STARKVILLE — Austin Morris wanted to hold on to the football.
But it didn’t matter Morris didn’t catch the ball because he broke up a would-be touchdown to seal the Starkville High School football team’s 24-21 victory against Noxubee County High on Friday night in the season opener for both teams at Yellow Jacket Stadium.
“I just saw the ball and reacted,” the SHS senior defensive back said. “I hate I dropped it, but big-time players make big time plays in big time games.”
The Yellow Jackets, the reigning Class 6A State champion, decided not to kick from their own end zone. Instead, punter Wesley Albritton took a knee for a safety, cutting the lead to three with 3 minutes, 58 seconds remaining.
The Tigers, the two-time reigning Class 4A State champion, used two pass completions from quarterback Maliek Stallings to keep the drive alive. The Tigers faced a third-and-2 from the Yellow Jackets’ 9-yard line. Zach Edwards tackled running back Jakerrius Oliver for a loss of 2 yards. On fourth-and-4 from the 11, Morris broke up Stallings’ pass.
“I think both of us have a good football team,” Starkville coach Ricky Woods said. “We finally held a big fourth-down play.”
Starkville took a 7-0 lead on a Josh Lawrence 15-yard fumble return with 8:42 left in the second quarter. The Tigers tied the game on a Kalmorris Robinson fumble recovery in the end zone.
Albritton nailed a 37-yard field with one second remaining in the first half to give the Jackets a 10-7 lead.
Starkville backup quarterback Malik Brown found Tyler Stoall for a 21-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. Noxubee County answered with a 1-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 17-13.
The Jackets used a 3-yard touchdown from K.J. Lawrence early in the fourth quarter to make it 24-13.
Stallings found Kyziah Pruitt for a 5-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 24-19.
Stallings was 18 of 36 for 203 yards and one touchdown. Brown was 3-for-5 for 37 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for 44 yards.
n Heritage Academy 50, Columbus Christian Academy 6: At Steens, Tyler Anderson rushed for a score and threw for two more Friday to lead the Patriots past the Rams in the season opener for the Lowndes County rivals and Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) members.
Brandon Jones and Toby Young had touchdown catches, while Wilder Strickland, Dylan Hughes, Zach Oswalt, and Lukas Bryant rushed for scores.
The Patriots, who beat the Rams 48-0 last season, led 37-0 after one quarter.
LT Stowers connected with Kimarri Whitfield on a 14-yard touchdown pass for Columbus Christian.
n Victory Christian Academy 34, Meadowview Christian 0: At Selma, Garrett Anthony had eight carries for 163 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown run, to lead the Eagles in their season opener.
Kody Anthony led the receivers with three catches for 44 yards, including a 21-yard touchdowns reception from Gavin Forrester, who was 5 of 11 for 107 yards. Forrester’s other touchdown pass went for 39 yards to Jordan Payne.
Payne led the team with seven tackles. He also had a sack and a fumble recovery.
For more on Friday’s local games, see Sunday’s edition of The Dispatch. You also can check the website Sunday morning for all of our coverage.
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