STARKVILLE — Four weeks ago to the day Friday, Starkville High School football coach Chris Jones stood on the field at Noxubee County after a 40-point win. Jones had just watched his defense hold its first opponent to barely a yard per carry, but he said the younger players in key roles were only going to get better.
Starkville’s performance Friday night proved Jones right.
Starkville held Meridian to 137 yards on 64 plays, barely over 2 yards per play, and intercepted three passes in a 40-6 win.
“That’s what we preach. We do fundamental drills every day, and that’s what we want to drill in our defense, recovering fumbles and all that stuff,” Jones said. “That’s what great defenses do.”
Starkville (4-1) did just that at all three levels of the defense. It started with the defensive line, which helped hold Meridian to 10 yards on 31 carries thanks to two sacks and an eye-popping 13 tackles for a loss. Zach Edwards led that group with nine tackles, a sack, and three-and-a-half tackles for a loss.
Jalil Clemons added three tackles for a loss, while Josh Lawrence had five tackles.
“I think our depth is one of the things we have an advantage with because we have kids that play 25, 30 snaps before 50 snaps,” Jones said. “I think that allows us to keep guys fresh to play faster, harder.”
The Yellow Jackets also were able to get constant pressure on the quarterback, which was a big part of the game plan. Jones and defensive coordinator Kevie Thompson said Starkville’s No. 1 objective was to contain quarterback Tevarrius Adams, which it did by hurrying him seven times. Lawrence was credited with three and Atavius Jones with two.
“Our plan all week was to go in and contain their quarterback defensive back-wise, do your job on the extended play,” Jones said. “They like to scramble around and defensively we can lose contain, so I thought we did a good job of that tonight.”
Linebacker Jacob Williams said the defensive line had a great week of practice, which he benefited from when he intercepted a pass in the first quarter and returned it 56 yards for a touchdown. He bowled over a few players to get there.
“I just had to find a hole, find a hole to go through,” he said.
The defensive backs made their impact, as Corbin Grantham and Myles Stone had interceptions. Grantham nearly had a second interception in the second half, but he was called out of bounds on the catch.
The interceptions took away Meridian’s vertical passing game. Williams made his interception by grabbing a pass intended for a receiver down the seam that could have gone for at least 20 yards. Stone did the same in a one-on-one situation down the sideline.
The turnover threat downfield combined with the inability to run the ball forced Meridian to resort almost entirely to screen passes. It’s also why, if taking away the 40-yard completion for a touchdown after the game was well in hand, Meridian would have had just 87 yards passing on 15 completions out of 32 attempts.
Jones still feels his younger players are going to improve. At this point, it is less honest self-evaluation and more of a warning for the rest of Class 6A.
“We still have a lot of getting better to do,” Jones said. “We’re still young in some areas, but the more we play, the better we get.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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