STARKVILLE — Last week, Gabe Myles proclaimed his school was back on top.
Seven days later, Myles made sure the Starkville High School football team would be back for practice next week.
The junior quarterback used his right arm to help Starkville dominate Hernando 42-28 in a Class 5A first-round playoff game.
Myles was 12 of 14 for 216 yards and five passing touchdowns. He became the first player in Starkville High history to have more than 200 yards since Jaquez Johnson accomplished the feat last year against Tupelo.
Myles was able to rest nearly the entire second half in the win.
“When you got the offensive line blocking and our athletic receivers
catching the ball it’ll be perfect,” Myles said. “I was focused on getting the passes completed and then the receivers would make the plays for me.”
Starkville (10-2) got on the scoreboard on its first drive as Myles perfectly timed and placed a throw on a 15-flag route to junior wide receiver Jimmy Saulsberry to the corner of the end zone to give the Yellow Jackets a 7-0 advantage.
The drive was set up by the speed of junior Preston Baker. The 5-foot-5 athlete took the opening kickoff to the Hernando 25-yard-line and got the football on a fourth-down screen slant to keep the drive alive.
After an impressive drive by the Hernando Wing-T rushing offense, Ronnie Jones had the ball pop out of his right arm and recovered by sophomore defensive lineman Justin Ware.
Starkville’s next touchdown was on a bullet pass by Myles to junior tailback Devin Mitchell that went for 50 yards. Mitchell got behind the defensive back and capitalized on the lack of help from the safety on the blitz thanks to Myles, who used a quick release. The completion made Myles 7 of 8 for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
“He was unconscious in the first half,” Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell said. “We had some matchups we really liked with them being a man defense. We got a lot of guys that can run on offense, so that just played right into our hands.”
Hernando (5-7) used the momentum from a fumble recovery on an option pitch to cut the deficit in half on a 29-yard play-action pass from junior quarterback Travus McMahon to tight end Will Brown. McMahon executed a bootleg to find the senior receiver behind both safeties.
Starkville answered on a 42-yard touchdown pitch-and-catch from Myles to tight end Stanley Higgins, who finished the 76-yard drive by breaking a tackle and walking into the end zone.
Myles used his legs to step up a fourth touchdown pass of the first
half. He scrambled to avoid a blitz and wound up to throw a strike in between two defenders to find Saulsberry for a 28-yard score.
Starkville stuffed Hernando on a fourth-and-inches play in its territory, which led to Myles’ fifth passing touchdown, a dump pass to Baker that went for a 20-yard score. Baker caught the pass at the line of scrimmage and weaved his way through defenders and executed a 2-yard leap into the end zone.
The Yellow Jackets didn’t punt in the first 30 minutes and had 259 yards en route to a 35-7 halftime advantage.
“Our guys know what’s at stake, and they never get to rattled about anything,” Mitchell said.
Hernando cut the deficit late in the game thanks to senior Olajuwon Tanner, who carried defenders in for a 3-yard touchdown run and then intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards for another score.
Starkville will play host to West Point in a second-round game. The game will be a rematch of a regular-season game won by the Green Wave.
“We have to play the best because we believe we are the best,” Myles said.
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