MADISON — Jake Schwartz could sympathize with Starkville quarterback Caleb Wilson making his first career high school from behind center.
Schwartz had already had a road start under his belt last week in a close loss to Olive Branch High School and the speed of the game had already slowed down for the Madison Central junior quarterback.
It was the leadership and big-play combination of Schwartz that led the Jaguars to a 24-8 victory in a game that was more about decision making than big play offense.
“Your second start, and with this one being at home, is always going to be easier than your first,” Schwartz said. “I wish we could’ve thrown the ball more but the more you play, the more you realize quarterback play is about making good decisions.”
In his first-ever career start, Wilson had moments that made Starkville High School Jamie Mitchell see the potential in his future.
However, as expected the sophomore also had some critical turnovers that led to momentum shifting to Madison Central (1-1) and the Jaguars finding the end zone.
“I thought Caleb did some really good things tonight under the circumstances and I also thought there’s a lot of things he’ll take from this game and learn,” Mitchell said.
Wilson, who is the son of Mississippi State University defensive coordinator Chris Wilson, finished the game 5-foot-14 for 51 yards passing and had some positive runs on either scrambles or direct quarterback draw plays. Wilson also had two turnovers (an interception and a fumble) with the final giveaway leading to Madison Central’s final score of the night.
The positive moments came for the 6-foot-3 sophomore when both teams came out of the locker room for the second half. Wilson led a brilliantly executed five-play, 67-yard drive that included a play where he rolled to his right and found tight end Stanley Higgins in stride for a 25-yard pass play. The drive would end with Preston Baker scoring the Jackets only touchdown on a two-yard run and giving SHS a 8-7 lead in the third quarter.
On an extremely wet night on the field turf at Madison Central, both teams combined for 11 fumbles in what was an poorly executed game for most of the first half. The heavy rain gave Wilson an opportunity to settle down his nerves by relying on the Yellow Jackets (0-2) run game that totaled 100 yards in the first half. Starkville sophomore tailback Jaquez Horsley would have 62 yards on 10 carries as both teams headed to the locker room but Madison Central’s defense held deep in the red zone three times to keep Starkville’s offense scoreless.
“We had our opportunities and there’s no question about that but we were eventually without our three best football players at some point in the game,” Mitchell said. “I’m not trying to make excuses but it’s just unbelievable what’s happening to us in terms of health. We have to get some guys well.”
Schwartz, who ended with 204 total yards (157 passing, 47 rushing) looked up at the sky in pre-game warm-ups and realized the gameplan might have to be scratched at least early on because of the weather.
“I thought we might be able to throw and then it just came down so hard, it was impossible,” Schwartz said. “At that point, we had to get committed to a run game.”
It was Madison Central head coach Bobby Hall that came to his quarterback with a different plan.
“God clearly didn’t want us to throw the football tonight because we came in here wanting to do that 40 to 50 times knowing how they gamble in the secondary,” Hall said.
When Hall gave Schwartz the green light to air the football out, the Jaguars quarterback found senior wide receiver Keith Williams for two big plays. Schwartz was able to fit a ball into tight coverage to Williams and the 6-foot-1 receiver broke two tackles on the way to a 63-yard touchdown strike.
“What impressed me about Jake tonight is his ability to make some plays either with his feet or arm when the first option wasn’t there,” Hall said. “That’s the sign of a good leader and of course a good quarterback.”
Wilson was making this start due to a severe ankle injury of senior Gabe Myles, who is a verbal commitment to MSU, and any chances Myles had to possibly play ended with the rain making his injured ankle even more at risk to further damage.
“We’ll just have to see with Gabe in the next couple days but I’m sure what the plan is for him,” Mitchell said. “All I know is we need him and a lot of guys to get healthy,” Mitchell said.
Yellow Jackets would also lose senior linebacker David Fair and running back Ladorious Pittman to injury in the second half.
Starkville will be on the road again next week when they head to Tupelo still searching for their first win of the 2012 season. Madison Central will travel to Petal High School next Friday night.
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