BRANDON — Starkville High School junior defensive lineman Lorenzo Dantzler doesn’t feel like his team’s defense is underappreciated.
“Defense wins championships,” Dantzler said. “The offense puts up points. It’s a good combination. Each week we come out wanting to put on a show. Hopefully, we can put up some points on defense, too.”
Starkville posted its second-straight shutout in Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A, Region 2 action with a 42-0 rout of Northwest Rankin on Friday night at Cougar Field. The state’s top-ranked team improved to 6-0 and 2-0 in the region.
Starkville has allowed one touchdown in the past four games.
“You are talking one special unit on defense,” Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell said. “I think everybody looks at Brady’s numbers and thinks it is all about offense. Our defense is special. It can really play.”
Northwest Rankin (2-5, 0-2 region) had 151 yards of offense and nine first downs. In a similar refrain to Starkville’s 43-0 victory against Columbus last week, Northwest Rankin didn’t run a play in Starkville’s red zone.
The tone was set early when junior Terrance Grayer celebrated his first start of the season with an interception after Northwest Rankin had earned two first downs and was trying to battle back from a 12-0 deficit.
“It was a big play and really turned the game,” Grayer said. “We came out (on defense) and did what we have to do. We try to do the same thing against every opponent. It is a mind-set. Everything is personal for us. We want to stop the other team from scoring.”
After the interception, Starkville scored twice in the final 4 minutes, 18 seconds of the half to take a 25-0 lead.
Quarterback Brady Davis was 19 of 22 for 290 yards with three touchdowns. Davis found Raphael Leonard for his ninth touchdown and A.J. Brown for his eighth. Chris Rogers caught his second touchdown.
The biggest story on offense, though, was the return of Jacquez Horsley. Horsley, a senior and the team’s leading rusher, missed the game against Columbus with a hamstring injury. Against Northwest Rankin, Horsley had 13 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown. Matt Fuller and Davis also had rushing touchdowns.
“The return of Jacquez was really huge for us,” Mitchell said. “We would be a pretty good team without him in the lineup. However, when he is out there, we present a totally different running attack. We know how blessed we are to be that deep.”
Starkville scored on the opening possession for a sixth-straight game. When Davis hit Brown on a 27-yard scoring play, the lead grew to 12-0.
The game then hung in the balance, but Starkville’s defense wasn’t about to give the hosts any breathing room. A tackle for loss by A.J. Smith stopped one threat. Derion Ford had a sack to stop another.
Still, the interception by Grayer was the big blow. Starkville then quickly its halftime lead.
“We have been working real hard in practice,” Dantzler said. “We have some great guys up front. It has just been a matter of putting all the pieces together. We feel like we have the best defense in Mississippi.”
That title was in doubt earlier in the season. Noxubee County scored 19 points in the season opener and Oxford scored 29 points a week later. The Yellow Jackets have allowed one touchdown in the past four games.
“The coaches were really hard on us,” Dantzler said “They told us we had to stay focused. We had to stay humble and we had to work harder in practice. I think we have done that, and you see what it has meant to us.”
Grayer feels like the best is yet to come for the defense.
“We feel like we can become a championship team,” Grayer said. “Championship teams play really great defense. We like to force turnovers and get the big hits. If we can keep doing that, we feel like we can win the championship.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.