STARKVILLE — The nightmare continued Friday night for the Starkville High School football team against quality competition.
The list of challenges in the non-region schedule got longer for coach Jamie Mitchell as his team fell to West Point 47-22. The defeat was the second-worst loss since he took the job in Starkville.
In addition to the loss that dropped the team to 1-3, Mitchell will have to revamp the lineup after another devastating injury on offense.
For the first time, Starkville’s third-year coach used the word that made him sick to describe his football team: “quit.”
“I thought the game swung their way in the fourth quarter and just wouldn’t stop,” Mitchell said. “There’s no excuse for how we played because we have to compete better when the chips are down. I felt like we quit and gave in a little late, and that’s not going to be our style.”
Starkville knew West Point (2-1) was going to try to run the football Friday night. That knowledge didn’t help the Yellow Jackets slow an attack that rushed for 335 yards.
Mitchell told his team in the final huddle Thursday night if the defense didn’t stay true to its assignments the game “would get embarrassing,” and that’s what happened.
“I felt like we played great for three and a half quarters and then the momentum just completely flipped on us,” Mitchell said. “They converted every big play, and if we win half those plays, we win the ballgame.”
West Point used its dominant rushing attack to match the most points a Starkville team has allowed under Mitchell.
“I didn’t think we would put up that many points,” West Point coach Chris Chambless said. “As long as we aren’t making minor errors, I know we can move the ball on people.”
West Point (2-1) had scoring drives of 11, 16, and 14 plays in the first half thanks to the inside running of junior tailback Aeris Williams and the Green Wave’s ability to blow the Yellow Jackets off the line of scrimmage on nearly every play.
“I really think our offensive line did their job tonight,” Chambless said. “I don’t think our backs and Tez got touched, and that’s a credit to the big guys up front.”
Williams had a game-high 164 yards on 25 carries and four touchdowns. The junior, who has received several looks from Bowl Championship Series schools, had 109 yards in the first half.
After being unable to stop West Point on its first two possessions, Starkville tried to put the ball in the air with the lead and less than three minutes left to go before halftime. The decision left just enough time on the clock for West Point to go 58 yards and score on a touch pass on a fade route to the corner of the end zone from Tez Lane to Williams.
Lane, who isn’t known as a passer, had 145 of his 156 yards on the ground.
“I can tell you what we were running because they couldn’t stop it all night,” Lane said. “We started running that 24-power down their throat and we told coach, ‘Hey, they can’t handle it in between the tackles.’ ”
Senior Gabe Myles, who missed the past two games due to an injury, helped Starkville take an 8-0 lead with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Preston Baker.
However, West Point limited Myles’ dual-threat abilities and forced the Mississippi State University verbal commitment to become a pocket passer. Myles was 11 of 18 for 153 yards.
To compound matters, Starkville lost Baker, a standout tailback and slot receiver, to a severe leg injury. Starkville has now lost every offensive skill position starter to injury in the first three weeks.
The extent of Baker’s leg injury wasn’t known at press time, but he was carted off the field and taken to the local emergency room Friday night for evaluation.
After suffering so many injuries, Mitchell said Thursday a victory Friday and a 2-2 non-region mark would be “a minor miracle.” Now Starkville must retool every aspect of its game plan on both sides of the ball as it enters a bye week. Mitchell and his coaches will have to deal with a roster filled with young and inexperienced players.
“We’re just down to paper thin on offense and worse, so we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and first find a healthy 22 players that can play at this level,” Mitchell said.
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