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3A State Champs
"Our guys were not going to be beaten. They were going to win this football game."
There was an optimistic confidence Raleigh head coach Ryan Higdon felt on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at Davis Wade Stadium prior to the MHSAA Class 3A State Championship game.
“When our guys took the field today, I saw how excited they were,” said Higdon. “There wasn’t any tension. Our guys were more nervous and tight last week for South State than they seemed like they were today.”
That confidence got tested in the final minutes of Saturday’s game as Noxubee County drove down inside Raleigh’s 10-yard line with a chance to tie the contest and an extra point for the win.
But as Raleigh’s defense has done all year — in similar bend but don’t break situations — the Lions forced a turnover on downs inside their 10-yard line with four seconds remaining in the contest.
We didn't know if they were going to throw it or run it," said Higdon. "We just knew they were going to put the ball in Taylor's hands, and we'd have to stop him. And that's what we did."
The critical stop delivered Raleigh a 12-6 victory and the program’s second 3A title in four years.
"I'm so happy," said Higdon. "Each one of these has been special. I can't say enough how proud I am of these kids. A lot of people doubted them. These guys had something to prove back in June, and they had the mentality that they weren't going to get beat today."
"We were bend but don't break [on defense], that's for sure," Higdon added. "[Noxubee County] drove the field on us, but we made plays when we needed to make plays. This game was the opposite of the last time they played us. This game was lower scoring, but same stress level, same kinda heart attack mentality."
Raleigh knocked off Noxubee County in 2022, 55-52, to win the program's first title in school history.
Unlike in 2022, defense ruled the day. After a pair of touchdowns in the first half on one and two-yard drive finishing runs by junior quarterback Jamarcus McCullum, Noxebee County held Raleigh scoreless in the second half.
“We got slowed down offensively in the second half,” said Higdon. “Credit to our defense and Coach Smith for stepping up [to hold Noxubee County off].”
Noxubee County pulled within a score late in the third quarter on a 15-yard run by senior quarterback Jadien Taylor.
After Noxubee County forced two Raleigh punts in the fourth quarter — the last with 3:41 left to play — the game’s outcome fell into the hands of the Lions’ defense.
"We sorta stumbled early in the year with a few close scoring games," said Higdon. "[The media] started backing off from us. This group of guys wanted to prove we could still play defense."
"Our defense has been the strength of us all year," added Higdon. "Even when we weren't playing well on offense on Friday nights. Our defense kept us in ball games, and eventually our offense wore teams down. Coming into the year, we knew we would have to lean on our defense. And we have a lot of guys that play [both sides of the ball]. They had to be in shape, and our guys were today."
Jamarcus McCullum was named Most Valuable Player of the Game, scoring a pair of touchdowns on 10 carries for 33 yards. He also had eight tackles (four solo) on defense.
