WINONA — Noxubee County was on the other sideline when Winona won its first football state championship. It was also the team that ended Winona’s season the last time the Tigers from Macon came to town.
Both pieces of history belong in Friday night’s story.
Winona brings a 6–0 record into its home meeting with Noxubee County, listed at 5–1 on MaxPreps, for a 7 p.m. kickoff. The NMSN Game of the Week, presented by Impact Health, puts two familiar opponents back together with a Region 4-3A result to settle and two of the area’s productive offensive players at the center of it.
For Winona, that player is senior running back Yoshawn Hudson. For Noxubee, senior quarterback Jykeim Goodwin gives a defense a second problem after it accounts for the passing game: getting him on the ground.
The championship is part of it. So is last November.
Winona’s 34–27 victory in the 2023 Class 3A championship remains the defining result between these programs. Noxubee led 19–6 at halftime at Ole Miss before Winona scored 28 unanswered points. Winona finished 15–0 and took home the school’s first football title.
But Friday is not their first meeting since that championship. Last season alone supplied two very different results. Winona won the regular-season game 31–26. Noxubee returned the favor in the playoffs, winning 54–21 at Winona on Nov. 28.
That playoff game was tied 14–14 after one quarter. Noxubee scored all 19 points in the second quarter and later added 21 in the fourth. Goodwin rushed for 160 yards and four touchdowns on 23 carries, according to the game’s MaxPreps box score.
The championship gives this matchup its larger history. Last November gives the current Winona defense a much more immediate reference point.
Hudson gives Winona a place to start
Winona has scored 289 points and allowed 59 through six games. Five consecutive victories have followed its 21–7 season-opening win at Southaven, with at least 48 points in each of those five. Last week’s 56–12 win at Aberdeen opened region play.
Hudson leads the offense with 134 rushing yards per game, 14 rushing touchdowns and 18 total touchdowns in the team’s posted statistics. He is also averaging 24.5 receiving yards per game. Those numbers make him more than a runner a defense can account for only when he takes a handoff.
Quarterback Landon Crawford has 10 touchdown passes. Ayden Johnson leads Winona’s receiving averages at 32.3 yards per game and has four touchdown catches. Noxubee’s challenge is to limit Hudson without leaving Crawford and Johnson favorable chances elsewhere.
Winona’s defense has its own players to watch. Alejandro White averages 9.3 tackles per game, Cameon Noel has four sacks and Jousha Fleming has three interceptions in the posted totals.
Noxubee has already won some difficult ones
Noxubee’s route to 5–1 includes a 21–20 win at Heidelberg, a 41–28 win at West Point and a 36–34 win over Shannon. Its only loss came at Louisville, 31–10, on Sept. 25. The response was a 62–0 victory over Philadelphia last Friday.
Winona is Noxubee’s region opener. With Choctaw County, Nettleton and Aberdeen still ahead, the trip offers a chance to begin that stretch by beating an unbeaten opponent on the road.
Goodwin has seven touchdown passes and six rushing touchdowns in Noxubee’s posted statistics. He averages 78.5 rushing yards per game. Adrian Bryant averages 83.7 on the ground per game, while Christon Glenn leads the team’s receiving averages at 48.5 yards per game and has four touchdown catches.
The important part for Winona is the number of players it has to account for. Goodwin’s running demands attention, but Bryant and Glenn give Noxubee other ways to move the ball. Forcing a third-and-long does not finish a possession when the quarterback can run for the conversion.
On the other side, Noxubee’s posted defensive leaders include Derrious Burkhalter at 12 tackles per game, Tavorise Johnson with seven sacks and Chaddrick Skinner with six interceptions. That is a significant test for a Winona offense accustomed to putting up points.
A result that matters beyond the rematch
Friday’s winner will leave with a region victory against a team that knows what a deep playoff run requires. Winona can reach 7–0 and 2–0 in the region. Noxubee can open its region schedule by handing Winona its first loss.
There is enough history here to bring people to the game. Hudson, Goodwin and the players around them will decide what gets remembered about this meeting.
Noxubee County at Winona kicks off Friday, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. Central. Watch the NMSN Game of the Week, presented by Impact Health, at WatchNMSN.com/watch.
Reporting sources: MHSAA’s 2023 championship record; 2023 championship reporting; 2025 regular-season result; 2025 playoff box score; Winona schedule and statistics; Noxubee County schedule and statistics. Statistics are the teams’ published totals checked Oct. 9; Winona’s statistics page was updated Oct. 7 and Noxubee’s Oct. 4.
