By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – Suntarine Perkins may have been wearing white, but he may as well have been wearing a red, white and blue Superman outfit.
Friday in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Gridiron Classic, Perkins was first among equals for Raleigh, leading the Lions past Noxubee County 55-52 in the Class 3A State Championship Game at M.M. Roberts Stadium on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi.
All Perkins did was run 32 times for 331 yards and four touchdowns in giving Raleigh (14-1) its first state title. The Tigers (10-5) were denied their sixth state championship in their eighth finals appearance.
“He makes this football team so much better,” said Raleigh head coach Ryan Higdon. “Our kids love him, and they love each other and trust each other. I think that was pretty evident today.”
Perkins didn’t just shine in the running game. He also caught three passes for 56 yards, had six tackles and a critical interception that led to what turned out to be the decisive score in the fourth quarter.
“We worked all week on the running game,” said Perkins, who has committed to Ole Miss. “Coach Hig told us to just pound the ball and keep pounding it on the ground.”
Perkins made his presence known on the Lions’ first play from scrimmage after Noxubee went three-and-out to start the game.
Taking over after a punt at their own 26, Perkins took a handoff and burst straight up the middle untouched for a 74-yard touchdown run. Perkins also kicked the PAT, the only time either team tried a kick for the conversion.
“This whole week, in practice, in school, Coach Hig said first play we were going to run 41 Swing for a touchdown,” said Perkins. “And we were able to do that.”
The fireworks, however, were just getting started as the two teams combined for a state championship record 107 points, breaking the old mark set last season in the Class 2A final between Scott Central and Leflore County.
The Tigers needed just three plays to reach the end zone, as sophomore quarterback Kamario Taylor found junior Jaylen King open on the left side. Taylor gave King a perfect pass en route to a 53-yard scoring play.
Quantarious Harrington ran for the conversion to give Noxubee County an 8-7 lead.
Raleigh only attempted four passes, but converted all of them, including a 19-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Jacob Bowen to junior Jay Owens on the next series, and Bowen found junior Hayden Bowen for a PAT pass.
Back and forth went the two teams through a wild first half.
The Tigers put back-to-back touchdowns together, a 36-yard pass from Taylor to senior Anthony Little and a 3-yard scoring pass from senior Lamar Stewart to Little, after recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff.
Perkins got the Lions back in the game with a 52-yard touchdown run, plus the conversion, early in the second quarter. But Noxubee came right back with a touchdown on a 34-yard pass from Taylor to Little.
Perkins got some help on the next drive, a nine-play, 68-yard scoring march. Senior Javarious Walker got the score on a 6-yard run, and junior Kyvryn Moncrief added the PAT to make the score 32-31, and that’s the way the first half ended.
In all, Raleigh ran for 494 yards, averaging 7.6 yards a run. Walker added 76 yards on 17 carries and Moncrief had 69 yards on 14 runs.
Raleigh staved off potential disaster right before halftime, after losing a muffed punt at the Lion 29. Two plays later, however, Hayden Bowen picked off a pass along the sideline to snuff out the Tiger threat.
“At first, I was nervous about it, because I was always worried about getting beat deep,” said Bowen. “But my coaches just said to play my game, and I was able to read the play to get a pick and get the ball back for us.”
The Lions tightened up their pass defense in the second half, and they were playing from ahead most of the way.
Raleigh took the opening kickoff of the third quarter and drove 66 yards on six plays for a touchdown. Perkins ignited the drive with a 24-yard run, then set up the score with a 26-yard run to the Tiger 8, and Moncrief got it in from there, with Perkins adding the PAT.
Noxubee County regained the lead one last time on the next possession, driving 78 yards on six plays, with Taylor hitting junior Dequadrion Welch for a 48-yard touchdown pass, with Stewart running the PAT for a 40-39 lead.
Raleigh took the lead for good, driving 64 yards on 10 plays, with Perkins scoring from a yard out and adding the PAT.
The Tigers needed just one play to respond, with junior Martavius Wicks bursting up the middle for a 72-yard scoring play. However, this time, the conversion was stopped, and the Lions maintained the lead.
“Our defensive coordinator, Coach (Jared) Smith does a great job making adjustments, and he knew what to do,” said Higdon. “We still didn’t make all the plays we needed to make, but our kids made enough plays today.
“I think our kids knew that if we could just make a couple of plays on defense, that they’re not going to be able to stop us. And, I think our defense played a little harder in the second half.”
And after all of the lightning plays that preceded it, the Lions turned to ball control on the ensuing possession, grinding out a seven-minute drive that ultimately went nowhere, when Perkins was stopped two yards short of a first down on a fourth-down pass play.
But that’s when the Lions finally made that critical play on defense, actually two of them back-to-back.
