback Timorrius Conner was finding seams in the SSC defense.
The senior quarterback completed 18 of 26 passes for 365 yards and had touchdown throws of 14, 48, 31 and 20 yards.
Trailing 19-0 late in the first half, the Rockachaws looked like they were going to break the shutout. Tight end Darius Pittman caught a short pass a few yards shy of the goal line, but as he fought for the end zone was stripped. Kyziah Pruitt scooped the ball and returned it 97 yards to put Noxubee ahead 25-0.
Mid-way through the third quarter SSC got on the scoreboard thanks to a scoop-and-score of its own. Conner was hit on an option run and safety Mason Favre returned the ball 52 yards. The good vibes didn't last as Noxubee County's Conner connected with Daveon Ball for a 48-yard touchdown.
With 10 minutes remaining in the game, the SSC offense finally broke through on a 43-yard tunnel screen to Owen Betz. The two connected again with 15 seconds remaining on a 38-yard touchdown over the middle.
Brennan ended up completing 19 of 33 passes for 268 yards and two touchdowns. He was also sacked seven times. Pittman led SSC receivers with seven receptions for 73 yards. Betz had a team-high 87 yards on three receptions.
"I'd put my 11 guys up against any 11 in the country and that speaks a lot," Brennan said. "I guess we just have to look forward to next year."
This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Unanswered revenge: Tigers swarm St. Stanislaus in 4A title game."