STARKVILLE — Luke Altmyer plans to be in attendance when the Mississippi State football team hosts Ole Miss on Thursday night at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville.
One day later, Altmyer will play a starring role in an Egg Bowl of his own.
Friday’s “Little Egg Bowl,” as it’s become known, pits Altmyer’s top-ranked Starkville High squad (12-2) against rival Oxford (12-1) for a trip to the MHSAA Class 6A championship game. The junior quarterback led the Yellow Jackets to a 45-17 home win over the Chargers on Aug. 30, but this time, Starkville must take its show on the road.
“I’m excited to go over there and play on their turf,” Altmyer said.
He had a big game in the rivals’ first matchup, completing 28 of 35 passes and tossing three touchdowns in the win. With stellar weapons in Rufus Harvey, Josh Aka, Tae Lucious and Orien Thompson, Altmyer has plenty of options through the air. And running back Amariyon Howard adds another dimension when the Jackets have the ball.
“We’re very balanced on offense,” Altmyer said. “We run the ball well; we throw the ball well. We’re hard to stop.”
The Jackets’ dynamic scoring attack will meet a tough defensive test in the Chargers, who held No. 2 South Panola to just seven points in last week’s north state semifinal. Oxford hasn’t allowed more than 14 points in a single game since its loss to Starkville — an 11-game streak.
“They really don’t have a real distinct weak point,” Altmyer said.
The same holds true on offense, where the Chargers can rely on quarterback John Meagher or senior “jack-of-all-trades” JJ Pegues, who ran for 151 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries against South Panola.
“We’ve just gotta make sure that we identify where he is at all times,” Starkville head coach Chris Jones said of Pegues. “We want to try to eliminate the big plays and create a few turnovers and just play our brand of football.”
That defensive brand has worked to perfection for the Jackets in their first two playoff games. Starkville’s defense allowed just two points to Horn Lake and three to Olive Branch.
“They’ve been huge for us, and I hope they’ll be huge for these next two games we’ll have,” Altmyer said.
With the Jackets’ consistent scoring on offense and that dominant defense, Starkville is firing on all cylinders heading into Friday’s matchup.
“We kind of found our identity at the right time, and we’re starting to peak at the right time,” Jones said.
He knows Starkville can’t afford to coast off its August result against an Oxford team that hasn’t lost since it faced the Jackets.
“I don’t take any stock in it,” Jones said. “Just throw all that stuff out the window when you’re talking about rivalries and records and all that stuff.”
For Altmyer, Friday’s matchup offers Starkville a second chance to earn bragging rights against his rival. He’s confident the Jackets will do just that.
“We played them during the season,” Altmyer said. “We beat them. We plan to beat them again.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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