STARKVILLE — Starkville High School senior running back Matt Fuller was willing to cut his defense a little slack Friday night.
“I told them in practice that this was a rivalry game and I wanted them to put up a zero,” Fuller said. “They
allowed three points, but that is good enough. They played well, and I still love them.”
The state’s top-ranked team will have to look far and wide to have many areas of complaint. Against Golden Triangle rival West Point, Starkville dominated in a 34-3 victory before a standing-room only crowd at Yellow Jacket Stadium.
“This was a rivalry game, so we really needed to make a statement,” Starkville senior defensive lineman Derion Ford said. “As a defense, we have played well this year, but we haven’t played our best. We knew this was a big game, so we really wanted to come out and dominate. We made some things difficult for West Point, so I consider that getting the job done.”
The defensive effort for West Point (1-2) was strong as well. The exception was the Green Wave’s defense against junior wide receiver A.J. Brown, who was the only player to find the end zone.
Starkville senior quarterback Brady Davis found Brown four times for 195 yards and four touchdowns. Twice, Brown had two steps on any defender and it was pitch-and-catch on the way to the end zone.
“My eyes get big when I see the ball go up in there like that,” Brown said. “The only thing I am thinking is this my chance to make a big play. I am also thinking don’t mess this up. But it is exciting when you go out there and make a big play like that. It is pretty amazing we could do that four times in a game.”
Davis was 8 of 20 for 238 yards. For the season, he has thrown 13 touchdowns, including tosses of 2, 68, 70, and 55 yards to Brown against West Point. Playing for New Hope last season, Davis threw six touchdowns in a 76-50 loss to West Point.
“He’s quite an athlete,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “He poses a challenge defensively. We lost coverage a couple of times and it really hurt us.”
Starkville (3-0) scored on the first two possessions and hasn’t trailed this season. Michael Godley opened the scoring with a 54-yard field and Davis found Brown from 2 yards out on the next possession. The lead grew to 24-3 at halftime.
“We knew they would wanted to come out and run it down our throats,” Ford said. “Our job was to man up and stop that. Once we stopped the run, it pretty much limited what they could do. We wanted to set a tone, and we did that. We have been scoring a lot of points, but we wanted to come out tonight and make we gave our offense some help.”
Starkville (3-0) didn’t force a turnover. However, the Yellow Jackets had a pair of critical stops in the red zone. A 26-yard field goal by Omar Lemus accounted for the Green Wave’s points.
“The defensive effort was outstanding,” Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell said. “We really took some things away from them. I am really proud of our effort on that side of the ball. On offense, it is hard to match what this team did the first two weeks. Fortunately, we had A.J. on our side. He and Brady had something special going this week.”
Starkville senior linebacker Alonzo Flowers said he and his teammates talked about playing on another level this week. While Starkville had breezed to two wins, the Yellow Jackets had surrendered some big plays on defense.
“Physical defense,” Flowers said. “We take pride in being more physical than the other team. Up front, we really played some physical football tonight. It was great to be out there flying around and making plays. We know how good our offense is. We are hoping people take our defense lightly because of it.”
In the second half, Starkville turned to a dominant rushing attack. Godley also added another field goal — 49 yards in length. Fuller had 77 of his team-high 87 yards in a quickly played second half.
“This game is really important for both communities,” Fuller said. “Everybody is always talking about the Starkville-West Point game, so it was important we got the win. Last week (against Oxford) was such an emotional win. We had to make sure we still had something left for West Point, because a whole lot of people needed us to win this game.”
Brown said the emotional high of beating Oxford 52-29 took its toll on the team. The victory moved Starkville No. 1 in the rankings Tuesday. It also upped the ante for the rivalry matchup against West Point, which dominated in a 55-33 victory last season at home.
“We overcame a lot of adversity this week,” Brown said. “I don’t know what it was, but we didn’t practice well. We didn’t have our heads right. I know the coaches were worried a little bit. When the lights came on, we went back to being Starkville. That is a good thing.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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