STARKVILLE — Starkville High School football coach Jamie Mitchell can point to the game that started his program’s turnaround.
In 2011, his upstart Yellow Jackets program was able to knock off a ranked Madison Central team 16-14 to put Starkville on the map again as a state championship contender.
“I think that helped us as much as anything because we were in our early stages of getting the kids to buy in and we needed something good like that to happen,” Mitchell said. “That was something of a signature win for our program and it made a difference.”
It was also a emotional Friday with his mother, who has suffering from cancer in a Memphis hospital. Mitchell eventually drove back to Starkville to coach his team in its biggest win of his tenure up to that point. After that victory, Starkville won back-to-back region and Mississippi High School Activities Association North Half championships before earning the 2012 Class 5A state championship.
“I tell our players every year that if you look at the schedule and see Madison Central and didn’t circle it as important, something was seriously wrong with you,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the two things that make for a great rivalry is proximity and winning tradition. While proximity isn’t the key to the respectful contempt for Madison Central, it’s production in the wins department does make for a quality opponent in Class 6A, Region 2 for years to come.
“Well, I think us, Starkville and Columbus have separated from everyone else,” Madison Central coach Bobby Hall said on his radio show last week.
Last season Hall’s program took it to Starkville physically in a rain-soaked game in Madison that saw the Jaguars leave with a 24-8 victory.
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. Jacquez 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 that game,” Mitchell said. “I’m not trying to make excuses but it’s just unbelievable what happened to us in terms of health.”
After Friday’s 39-6 victory at Greenville-Weston, Mitchell declared this was the matchup “everybody was waiting on” for the region title in 2013. Mitchell had a different tone after Tuesday’s practice spent trying to figure out the Jaguars’ tempo offense.
“Our kids are not intimidated by Madison Central’s history and how well they’ve done things at this level,” Mitchell said. “You have to warn our players and coaches too because this game simply means one of us is going to be 4-0 in division on Saturday morning. That’s it.”
Friday night’s matchup at Yellow Jackets Stadium also matches two distinct styles of play with Madison Central’s offensive firepower against Starkville’s suddenly resurgent defensive front seven.
“Our defense and our quarterback play has been our turnaround this season,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been really good defensively since I’ve been here and it’s a point of pride as much as putting points on the board is to them I’m sure.”
Now that SHS (5-2, 3-0 Class 6A, Region 2) has been reintroduced to Class 6A, Mitchell and the rest of his staff fully expect Madison Central, a consistent powerhouse program in this classification, to be the team that will be more than a factor in the division race. Madison Central is also 5-2 and 3-0.
“We’ve both set ourselves up to be right here where we are heading into a big Friday night,” Mitchell said. “Playoff games are what separate great teams from good teams and I’ve always believed that but this game has a playoff atmosphere to it there’s no question.”
Follow Matt Stevens on Twitter @matthewcstevens.
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