STARKVILLE — Welcome to the Class 5A, Region 2 championship game in the first weekend of October.
The winner of the game at 7 tonight between the Starkville and Ridgeland high school football teams will have the control of first place in the region.
“I think both programs understand that whoever wins this game is going to have to screw it up in order to lose the region title,” Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell said. “We’ll find out how good we are (tonight).”
Starkville, the preseason favorite to win Region 2, will face Ridgeland (4-2, 2-0 region), the back-to-back defending region champion, in a game that will feature two of the only three undefeated teams remaining in the region.
Mitchell has been preaching to Starkville (4-2, 2-0) that no matter how solid it thinks it is playing after winning four of its past five games, it still doesn’t have a win outside of Yellow Jackets Stadium.
“We are still winless on the road after losing at Noxubee County and West Point, so we don’t think we’ve proven anything,” Mitchell said. “Championship programs win when things aren’t going your way and you’re uncomfortable. Most of the time those things happen on the road.”
Ridgeland will try to win up the middle by handing the football to senior tailback Quardarius Armour. The 5-foot-9 converted defensive back has 909 yards on just 109 carries and 11 touchdowns. Two weeks ago, Armour had 246 yards on 29 carries and three touchdowns in a 36-6 victory against Canton.
“This is a winnable game for us, but we have to play sound football and not turn the ball over,” Ridgeland coach Kenny Burton told the Madison County Journal. “We also have to make sure we’re in the right spots and not get caught out of position or they will burn us.”
In its two losses, Starkville has allowed more than 200 rushing yards, and Mitchell understands containing Armour will be another challenge for a defensive front that the second-year coach said is “ahead of schedule” in terms of development.
“I think (Armour) is one of the top three tailbacks we’ve seen this season, and he’s very dangerous when you see him on film,” Mitchell said. “It’s the last thing we told them this week — run the ball, stop the run, and protect the football. We have to do what we do best in a cleaner fashion in a hostile environment.”
Mitchell is 10-8, since accepting the job at Starkville High, and he has been preaching this road test is the type of game the Yellow Jackets program won from 1999-2003 when they made postseason appearances.
“One of the reasons I took this job here in Starkville is the brand name of the program and winning these types of games consistently is what we have to do to get that back,” Mitchell said. “There’s a lot of football left to be played, but we realize we’re the region favorite and are kids are excited to prove that.”
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