#HSFT17: Stop No. 5 – Noxapater Tigers

NOXAPATER, Miss. (WCBI) — When Noxapater players make the walk to and from their fieldhouse, they’re greeted by this: “No one believes we can win”.

The doubters are fueling Noxapater this offseason and going into the 2017 season as the Tigers will be young but full of confidence.

I like the fact we got a lot of young guys reps last year,” head coach Casey Orr said. “They did a good job for us. We started 5-6 9th graders. That will bode well for us going into this year. Those guys will step up and be play-makers for us. We’re excited to see how they developed from 9th grade to 10th.”

The upcoming Sophomores will be depended on greatly for Noxapater, but so will a returning group of upperclassmen.

The Tigers have to bid farewell to their star athlete Keonte Daniels, but head coach Casey Orr expects his team to pick up where he left off.

“We all hated to see Keonte graduate,” Orr said. “He did a great job for us for 4 years. That being said, we have guys that will be successful. They may not be the overall talent that Keonte was, but we have depth that we haven’t had in the past. This will be one of the best teams we’ve had in a long time skill wise and along the offensive and defensive line.”

And the best team remains that State Title team in 2011, as Noxapater is reminded every day when they’re working in the weight room that they can reach that point again. Coach Orr wants his team to stay grounded but also dream big.

“Our expectation is to win a district championship. We haven’t been able to do that the last few years. Our kids are working hard to achieve that. The last few years, we’ve been put out of the playoffs the first round. We want to get past that and push deeper. 1A South is a tough division. It’s a good brand of football. Our district, we’ve brought in new teams, and it’s more competitive than it has been. Our guys expect to go out and win every Friday.”

Noxapater will start the season at home against Montgomery County then finish up August at JZ George.