STARKVILLE — Chris Jones insists success on offense is based more on the players, not the plays.
For much of Jones’ first season as head football coach at Starkville High School, the Yellow Jackets have executed at a high level and relied on a productive running game.
That plan changed in a hurry Friday night.
After watching his team gain 1 yard on five of its first six plays and being forced to punt twice, Jones went to quarterback Malik Brown with a simple directive: Get loose.
Brown heeded Jones’ wishes by completing a season-high 21 passes for a career-high 301 yards and three touchdowns to lead Starkville to a come-from-behind 38-14 victory against Northwest Rankin in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A, Region 2 game.
Brown’s performance marked the first time a Starkville High quarterback has eclipsed the 300-yard mark since Brady Davis in 2014. It also marked the first time the Yellow Jackets have relied on their passing game to lead them to a victory.
“If you give us the run, we’ll take it,” Jones said. “If you give us the pass, we’ll take it. It’s not about the plays we call, it’s about the players. I just want to make sure I’m giving these kids a chance to be successful, put them in good positions and make plays. They made plays, so I’m proud of them.”
Jones said Northwest Rankin sold out to neutralize his team’s running game with a slant rush that has defensive linemen attack gaps to the right or left of their pre-snap alignment in unison. Jones said Northwest Rankin was slanting away from the running back’s placement in the formation. Since Starkville runs almost entirely from the shotgun, almost all carries end with the running back carrying the ball toward the opposite side of the formation. As a result, slanting defensive linemen away from where the running back is positioned at the snap drives them into the running back’s path.
“A lot of people do it, but they don’t do it as much as they did,” Jones said, “and they were good at it.”
The results were immediate once Starkville shifted to its passing game. Starkville recorded its initial first down with a minute to go in the first quarter on a 7-yard strike from Brown to Cameron Hines. Brown said the 33-yard bomb to Rufus Harvey on the next play “set the tone.”
Harvey (three catches for 69 yards) and Hines (six for 89, touchdown) might have set the tone, but Cameron Gardner was the finisher. Gardner, a Mississippi State commit, had six catches for a game-high 96 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think he’s been well overdue,” Jones said. “It’s not his fault. I have to do a better job of getting him the ball and getting him better opportunities.”
Starkville entered the second quarter trailing 14-0. Both of Gardner’s touchdowns came in that period. His second, a 36-yard catch that tied the game, was one Starkville had set up all week.
“The safeties were creeping closer and closer, and a lot of times they were flat-footed,” Jones said. “It’s hard for a guy that’s flat-footed, when we have a guy going full speed, to turn his hips and make a play.”
Gardner said he saw the play develop just that way and “replaced him,” meaning he ran to the space the safety should have occupied. Gardner said Brown put the ball right on him.
“We worked on the safety coming down and it being man-to-man. I just had to win a one-on-one,” Gardner said.
Given the easy victories Starkville has had this season, there haven’t been many opportunities to play from behind or in close games. That’s why Jones was pleased to see the Yellow Jackets respond so quickly when they faced adversity.
“We battled,” Jones said. “We did what great teams do. We’re not there yet, but we’re taking great strides every day.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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