Coahoma County Football Coach McKinley Scott said he wasn’t mad but he was disappointed.
The Coahoma County Red Panthers held it close early, but the game slipped away and they fell to West Tallahatchie, 28-8.
“We could have won this game,” Scott told his team at midfield after the game. “That score does not say who we are. We’ve got to find players who want to win. We will be looking this week to see who those players are.”
Coahoma looked strong on their first possession and moved the ball down the field before a fumble stopped that drive.
Turnovers would hurt the Panthers as they went on to throw three interceptions later in the game.
West Tallahatchie used its good luck to put points on the board after each turnover.
The Choctaws ran the Notre Dame box most of the night, using power and sealing the corners to earn steady yardage.
The key to stopping this old offense is to crush the box before it hits the corner.
“When we could stack them up at the corner, we stopped them,” said Scott. “They have a big back and if he made the corner, he made yards.”
Scott used his linebackers almost as defensive lineman and Coahoma tried to use shear speed to hit first.
On offense the Panther scored their lone touchdown as the first quarter ended.
The Panthers started the drive from their own 49 after a good kickoff return from junior Devonta Boyd.
The Panther threw two passes to get to the West Tallahatchie 30. They then handed the ball three times to Damien Drake who covered the next 25 yards. Boyd ran left for the score from five yards out.
Boyd then got the call on the two point conversion and the game was tied 8-0.
But the West Tallahatchie Choctaws reeled off three touchdowns in the second quarter to take the wind out of Coahoma.
The Panthers threw two interceptions in this frame and trailed 22-8 at half time.
Coahoma came out in the third and stopped two Choctaw drives, but couldn’t put points on the board.
Coahoma even tried running the Notre Dame Box in the fourth quarter, but saw their drives stall.
Coahoma pushed to the West Tallahatchie 12 and looked ready to score.
But the game ended on a Choctaw interception, followed by one play.
“We practiced well but I didn’t see us be aggressive and defense couldn’t get it together,” said Scott. “We made mistakes on offense.”
Scott said it’s still early in the season and mistake can be corrected.
“This team will be good when they decide to be good,” said Scott. “We’ve got some good players and some new guys that want to play.
“We’ve got a bye this week and then we travel to Byhalia. We’re going to see how they practice and get ready,” Scott added. “The worst part of this loss is we could have beaten this team. Like I said I am disappointed.”
