Starkville High School football coach Jamie Mitchell had to like almost all aspects of his team’s Class 6A, Region 2 matchup Friday night against Warren Central.
Mitchell is leading a team considered by many to be the state’s best, regardless of classification. A longtime Mississippi coaching veteran, Mitchell was a winner at each school before taking over for Bill Lee at Starkville High. In 2012, Mitchell led Starkville to the Class 5A state championship.
Despite all of his success, Mitchell admits the 2014 Starkville High squad is the best team he has coached. This season, some have wondered if this team is the best Class 6A has seen in its short history.
Starkville won its first nine games easily. Then Friday night came along.
The Warren Central defense held up its end of the deal in one of the biggest regular-season games to date before Starkville rallied for a 27-17 win at Yellow Jacket Stadium.
Before the game, Starkville hadn’t trailed all season. But Warren Central led 17-0 midway through the third quarter. Starkville then scored 27 points in the final 14 minutes, 25 seconds.
Starkville wide receiver A.J. Brown called the game “intense.” Defensive lineman Lorenzo Dantzler called it a “four-quarter battle.” Running back Matt Fuller called it “the biggest case of adversity we faced all season.”
Mitchell praised the Warren Central defense and complimented his kids on their gutsy effort. He didn’t use the word “needed,” but I am sure it would have applied.
Starkville dominated its first nine games. The Yellow Jackets’ smallest margin of victory had been 23 points in a 52-29 win against Oxford.
Starkville scored on the opening possession of the game against eight-straight opponents.
If you score first and never trail, that’s very good combination.
“We know what we are capable of doing when we play our best,” Dantzler said. “When everything is clicking on offense, we are hard to slow down. When we are all communicating on defense, the other team does not have a chance.”
In region play, Starkville posted four-straight shutouts before Murrah scored six points. In that game, the Yellow Jackets turned a 7-6 second-quarter lead into a 21-6 halftime lead in a couple of minutes.
“One big play can turn a game around,” Brown said. “That is all it takes. Once we find the end zone, we feel like it is our game.”
The wait for the end zone had to feel like an eternity Friday night. Warren Central led 9-0 at halftime and made it 17-0 on its second possession of the second half.
Starkville was dealing with a set of emotions it hadn’t experienced all season. It was dealing with the best defense it had lined up against this season. It also was dealing with wind gusts of 20-30 mph.
Starkville’s two biggest weapons — the deep ball thrown by Brady Davis and the punting/place kicking ability of Michael Godley — were canceled by a wind that made any pass or punt an iffy proposition at best.
Meanwhile, Warren Central likes to run the football and to play defense. Windy weather doesn’t factor into those things.
So there Starkville was down 17-0 with almost no signs of offensive life. With a challenge from Clinton waiting in the final week of the regular season, Starkville was looking at the possibility of going from being ranked the state’s best team to third place in its region in seven days.
“When I went into the locker room and saw no one was yelling and that there was no finger-pointing, I had a peace about the game,” Mitchell said. “I felt like we were going to turn it around. I had no idea how. Then we go from down 9-0 to 17-0, but I always felt like we could find a way.”
Defensive standout Abdural Lee had an opposite view from his spot in the locker room. He said the coaches were yelling about missed tackles and missed assignments. An attempt to motivate hadn’t been needed all year. Lee also agreed with Mitchell that the Yellow Jackets left full of confidence and ready to excel in the final 24 minutes.
From there, the defense returned to form. Lee had two forced fumbles and a recovery, and Dantzler had a recovery and Terrance Grayer had an interception.
While the defense did its thing, the offense came to life. Once Davis hit Brown for the game’s first touchdown, the floodgates opened.
Starkville found the second gear and put together a stretch of four scoring drives in five possessions. The final horn sounded and Starkville moved to 10-0.
The next challenge will be Friday night in Clinton in a battle for first place in the region. On paper, it should be another heavyweight battle that provides preparation for the state playoffs.
For Starkville, it had all come so easy until Friday night, but the latest victory will help make the Yellow Jackets even better.
Scott Walters is a sports reporter for The Dispatch. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dispatchscott
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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