STARKVILLE — Starkville High School football coach Jamie Mitchell had to think the news would have to only get better after his team’s 29-8 loss to Noxubee County last week.
It got worse — a lot worse.
Mitchell and the Yellow Jackets will be without senior quarterback Gabe Myles for at least a week, which means he will miss Starkville’s game against Madison Central at 7:06 tonight (CSS).
After struggling through a frustrating night where he was held to 6 total yards of offense, Myles suffered a severe ankle injury that will force the Mississippi State University verbal commitment to miss the game against the Class 6A Jaguars (1-0).
“We knew very early on in the week Gabe would likely to be unavailable for us after the injury he suffered this past Friday night and immediately began working on a plan for our backup,” Mitchell
said.
Sophomore quarterback Caleb Wilson, who has never started a varsity game, will replace Myles. Wilson is the son of MSU defensive coordinator Chris Wilson.
“Every coach in the world will say this, but we really do have all the confidence in the world in Caleb Wilson,” Mitchell said. “He’ll be prepared, excited, and already has the skill set to help us win football games and move the ball offensively.”
Myles, The Dispatch’s 2011 Player of the Year selection, was seen last week on the bench nursing his injured ankle on the Yellow Jackets’ final possession as Wilson moved the ball more than Starkville had all evening against the Tigers. Wilson began taking snaps with the first-team offense Monday as the coaches devised a game plan for the 6-foot-3, 180-pounder.
Wilson led Starkville to a 7-0 season in ninth-grade football and the Golden Triangle Athletic Conference championship.
“We’ve always been excited about the talent Caleb provides at the quarterback position, but it’s also obvious this is not the scenario we envisioned putting him in as coaches in order for him to succeed,” Mitchell said. “Our kids are resilient, though, and we will find a way to make the best of this situation.”
The major problem Starkville will have in Wilson’s debut is rebuilding the confidence of an offensive line that allowed six sacks to Noxubee County.
Starkville elected to take senior Jawon Johnson to full-time defense and lost senior Kyle Kinard to a early injury during the first week of summer workouts.
“We knew it would be a challenge with five new starters, including two sophomores and a freshmen,” Mitchell said. “What we didn’t know is they would be that overmatched as they were Friday.”
However, Mitchell joked his team has a plan to stop a repeat of what happened Friday.
“Yeah … don’t play Noxubee County’s defense anymore, and I don’t think we have to again this season,” Mitchell said. “Give Noxubee all the credit in the world because that’s as good of a defensive front as we may see all season.”
Madison Central will challenge with a dual threat quarterback in 6-foot Jake Schwartz, who had 319 total yards and three touchdowns in a 31-28 loss to Olive Branch High on Friday.
A 20-yard field goal by Olive Branch’s Zack Wier with 6.7 seconds left in the game gave Olive Branch the victory.
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