Neshoba Central High School's Kavonte McCarty finds some running room up the middle against Philadelphia High School Friday night.

PHILADELPHIA — Neshoba Central High School quarterback Corey Deaton lined up wide with the Rockets facing a third-and-goal from the 13-yard line.

Backup quarterback Adam Shumaker took the shotgun snap from center and lofted a pass to the corner of the end zone. Deaton utilized his strong frame to out position the defender and muscle the ball from the air to put his squad ahead 6-3 midway through the first quarter.

From there, the Rockets handed the game over to their defense and special teams. Both units managed to come up with key plays in the most opportune of times, and Neshoba Central went on to defeat Philadelphia High School 20-9 Friday night.

“I trusted myself to go up and get it,” Deaton said.

As the final horn sounded, the Rockets student section rushed the field to celebrate with players and coaches as Neshoba Central notched its first win over its crosstown rival since 2008.

“This means a lot to me; (Philadelphia) has been bickering all week, but the scoreboard tells it all,” said Deaton, who finished with 31 rush yards in the win. “This is something that will be with my all the time and I will always remember.”

Neshoba Central (1-2) held Philadelphia to 92 yards of total offense, recorded seven sacks, and recorded a blocked kick, a interception and a safety in the victory.

“We try to put our most aggressive guys on defense,” Neshoba Central coach Brian Ford said. “We know we’ve got to be really good on defense, and (Friday) they played harder than they had all year. They came up really big for us.”

Defensive lineman TJ Tanksley led the Rockets defensive charge up front with 14 tackles.

“We were able to use our speed (Friday),” the sophomore defensive lineman said. “I’m very proud of my teammates. We worked hard for this, and this win means a lot.”

Neshoba Central led at the half 6-3. Senior running back Kavonte McCarty ran for two touchdowns in the second half, and finished with 94 yards on 17 carries. The second touchdown run was setup by a blocked punt from Isaiah Renfroe Taylor.

“Our players believe in him, and they know he’s our go-to-guy,” Ford said. “We need him full force to fit in with our other guys, and we feel like we have a chance to compete.”

Philadelphia was held to just 37 yards of offense in the first half.

“(Neshoba Central played well); they have a good football team,” said Philadelphia interim coach Steve Cheatham. “They played well. We gave them a lot of things — we gave them a blocked punt (that set up a touchdown), we gave them a safety. Little things that we have to do better, and we are going to be better.”

The Tornadoes (2-1) received their only score on a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown from Aquil Hickman with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

“This game right here doesn’t mean a thing; December is when we want to still be playing,” Cheatham said. “I don’t really care about this game. It’s a rival game, and I told the players, ‘Hey, it’s all cool. It’s all good.’ We’re going to come back Monday and get better.”

Philadelphia travels to Louisville High School next week, while Neshoba Central travels to West Lauderdale High School.

“I’m just so happy for my kids and my coaches and our student body and community,” Ford said. “This is so big for them, and I wanted it for them. But it was kind of nerve-racking this week, because you know how important it is, and you want the kids to go out and really enjoy it, and it’s good to see their hard work pay off for them.”