On second-and-8 from the Noxubee 27, Taylor was sacked for a 7-yard loss, then on third down, Perkins made a diving catch at the Tiger 23 for an interception.
“They went empty (backfield), so that put our secondary in black,” said Perkins. “I gave him a little inside leverage, so he’d run a slant, then I came underneath and got a pick out of it.”
Raleigh needed just three plays to pad its lead. On a third down play, Perkins burst up the middle for a 16-yard touchdown, then added the two-point conversion for a lead that would prove insurmountable.
“That (pick) was huge, just huge,” said Higdon. “They got in that formation, and I knew we were going to bring pressure hard. Luckily, they threw it to the receiver he was covering. And (Perkins) did what he’s been doing for three years.”
Noxubee County had on more burst of greatness left, as Taylor hit Little for a 28-yard touchdown pass with 2:03 to play. But, again, the Lions stopped the run for conversion.
Taylor completed 14 of 24 passes for 282 yards and five touchdowns, four of them to Little, who caught seven passes for 134 yards.
But the Raleigh ground game proved too much in the end. Perkins finished the game by converting a pair of third-down runs to run out the clock.
“We got back in the huddle, and we talked about how we need to get a big push,” said Perkins. “We knew if we got that, the game was over with.”
In three seasons since leaving Jefferson Davis County, where he had been an assistant coach, Higdon has brought Raleigh to the pinnacle in Class 3A. The Lions were the preseason No. 1 team in Class 3A, and they lived up to that billing on Friday.
“At the start of the season, I told them when rankings come out, they mean nothing,” said Higdon. “The only rankings that matter are on December 5. I said, if you’re No. 1 on December 5, you’ve done something.
And we’re there now. We tried to block that out a little bit, although we used it for a little motivation, when things dragged a little bit. But I think the kids took pride in it, and December 5, they’re going to be No. 1 in 3A.”
GAME SUMMARY
Class 3A State Championship
Friday at Hattiesburg
Raleigh 55, Noxubee County 52
Raleigh 15 16 16 8 – 55
Noxubee 24 8 14 6 – 52
First Quarter
R – Suntarine Perkins 74 run (Perkins kick), 10:55 (1 play/74 yards/0:10 possession).
NC – Kamario Taylor 53 pass to Jaylen King (Quanterious Harrington run), 9:52 (3/65/1:03).
R – Jacob Bowen 19 pass to Jay Owens (J. Bowen pass to Hayden Bowen), 7:33 (6/75/2:19).
NC – Taylor 36 pass to Anthony Little (Harrington run), 4:51 (6/75/2:49).
NC – Lamar Stewart 3 pass to Little (Stewart pass to Little), 2:43 (5/23/2:01).
Second Quarter
R – Perkins 52 run (Perkins run), 9:23 (10/92/5:20).
NC – Taylor 34 pass to Little (Stewart run), 6:59 (7/73/2:24).
R – Javarious Walker 6 run (Kyvryn Moncrief run), 2:54 (9/68/4:05).
Third Quarter
R – Moncrief 8 run (Perkins run), 9:08 (6/66/2:52).
NC – Taylor 48 pass to Dequadrion Welch (Stewart run), 6:24 (6/78/2:44).
R – Perkins 1 run (Perkins run), 10/64/5:18).
NC – Martavius Wicks 72 run (Run failed), 0:50 (1/72/0:16).
Fourth Quarter
R – Perkins 16 run (Perkins run), 2:37 (3/23/1:23).
NC – Taylor 28 pass to Little (Run failed), 2:03 (5/62/0:34).
TEAM STATISTICS
R NC
First downs 28 17
Total net yards 569 423
Rushes-yards 65-494 20-138
Passing yards 75 285
Comp-Att-Int 4-4-0 15-25-2
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-0
Penalties-yards 4-31 2-25
Punts-total (avg.) 0-0 (0.0) 2-81 (40.5)
Sacks 1-7 1-2
Third down 7-12 4-7
Fourth down 3-5 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Raleigh– Suntarine Perkins 32-331, Javarious Walker 17-75, Kyvryn Moncrief 14-69, Shamir Horne 1-20, Jacob Bowen 1-(-2); Noxubee County – Martivius Wicks 11-112, Quanterious Harrington 2-20, Ledareoun Mosley 4-9, Kamario Taylor 2-1, Team 1-(-4).
Passing
Raleigh– Jacob Bowen 4-4-0-75; Noxubee County – Kamario Taylor 14-24-2-282, Lamar Stewart 1-1-0-3.
Receiving
Raleigh – Suntarine Perkins 3-56, Jay Owens 1-19; Noxubee County – Anthony Little 7-134, Dequadrion Welch 2-66, Jaylen King 3-62, Ledareoun Mosley 3-23.
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
