STARKVILLE — Starkville High School football Jamie Mitchell can’t figure out the playoff system in the state of Mississippi.
His Yellow Jackets won the Class 5A, Region 2 title with an undefeated record, which included a 26-23 victory at Ridgeland, but his team still will have to make a second trip to play the Titans at 7 tonight to decide the Class 5A North State champion.
“I just got off the phone with the new Mississippi High School Activities Association Director Don Hinton and he assured me changes would be discussed for next season,” Mitchell said. “It doesn’t help us now because we’re getting a message suddenly saying the game will be at Yellow Jackets Stadium.”
One of the reasons Starkville (11-2) isn’t enthusiastic about going to Ridgeland again is the Titans gave the Yellow Jackets their biggest challenge in region play this season.
“When you look that game and think we were down 23-5 in the fourth quarter and came back to win, there’s just not many high school teams that can say they pulled out a win like that,” Mitchell said. “Our kids overcame early mistakes and adversity, and I was so proud of them for that against a quality opponent.”
One of the biggest concern for Ridgeland (10-3) is the minus-16 rushing yards it had in the loss. Starkville controlled both sides of the line of scrimmage and limited tailback Quardarius Armour to a season-low 15 yards on 10 carries. The senior, who has 1,895 yards this season, rushed for 221 yards on 32 carries last week in a 10-9 second-round victory at Center Hill.
“It was such a weird game because I felt like we dominated for four quarters and then had no business winning the football game,” Mitchell said. “I don’t remember another game I’ve coached that was like that.”
The difference between for Starkville since the first meeting is the development of quarterback Gabe Myles. Myles’ first pass against Ridgeland was intercepted by Jymal Ellis at the line of scrimmage and returned 38 yards for a touchdown.
Myles, a junior signal caller, has 1,797 passing yards, but he led the comeback with 299 total yards and overcame three turnovers (two interceptions, fumble).
“Our offense has really stepped up the last part of the season,” Starkville High center Kelvin Young said. “We know our defense is always going to make plays. However, you can tell the offense has more confidence now. Every time we have the ball, we feel like we can move the ball down the field and score points.”
A win tonight would earn Starkville its first trip to a state title game in Jackson in almost a decade.
“Everybody is asking me what I thought the difference was in our win last week against West Point, and it’s not that complicated,” Mitchell said. “It was a six-point victory and we got two turnovers that were converted into touchdowns. These games always come down to who makes less mistakes. That’s the key.”
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