Head coach John Carr said he wanted to bring an explosive offense to Starkville – and on Friday night, he certainly delivered on his promise.

Under the new flashing and dancing lights of Yellow Jacket Stadium, running back Torien Knox plunged in a 1-yard touchdown run with one second left in the game to steal a 57-54 victory from the hands of Oak Grove on Friday night to cap off a record-setting performance by quarterback Kingston Johnson, who set a new Starkville mark for passing yards with 486 yards and four touchdown throws in his first-ever appearance.

Knox provided the pop of 137 yards on the ground with two scores, and Johnson also scrambled for 92 yards and two scores to help produce a school record 708 yards of offense.

Led by quarterback Kellen Hall, who threw for 446 yards and six scores, Oak Grove matched Starkville in offensive power by generating 565 yards of offense of its own.

“We knew they were explosive offensively; Kellen Hall is a fantastic quarterback. They have some great skill guys and it was going to be a challenge for our defense, but I’m so proud,” Carr said. “Football is the ultimate team game, it takes everybody. Our defense got a stop there at the end and gave us a chance. We’ll go back and look at the film. We have a lot of corrections to make, it’s the first ball game and all those kind of things, but I’m so proud of the resiliency and the way they clawed and fought. I’m very, very proud of our football team.”

With 2:17 left to play, Starkville’s defense locked in and forced the Warriors to punt for only the third time of the night after halting Oak Grove’s attempt to ice the game on the ground as it led 54-51. The Yellow Jackets executed the two-minute drill to perfection and stormed down the field in 11 plays, leaving just enough time on the clock for Knox to seal the victory.

Starkville trailed 6-3 after the first quarter, 26-23 at halftime and outscored Oak Grove 21-14 in the third before countering the Warriors’ 14 fourth-quarter points by notching 13 points of their own, and used a total three blocked PATs to help sustain a scoring gap.

Johnson, a junior, showcased his ability to deliver with his arm and legs under pressure, completing a pass to Latrent Agnew to get his team into the red zone with just seconds left on the clock. He fired one more pass to Tylan Calvet during the final drive to set up the game-winning run.

“He’s a guy that’s got great arm talent. He uses his legs, his escapability to make things happen. He’s a great processor, and he’s got a great future ahead of him,” Carr said of Johnson. “But I think we had some young guys tonight really, really grow up, so hopefully we’ll gain momentum off this and go into next week.”