STARKVILLE — Avery Brown believes it’s all about how much heart you have.
The Starkville High School senior running back saw Olive Branch cut his team’s lead to 15 with 3 minutes, 54 seconds remaining Friday night. After a failed onside kick, the Yellow Jackets took over around midfield. On the ensuing play, Brown showed how much heart he had, dashing the Conquistadors’ hopes for a comeback with a 52-yard touchdown.
“I just had to do what I had to do to put the game away,” Brown said.
Brown rushed for 168 yards and two touchdowns to lead Starkville to a 46-24 victory at Yellow Jacket Stadium in the first round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A playoffs.
Starkville (11-1) has now won 11-straight games since a season-opening loss to Noxubee County in Macon. It will travel to Clinton (8-4) on Friday for a second round game at 7 p.m.
Brown played a key role in the victory, rushing for more than 100 yards for the third-straight game. Brown, who has 1,188 yards, rushed for 112 against Clinton last week and 125 against Warren Central on Oct. 30. He has three touchdowns in the last three games.
“He’s a good player and a good young man,” Starkville first-year head coach Ricky Woods said. “He’s really quiet. He just comes and plays, comes to practice and works hard, and is just a really quiet young man.”
Brown’s first touchdown — a 17-yard run — came with 7:41 left in the second quarter and gave the Yellow Jackets a 16-0 lead.
“We know he can do it,” senior quarterback Montario Montgomery said. “We know he can do it every week. We just got him the ball and he made plays.”
With senior A.J. Brown garnering a lot of attention at wide receiver, Avery Brown has been an underrated threat for the Jackets this season. Olive Branch (6-6) did what many opponents have tried to do, bracketing and double-teaming A.J. Brown and forcing Montgomery to look other places. Montgomery said earlier in the week that A.J. was part of the offense, but not the entire thing.
“A.J. is a luxury to any team,” Montgomery said. “If you have him, you’ve got to find ways to get him the ball. But if you can’t get him the ball, other guys have got to step up, and that’s what they did (Friday night). We were happy for them.”
A.J. Brown had four catches for 19 yards and a touchdown. Montgomery found him for a 10-yard touchdown midway through the first quarters to give Starkville a 7-0 lead. Brown was taken out of the game midway through the third quarter and didn’t return.
With A.J. not having one of his best nights, other wide receivers stepped up. Rontavis Clark led the team with seven catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Luke Davis had three catches for 38 yards, while Milton Smith had two for 17 yards.
“Everybody made plays, and that’s what we’ve got to do to be very successful,” Woods said. “We did and we’ve gotten a lot better. Every receiver we got caught big plays (Friday). That’s what we’ve got to do.”
Clark caught a 34-yard touchdown late in the first half to make it 23-3 lead. His final touchdown came with 30 seconds remaining in the first half to give Starkville a 29-10 halftime lead.
“We’ve got playmakers. All we’ve got to do is get into their hands,” Montgomery said. “They can make plays regardless.”
Starkville had 476 yards, while the defense held Olive Branch to 314 yards. Montgomery was 22 of 33 for 254 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a 1-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the second half to give Starkville a 36-10 lead. Wesley Albritton made field goals of 24 and 31 yards to help secure the victory.
Olive Branch quarterback Brady Burse threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns. Jay Banks Jr. caught 11 passes for 205 yards and two touchdowns. Jaylon Gale had three catches for 16 yards and a score. Luis Garcia made a 20-yard field goal, but had a 48-yard attempt blocked by defensive lineman Maleke Bell.
With two more wins standing in the way of a trip to the state championship game at Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Avery Brown is playing his best football.
“The difference for me is just coming out and making plays I need to make, going hard every single day, and never taking a play off,” Brown said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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