On Friday, when the Starkville High School football team takes the field in Clinton, it will have been 21 days since the Yellow Jackets last played a game.
That’s a long time, Starkville coach Chris Jones said, but it could be a good thing.
The Jackets (7-2) had a week off Oct. 23 and had to shut down team activities and forfeit their game against Warren Central on Oct. 30 because of COVID-19 policies. The time away allowed Starkville to hit the “reset button,” Jones said.
Now, the Jackets — who returned to practice Monday with a bit of rust — must beat the Arrows (6-2) to make the MHSAA Class 6A postseason. Consequently, Starkville is immersed in what Jones called “playoff mode.”
“I think we’ve had a good week of practice, and hopefully we’ll have a good performance on Friday,” the coach said.
Jones admitted it’s hard for Starkville to find itself in this precarious position after losing just one official game beside the forfeit — a 15-9 setback against Madison Central on Oct. 16. But the Jackets won’t make any excuses, Jones said.
“We put ourselves in that situation with the one loss,” he said.
Center Hill (5-4) at West Point (6-3)
Like Starkville, West Point also finds itself in a win-and-in situation.
The Green Wave — winners of the past four Class 5A titles — have to beat Center Hill in Friday’s home game to be a top four seed in Region 1-5A and thus qualify.
But West Point is motivated to do just that, as evidenced by blowout wins over Columbus and New Hope.
“Everybody knows what’s at stake and what we’ve got to do, and everybody’s on the same page wanting to get it done,” Green Wave coach Chris Chambless said.
Chambless said West Point’s progress will be tested against a tough Mustangs team that runs an effective triple-option offense and finds particular success with the midline option.
“It’s a huge challenge for anybody to play them,” Chambless said. “They’re really good at what they do.”
Saltillo (1-7) at Columbus (1-8)
With one game to go in the regular season, Columbus is just 1-8.
But Falcons coach Joshua Pulphus said his team has been a lot stronger this year than it was in a 4-7 campaign in 2019.
“If we win Friday and finish 2-8, I wouldn’t say it’s a successful season, but we can see the growth in the program,” said Pulphus, in his second season as Columbus coach. “Last year, we weren’t competing in games as much as we were this year.”
A victory over Saltillo at home Friday would solidify that. Both teams are 1-5 in Region 1-5A play.
Pulphus said he hopes the Falcons will play a clean game in their final contest of the year and get some of their more inexperienced players some valuable game experience.
“We just have to make sure we get some work with some youth as well,” he said.
Caledonia (3-5) at Louisville (8-1), MHSAA Class 4A playoffs, first round
Caledonia opened up a 14-0 lead at Itawamba Agricultural in last week’s regular-season finale and appeared on the way to hosting a playoff game for the first time in school history.
Then the turnovers came.
Five fumbles. Two interceptions. And, ultimately, one loss.
“I thought we played well out of the gates last Friday night,” Caledonia coach Michael Kelly said. “Then we just couldn’t hold onto the football.”
With the 42-28 defeat, Caledonia will have to travel to face top-ranked Louisville in the first round instead. The Wildcats are 8-1, and their only loss came Sept. 11 against a potent Starkville offense.
Kelly knows a big, athletic Louisville defense without many weaknesses awaits his team’s “flex-bone” offense Friday night.
“We understand yardage and points will be tough to come by, but we’re just going to do what we can do and control what we can control and try to make it a real short and simple game,” Kelly said.
If Caledonia can pull the upset, it would not only extend the team’s season but keep things moving in the right direction, Kelly said.
“Any time you can play such a storied, traditional program like Louisville and have a chance to beat them, it would be big for our football program, big for our football team,” he said. ” … We look forward to the challenge.”
Tupelo Christian Prep (6-2) at West Lowndes (4-4)
West Lowndes already has its first-round Class 1A playoff game set.
Next Friday, the Panthers will play at unbeaten Biggersville, which knocked West Lowndes out of the playoffs with a 44-6 win in last year’s first round.
But the Panthers have one more regular-season game to go first as they host fourth-ranked Tupelo Christian Prep on Friday.
“I think we need this win,” West Lowndes coach Anthony King said. “We need to get the momentum going into the playoffs.”
The Panthers haven’t played since beating Noxapater on Oct. 16, having to forfeit the following week’s game against Okolona and canceling last Friday’s contest with Ethel.
Now, King said, they must play their way into shape for the playoffs. West Lowndes will let its starters play the whole game to help increase their conditioning level for the following week.
The Panthers had several players dinged up with injuries prior to their two cancellations, but King said those have healed themselves by now.
“The only good thing about being off is everybody coming back healthy,” King said.
Byhalia (2-5) at Noxubee County (6-1), MHSAA Class 3A playoffs, first round
Noxubee County coach Teddy Young has long said the Tigers must win at the line of scrimmage to achieve victory week in and week out.
That might be more of a challenge in Friday’s first-round Class 3A playoff game against Byhalia.
While the Indians are just 2-5, they’ve got several talented skill players and a big offensive line. Young said he expects Byhalia to come into the matchup and establish the run.
The Indians will meet an undersized but talented Noxubee County defensive line led by Travorus Hatcher and Ma’teo Chandler in what should be a critical clash up front.
“I’m looking forward to the matchup,” Young said.
Alabama: Pickens Academy (5-5) at Crenshaw Christian Academy (6-3), AISA Class A quarterfinal
Pickens Academy (Alabama) hasn’t made the AISA semifinals since 2015.
And while the Pirates face a tough quarterfinal matchup in Crenshaw Christian Academy on Friday in Luverne, Alabama, coach Scotty Pennington is cautiously optimistic for his team.
“I think we match up fairly well to them with the style of offense they run,” Pennington said. ” … It’s not going to be a lot of unusual stuff for our guys.”
Pickens’ “flex-bone” option offense has stalled in or near the red zone a lot lately as the Pirates dropped five of their past six games, and several season-ending injuries have caused Pennington to have to move several players around.
Still, he’s bullish on his team’s chances to pull off a big victory Friday.
“We’re a 4 seed playing a 1 seed, so that’d be kind of a great upset win right there,” Pennington said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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