High School Football Tour: Noxapater

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NOXAPATER, Miss. (WCBI) — Tevin Moore and Stringer have haunted the dreams of the Noxapater Tigers this off-season.

While that may not be ideal, it has given motivation to the Tigers leading up to the season that they have unfinished business to deal with on their road to returning to Jackson.

“We talked about how we didn’t finish the game last year,” head coach Justin Hunter said. “You aren’t suppose to lose when you’re winning in the 4th quarter.

“We got complacent last year, but we’ve busted their butts all summer and that won’t be the case this year.”

It won’t be easy for Noxapater this go-around, losing big-names such as Baber and Coburn will be difficult for the Tigers to manage.

“You can’t replace either of those guys,” Hunter said. “We lost some really good players who had been 3 and 4 year starters. All we can do is coach these young guys up.

“We’re really going to rely on our guys on our front on both sides of the ball. They’re mostly juniors and seniors and that’s where our strength will be this season.”

With that extra motivation from last year, the Tigers have gotten after it in the weight room. The one thing that greets them when they walk into the fieldhouse is the 2011 State Championship trophy.

That is the mission: returning to Jackson and bringing back their second state title.

“We decided we wanted the trophy down here to remind them of how good it felt that we were blessed and fortunate enough to win the gold ball,” coach Hunter Said. “It feels like we’re back in 2011 when no one knew what we had. I think our guys are really going to surprise some folks this year.”

Noxapater will hope to surprise Eupora and East Webster to begin the season, as the Tigers start off with two difficult tests from 2A.