STARKVILLE — Chris Jones’ list of inspirations is endless. When he talks about his offense, there are times he’s unsure which college coach he saw running the scheme he took and added to his playbook.
Jones knows he first saw the gadget plays used by Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. Jones might use them differently and less frequently, but he still uses them.
Jones used one of those plays Friday to help the Starkville High School football team score on its first possession of the second half in a 27-24 victory against Madison Central. That victory paved the way for Jones and Starkville (13-2) to take on Pearl (15-0) for the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A State title game at 7 p.m. Friday at Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.
Jones likely will have plenty of other trick plays ready to go, even after just showing one the week prior.
Jones recently installed a Power I look — a standard I-formation with a second fullback offset from the first one to the quarterback’s right — for use in short yardage situations. The focal point became running back Dreke Clark, so Jones had to adjust. His idea was to add a wrinkle in which Clark took the handoff, approached the line of scrimmage, and threw a jump pass to defensive end Jalil Clemons, who plays tight end in the formation.
“I just thought it would work with so much attention being on No. 3,” Jones said. “I thought they would bite in and they really did. The whole key was Jalil making a good catch. Dreke kind of got hit on the throw, so it wasn’t a perfect pass, but it was a good ball that gave Jalil a chance to make a play, and he did.”
The inspiration of it all — Malzahn — ran the same play Saturday from a different formation and scored on it in then-No. 6 Auburn’s 26-14 victory against then-No. 1 Alabama in the Iron Bowl.
Jones first heard Malzahn talk about how he integrated trick plays into his system at an Auburn coaching clinic when Malzahn was Auburn’s offensive coordinator under Gene Chizik. Jones said Malzahn said he tried to run two to three per game; Jones didn’t want to take it that far, but he said he was inspired by the idea.
“It’s basically off the same stuff you do, so they see the same stuff over and over and over and fall asleep with it,” Jones said. “All it takes is a couple of big plays to change the momentum. You always need those in your pocket.”
The jump pass from Clark to Clemons wasn’t the only time Starkville has used a trick play. Senior wide receiver Cameron Gardner also has thrown a pass that was intercepted in the end zone. In that situation, the play was executed well, but the defensive back beating the ball to the spot.
As much as Jones loves his gadget plays, he knows when not to call them. He said he needs to see the play run well at least once in practice Wednesday or Thursday before he feels comfortable calling it in a game Friday.
That almost kept the jump pass from happening against Madison Central.
Earlier in the week, Clark’s throws were inconsistent. Clemons said Clark couldn’t see over the offensive line and “he just threw it, hoping somebody would catch it.” The Yellow Jackets fixed some of those issues during the week, but still not enough for some of Jones’ assistants.
“You should’ve heard the headsets,” Jones said of when he made the call. “You know what? You can’t coach scared.
“How can you really go wrong at the end of the day, giving two of your better football players a chance to make a play?”
Jones said he likely will follow the same game plan against Pearl because he feels similar looks set defenses up for variations.
“We run a lot of stuff to try to set up other stuff, whether it’s now or later,” Jones said. “At this point there is no later, so what we got, we’re going to use it.
“I have a few more gadgets in my pocket.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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