Eric Rogers will remember a lot about his final football season at Starkville High School.
His favorite moment was Monday mornings at school after a victory. It was a unique feeling he had been waiting three years to experience.
“We had the students pumped after wins and got them on our side, excited, and they stuck with us throughout the season,” said Rogers, a defensive tackle.
Rogers helped orchestrate that success with a dominating season. The Dispatch’s Large Schools Defensive Player of the Year had 47 tackles, including a team-leading 19 for loss. He tied for team honors with six sacks, forced two fumbles, and recovered two fumbles to help the Yellow Jackets reach their first state championship in a decade.
Despite falling 38-21 to Picayune in the Class 5A state final in Jackson, Rogers takes pride in knowing he and his classmates helped Starkville recapture its football tradition.
“It was something I will never forget because of how fun it was to win with my friends,” Rogers said. “I’ll also never forget how the coaches came in and made us believe we could win.”
Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell, who is making Rogers’ college recruitment highlight tape, said Rogers was his best defensive player and blew up plays up the middle in the run and pass game.
“He dominated the line of scrimmage to the point that teams just didn’t have an answer for him, and that’s why he made more plays,” Mitchell said. “What he was great at was redirecting the ball away from him. He was fine with teams trying to run away from him because he’s so athletic on the line that sometimes he could run them down.”
Rogers was part of the class between two coaching staffs. He admitted to being unfamiliar with what it took to win at a high level, but that changed when Mitchell took over. Rogers said it wasn’t until this season that the players began to realize how hard it was going to be to contend for state championships.
The Yellow Jackets went 3-8, 4-8, and 5-6 in Rogers’ first three seasons, but his commitment to the program never wavered.
“We were struggling, but I was committed to playing football and to doing the right things to start winning,” Rogers said.
It wasn’t until Starkville trailed 23-5 in the fourth quarter in October at Ridgeland before the team realized it could beat anybody on its schedule. A 26-23 victory not only made for a made for a fun bus ride home, but it also gave Rogers and the rest of the seniors a major confidence boost.
“It was a huge comeback win (and it helped show) the young guys we’re pretty good,” Rogers said.
Mitchell and his assistant coaches are focused on helping their seniors play at the next level. Mitchell said Rogers is a late-blooming prospect who could capitalize on a fantastic senior season.
“He’s going to have an opportunity to make a team better at the next level because every junior college wants him, but he’s been looked at by Louisiana-Lafayette and UAB,” Mitchell said.
No matter where he plays, Rogers is part of the class that helped Starkville regain its championship swagger.
“I think the coaching staff did a great job making sure we didn’t settle for just being good, and that went for myself as well,” Rogers said. “I think we had a great season and made sure our final season was a success to everyone.”
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