STARKVILLE — Defensive coordinator Kevie Thompson isn’t hard to pick out on the Starkville High School football team’s sideline.
More times than not, Thompson is the one flying through the air pumping his fist and creeping onto the field more than officials would like him to.
Thompson wasn’t the only one who had that energy Friday night.
No. 4 Starkville’s defense responded to the challenge by holding No. 6 Madison Central to two field goals and giving its offense short fields en route to a 14-6 victory in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A, Region 2 game.
The victory moved Starkville (8-1, 4-0 region) into sole possession of first place in the region with three regular-season games remaining.
“These kids, I take my hat off to them,” Thompson said. “It says a lot of about them.”
Madison Central (6-2, 3-1) entered the game having scored 27 or more points in region victories against Clinton, Murrah, and Warren Central. The Yellow Jackets limited the Jaguars to 248 yards. They also had nine tackles for a loss against a team averaging more than 240 rushing yards per game.
Thompson’s formula was simple.
“We played disciplined football, played assignment football,” Thompson said. “We read our keys at linebacker and we played fast.”
More than half — 144 yards — of Madison Central’s yardage came on its scoring drives in the second quarter. The Jaguars drove 66 yards in 10 plays to get on the board with less than five minutes to go in the first half. They then drove 78 yards in eight plays to kick another field goal on the final play of the half.
In both instances, Thompson said linebackers missed reads on basic power plays. The fix was quick.
“Just get on them. This is a playoff kind of game,” he said.
The Yellow Jackets forced the Jaguars to punt on all four of their possessions in the second half.
Starkville also responded well in those scoring drives. The Jaguars used a 42-yard run to move into the red zone, but a tackle for a loss on first down and a third-down incompletion forced the field goal try. On the second drive, Madison Central moved to the Starkville 4-yard line thanks to plays of 21 and 24 yards. This time, Starkville stopped a run for a loss and forced two incompletions to force a second field goal attempt.
“I think it was us being prepared in situational stuff,” Starkville coach Chris Jones said. “We practice that every day. We’ll get on the goal line, we’ll practice those situations where our kids have their backs against the wall.”
The performance of the defense created an abundance of opportunities for an offense that struggled against an equally stingy defense. Sophomore wide receiver Rufus Harvey, who has been called “special” by Jones on more than one occasion, showed why with two touchdowns. The second came in the closing seconds of the third quarter and changed the game.
“He’s probably one of the best receivers in the state in his class. Remember his name,” Jones said.
The third-quarter touchdown came on second-and-goal. One play after throwing a pass that was nearly intercepted by a defensive end, quarterback Malik Brown rolled to his right and lofted the ball to Harvey in the back of the end zone. Harvey isn’t the prototypical 6-foot-3 wide receiver who is thrown to often in the end zone, not that it showed on that corner route.
“I had to go up and make a play for the team,” Harvey said.
Given the pressure of the moment and his regard for Harvey, Jones never doubted Harvey would make the play. His only question was if Harvey would add some flair.
“I’m kind of shocked he didn’t use one hand because he does that every day,” Jones said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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