STARKVILLE — One of the better, low-scoring defensive struggles of 2010 took place when the Noxubee County High School football team defeated Starkville 14-7 in the regular-season opener for both squads.
Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell and Noxubee County coach Tyrone Shorter believe that type of encore is possible when the teams kick off the 2011 season at 7:30 tonight in Macon.
“We were able to make it a low-scoring game last season,” Mitchell said. “At the end, we had a shot. We will approach this game the same way. We hope to put ourselves in a position to win. Hopefully at the end, we can make the plays this time to come out on top.”
A year ago, Noxubee County advanced to the Class 4A North State championship game, while Starkville fell one game short of qualifying for the Class 6A playoffs. The roles were reversed last weekend when Starkville defeated McComb 7-0 and Noxubee County lost to Columbus 27-12 in the second annual Fall High School Jamboree at Mississippi State”s Davis Wade Stadium. The teams played two 20-minute quarters with running time.
While the Tigers felt like they might have some struggles early on defense, the performance at MSU was alarming.
“The whole purpose of game week has been shifting some people around looking for some better results,” Shorter said. “If we don”t stop anybody like we did against Columbus, we will have a struggle to win any games.”
The Falcons scored on three of their first four possessions and led 21-0 after one quarter. The Tigers responded as quarterback Deangelo Ballard hit Terrence Barron for a pair of touchdowns.
The day-long jamboree gave coaches an opportunity to work on things and gave them a chance to look at some of their future opponents. Mitchell was pleased with his squad”s defensive performance, but he didn”t read much into Noxubee County”s result.
“I don”t have any doubts we will see a different team,” Mitchell said. “The purpose of the practice is to see some players in different situations. They are playing at home, and they are expecting a good season. I expect a much different team when we play.”
Led by David Fair, Starkville”s defense was a bright spot last season in a 5-6 finish. The defense was at full force Saturday, as the Yellow Jackets held McComb to 76 yards. A 44-yard touchdown run by Gabe Myles accounted for one-third of his team”s offense.
“We are looking for some leaders,” said Mitchell, who is in his second season. “A year ago, five wins were acceptable. However, this year we want to do much better. Our offensive performance was not good enough to beat a lot of teams.”
Shorter can relate to that.
“We are excited about getting started,” said Shorter, whose team went 13-2 last season. “The preparation has been good. I like the attitude of the team and I like the work ethic. Now, we will see if that effort has been good enough to win the opener. Hopefully, we have made major strides from last weekend.”
Starkville lost all of its skilled position starters from last season. A talented and veteran offensive line will be asked to carry the bulk of the load, especially early in the year.
Defensively, the Jackets only allowed 22 points per game last season. Fair and Stanley Higgins will anchor a group of linebackers that echoes their coach”s sentiment of “bigger and better in 2011.”
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