STARKVILLE — Starkville High School defensive coordinator Chuck Friend hasn’t changed anything this week.
The former Yellow Jacket head coach believes in relying on past practice tactics, so he is sticking with the game plan he has used all season.
Friend hopes that strategy will work at 7 p.m. Friday when Starkville (7-3) faces Cam Akers and No. 2 Clinton (9-1) in a Mississippi High School Activities Association Class (MHSAA) Class 6A, Region 2 game.
“You’ve just got to be so disciplined and try to keep from having big seams to run in,” Friend said. “Nobody’s every stopped him, I don’t think. Warren Central did a pretty good job, but still, he made a bunch of big plays. When they played it right, they did a pretty good job. When they got greedy and left some space to run in, that’s when he really hurt them.”
A win will help Starkville (4-2 region) wrap up the region’s No. 2 seed. Clinton (5-1) already has clinched a playoff spot.
If Starkville loses, the reigning MHSAA Class 6A State champions need Murrah to beat Northwest Rankin to earn the No. 4 seed.
Akers, a five-star running back by 247Sports Composite and the top-rated recruit in the state of Mississippi for the 2017 signing class, is 113 of 179 for 2,184 yards and 23 touchdowns (four interceptions). He leads his team with 1,106 yards rushing and seven touchdowns.
In a 50-32 loss to Warren Central on Oct. 21, Akers was 18 of 34 for 283 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He had 136 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown.
Friend said he watched the Warren Central film and will try to implement some of those defensive schemes against Akers.
“With the spread offenses, you’re either going to line up in a three-man front or a four-man front,” Friend said. “We’ll do it out of a four-man front, and hopefully we can keep the running lanes down where he will have to run in traffic. That’s the best way to do it.”
Florida State, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Ole Miss and Mississippi State are among the 22 Division I schools that have offered scholarships to Akers.
Starkville coach Ricky Woods has given Friend control of the defense. He said his offense can help Friend’s defense.
“We’ve got to score and we’ve got to keep the ball,” Woods said. “Like when we go into their territory, it’s going to be four-down territory because Cam Akers can score from 99 yards just as easily as he can from 50. You either stop him or he gets loose. You look at the game different when you play him. As long as we’ve got the ball in our hands, he can’t score.”
The Yellow Jackets faced Akers and the Arrows twice last season. In a 45-27 win at Clinton in the playoffs, Starkville forced Akers to throw two interceptions. He had 276 yards passing and one touchdown and 202 yards rushing with two touchdowns.
Starkville senior defensive lineman Nelson Jordan, who has 57 tackles (14 for loss) and seven sacks, said full-out effort is the only way to slow Akers down.
“You can’t just be jogging around the field and be expecting to tackle him. You’ve got to run to the ball,” Jordan said. “Where he goes you’ve got to go because that’s the best player on that team, and there’s going to be a lot of plays where he makes a lot of plays on his feet, so you’ve got to run to the ball. You’ve got to be consistent and you’ve got to be in shape.”
Jordan said Akers’ ability to continue a play when it looks like it is over stands out when he watches film of Clinton.
Last week, Woods moved Starkville senior linebacker Willie Gay Jr. to quarterback prior to his team’s game against Warren Central. Gay responded with 319 yards rushing and five touchdowns.
But Gay saw limited action on defense. Woods will leave Gay at quarterback this week and Friend said they will use Gay in certain situations on defense.
“I’ve got faith in my defensive guys,” Gay said. “I’m not the type that, ‘Hey, the need me on defense, so I need to be out there.’ I’ve got faith in them. If I have to, if coach says, ‘Hey Willie, get in,’ I have no problem with that.”
Gay has 81 tackles (nine for loss), one sack, an interception, and a blocked field goal.
Sophomore Tonorris Brookins ran scout team quarterback. Friend and Gay agreed he has given the defense a glimpse of what they will see with Akers.
Friend hopes being consistent in practice will help his defense contain Akers.
“It’s pretty much similar to what we’ve always have done. Hopefully we can be a lot more disciplined than we have been in the past,” Friend said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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