STARKVILLE — Starkville High School senior Brady Davis understands the role of leadership at the quarterback position.
For Davis, the challenge of becoming his team’s leader took on an unusual twist this season.
After transferring from New Hope High, Davis was faced with the challenge of learning a new set of coaches, players, and plays. While it proved daunting, the good news for the 6-foot-4, 195-pounder was his new teammates were gifted and his team was one of the best in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A ranks.
For Davis and the Yellow Jackets, the match was perfect. Davis threw for 3,417 yards and 42 touchdowns. Starkville spent a majority of the regular season as the state’s No. 1 team. It also won its first 13 games before falling to eventual Class 6A state champion South Panola in the North State championship game.
For his efforts, Davis is The Dispatch’s Large Schools Offensive Player of the Year.
“After the first couple of days, I knew we were going to have a good team,” Davis said. “We had a lot of speed and we had a lot of guys who could make big plays. My job was to make sure they got the ball. The biggest thing about this team is that it was a team. There was never anybody any better than anybody else.
“From the first practice, it worked. We were a team. We played like a team.”
As a junior, Davis threw for 2,626 yards and 23 touchdowns at New Hope High. Even though the Trojans won only four games, Davis established himself as a Division I prospect. While Starkville and New Hope didn’t play in 2013, Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell knew enough about Davis to be excited about adding him to the program.
“We really needed a quarterback,” Mitchell said. “When you watched film on Brady, you saw a leader. You saw a person who could make game-changing plays. You saw a player that other players really responded around. That is when you know you have a special player.”
Under the guidance of current Mississippi State player Gabe Myles at quarterback, Starkville won the Class 5A state championship in 2012. A year later, the Yellow Jackets finished 9-4 with Princeton Jones at quarterback and lost in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.
Starkville returned what Mitchell called “the best receiving corps” in his coaching career as well as the best front four on defense. What Starkville needed was a dynamic playmaker who could get the football to the talented receivers.
“It worked from the beginning,” Starkville senior wide receiver Raphael Leonard said. “From the first couple of meetings, we knew he was going to be our leader. We heard a lot of things about Brady, but then to be able to go to practice every day with him was fun. We knew when we did our thing on offense there wasn’t anybody going to be able to stop us.”
The Yellow Jackets turned heads quickly.
Starkville opened the season with a 51-19 victory against eventual Class 4A state champion Noxubee County and followed it with a 52-29 victory against eventual Class 5A North State champion Oxford. In the third week, the defense joined the party in a 34-3 victory against West Point.
By then, a 34-point night was considered an off night by the offense.
“We had really good communication,” Starkville junior wide receiver A.J. Brown said. “Brady had the natural instincts of making the right call. When we were on the same page, we were fun to watch.”
Leonard had 67 catches for 1,266 yards and 15 touchdowns, while Brown had 60 catches for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns. Fourteen Yellow Jackets caught passes and eight scored touchdowns for a unit that averaged 37.8 points per game.
Starkville survived minor scares against Warren Central and Clinton to win the Class 6A, Region 2 championship. The bracket fell right and positioned the Yellow Jackets to play host to three-straight playoff games.
“I really learned a lot about myself during the season,” Davis said. “Being around these players was a lot of fun. It made me a better player and a better leader. The biggest thing I learned this year was handling expectations. A lot was expected from us. However, the biggest expectation was the one we set for ourselves.
“The season taught me about playing under pressure and playing with a lot of expectations. We would love to have changed the outcome, but the overall experience was a great one.”
Davis, who has made a verbal commitment Memphis, already has turned his sights to the future and a program that has high expectations.
“I really enjoyed the whole recruitment process,” Davis said. “I think a lot of (Memphis) coach (Justin) Fuente and the whole coaching staff. They did a great job recruiting me. Their offense is doing some great things. I am looking forward to being a part of the turnaround.”
After winning three games in 2013, Memphis capped its first 10-win season since 1938 with a 55-48 victory against BYU in the Miami Beach Bowl. The win was Memphis’ first in a bowl game since 2005.
“Brady will be a great quarterback on the next level,” Mitchell said. “He works hard, and he really commands the respect of his teammates. They have an up-tempo offense, and he will be able to do some special things there. We were fortunate to have him for a year. We had a lot of success and a lot of good times. The offense was really special when it was clicking at a high level.”
For Davis, the success was expected. After a few day of running pass routes with Leonard and Brown, there was a synergy some quarterbacks and receivers need four years to achieve.
“It was a special year,” Davis said. “When you saw the first couple of games, it looked like we had been there forever. My job was to put us in a position make plays and scores points. That job is easy when you have great players around you in the huddle.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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