By Ben Wait
Special to the Dispatch
JACKSON — The Starkville High School football team found out Saturday night that giving up big plays in a championship game never is a recipe for success.
“I am shocked and hurt,” junior defensive lineman Jawon Johnson said of the big plays Starkville surrendered in a 38-21 loss to Picayune in the Class 5A state title game at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. “Some plays we messed up and had some busts, and our busts are what hurt us tonight.”
Picayune scored on its first play when junior running back Desmond Taylor raced 64 yards for a touchdown.
The Maroon Tide also had their longest pass of the year in the first quarter, when junior Ben Hickman found Justin Mark for a 79-yard touchdown pass.
Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell looked back on those plays after the game and shook his head.
“It keeps going back to those two big plays in the first half,” Mitchell said. “We give up a fullback dive on the first play of the game and then the deep post. Games like this you can’t give up the easy ones. You got to play every down, and they wanted it more than we did.”
The Maroon Tide relied on a dominant running game all season and attempted only eight passes Saturday night, but two went for touchdowns. Mark was on the receiving end of both, and Mitchell was impressed with his ability.
“Their wideout is just outstanding and just a big-time player,” Mitchell said. “He turned us in circles the entire night. He is probably the best wide out we have seen.”
Although the Maroon Tide didn’t have a touchdown play for more than 17 yards in the second half, the plays that set up the scores were big. Picayune gained 459 yards (314 rushing), even though Johnson and his teammates knew what to expect.
“We were expecting the run more than the pass,” Johnson said. “It was a good game, and I really wished we could have pulled that out.”
Controlling the run may be a good way of describing what Starkville did on defense. There were only a handful of plays that led to the 314 rushing yards, and, for the most part, they kept the Maroon Tide in check.
“I thought we held the running game in check for three quarters,” Mitchell said. “It doesn’t mean we stopped them, but I thought we controlled the running game somewhat. Then the fourth quarter we were keying hard on the fullback and they started running some split dive stuff. That was kind of the beginning of the end for us.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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