“Look at us: We’re at Leflore County,” senior star Dekari “Turbo” Johnson said while motioning to the Tigers’ worn-down athletic facilities. “We’ve always been underdogs. It just makes us want to go even harder.”
In just a few words, Johnson captured why Leflore has thrived as underdogs in the playoffs this year, defying the odds to reach the North State championship game for the first time in school history. The Tigers (9-3) might not be underdogs on Friday night when they visit Charleston (9-3), a District 3 foe that they already beat 30-22 in September, but Leflore will nevertheless bring its same fighting spirit into the Class 2A semifinals.
“We just got to come out with a chip on our shoulder,” senior defensive tackle Javoris Sherrod said. “We got to play like we’re from Itta Bena, and from nowhere else. We have nothing in this town — we got to bring a ‘chip to this town.”
Sherrod, a 6-foot-4, 285 pounder, is a big part of a red-hot Tigers’ defense that appears to be playing its best football of the year now when it matters most. In last week’s 14-13 win at East Webster, Sherrod had seven tackles as the front seven contained Wolverines running back Zy Ford, recently named 2A Mr. Football. Leflore’s secondary also secured three interceptions, largely shutting down East Webster’s passing game.
“Seeing all the people in the stands, it gives you chills,” Johnson said. “Leflore hasn’t been this far ever, so it’s all new to us and we’re taking it one game at a time.”
Johnson, the centerpiece of the Tigers’ offense, was kept out of the end zone for the first time all season last week. He still tallied a game-high 85 rushing yards, but running mates Dezmond Ray (117 total yards, one touchdown) and Ivory Lampkin (40 rushing yards, one touchdown, 10 tackles on defense) also stepped up to get the job done in the quarterfinals.
Now for the second week in a row, Leflore is in uncharted territory as a football program. The Tigers are one win away from becoming the first local public school to play for a state title since 1988, when Greenwood lost 23-19 to Warren Central.
“We understand that we’re not a big-name program,” fifth-year head coach Eric House said. “But we work just as hard as any other program, so that’s the thing we preach to our kids. They put one leg in their pants at a time just like us. So we just got to keep working, and the sky is the limit.”
- Contact Riley Overend at 662-581-7237 or roverend@gwcommonwealth.com. Follow @OverendOut on Twitter.
