Written by Daniel Payne
With the threat of heavy rain in the forecast for Friday night, the Choctaws game against Fayette County was moved to Thursday night. This would be the first time that Bibb would be on the field this season after the season opened up with a forfeit by Greensboro.
Fayette County won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. After three plays their offense was headed back to the sidelines in what would be a familiar sight as the Choctaws defense was stout from the very first play.
Following the punt by the Tigers, Bibb would take over on Fayette’s 45 yard line. If anyone thought the defensive line for the Choctaws had come out strong, they were about to see the offensive line, a.k.a. the Hawg Squad open holes up in the Tigers defense. Deshun Murrell patiently waited for the holes to open up and finally Murrell found the end zone with 10:50 left in the first quarter to give the Choctaws a 6-0 lead.
Again, Fayette could find no offense and were forced to punt the ball back to the Choctaws. Bibb took over on their own 17 yard line and Murrell and the Hawg Squad went back on the attack. Cole McCarty found a seam and bolted through it for 14 yards and followed that up with an 18 yard run a few plays later. Murrell found daylight and was finally knocked out of bounds at the 17 following the 33 yard scamper. McCarty then would find Mikah Bayles wide open in the flats for a 10 yard touchdown reception. Murrell ran in the two point conversion to make it a 14-0 lead for Bibb.
The Choctaw’s defense held strong again on Fayette’s next drive and forced yet another three and out. Bibb began to move the ball down field again but after a costly penalty, the drive would stall at the Tigers 4 yard line. Fayette finally began to move the ball through the air on their next drive. But just as it seemed as though the Tigers were going to score, Cade Brown got through the line for a huge sack. The Tigers would turn the ball over on downs a few plays later and the teams headed into the locker room with Bibb up 14-0.
The Choctaws received the second half kickoff and following a 29 yard return by Colby Collums, Bibb would start at the Tigers 43 yard line. Murrell would find the end zone for the second time a few plays later and with 12:00 left in the third quarter, Bibb was up 19-0.
As the defense continued to give Fayette nothing on the ground, the Choctaws would add two more scores in the third quarter to put the game away. Murrell scored from 16 yards out and on the next drive he went through and around and finally over the Tigers defense for a 53 yard touchdown run that even made some of the Fayette faithful clap their hands and just shake their head.
As the game headed to the fourth quarter with the Choctaws up comfortably at 32-0, a lot of the younger Choctaws got to see some playing time for the first time. Sophomores Jaison Taylor and Jordan Goode took over at running back and showed the Choctaw Nation that the future is bright at this position. Goode would score the final touchdown of the game as he dove over a defender at the goal line for a 5 yard touchdown on 4th and goal.
On the night the Choctaws had 399 yards of offense with 383 of those coming on the ground. Murrell led the way with 244 yards on 26 carries and 4 touchdowns. Letrell Morrison added 46 yards while McCarty added 41. The Choctaws ended the game with no turnovers.
The Choctaws defense held the Tigers to just 94 yards of offense, (53 of these on the last drive of the first quarter). Cade Brown, Jaiqwon Lockett, and Jerrell Leverette each had sacks for the Choctaws. Brown ended another drive with an interception.
With the win Bibb moves to 2-0 on the season. This week the Choctaws start region play as they travel to Plantersville to play Dallas County. The game will start at 7pm.
