STARKVILLE — The 2022 season began about as well as anyone within the Starkville football program would have wanted it to: a 4-0 record, including three victories by 28 or more points.
Riding the success of star quarterback Trey Petty, the Yellow Jackets were lapping opponents on the football field with ease, including a fantastic program in West Point.
However, the first bump in the road came against Louisville, a narrow 21-20 win that brought with it injuries and a blow back to reality.
Over the last two weeks, with Petty dealing with what looks to be a significant ankle injury and other key players on the team unable to play or not at 100 percent, Starkville has found itself in the midst of a two-game losing streak going into Friday’s game against Tupelo.
“We’re continuing to stress on doing the little things right and trying to keep the kids healthy,” Starkville head coach Chris Jones said. “There’s no need to panic.”
Jones and the Yellow Jackets (4-2) are trying to keep their heads down and continue to work, acknowledging the past few weeks but not allowing themselves to dwell on them.
Throughout the season, Starkville has continuously preached getting better every week, and now six weeks in, the biggest keys are cleaning up mental mistakes that have proved to be costly in previous weeks.
“We’re just trying to learn from mental mistakes,” wide receiver Jaylon York said. “You’re not going to win every game, so we just have to bounce back from those two losses and just continue into the future.”
Jones compared the team’s recent run of form to that of a baseball player going through a slump at the plate, something everyone goes through.
Starkville experienced something similar in 2020, when the Yellow Jackets lost three of their final four games to finish on the outside of the playoff picture with a 4-3 district record.
This isn’t something new that Starkville has had to overcome and is something that players on this year’s team went through just two years ago.
“These kids are playing their butts off,” Jones said. “We’re just in a slump right now. The ball hasn’t bounced our way, but we have a lot of football left. We’re not going to give up. We’re just going to get back to work and continue to grind.”
Despite starting out district play with an 0-2 record, Starkville has a favorable schedule ahead against teams the Yellow Jackets have traditionally played well against.
The same can’t be said for Friday’s opponent, Tupelo, who — despite coming into the matchup on a six-game losing streak against Starkville — has been nothing short of dominant this season.
A perfect 6-0, the Golden Wave have scored 35.7 points per game as an offense while allowing just under four points per game defensively.
Tupelo’s defense has pitched three shutouts this season and has given up no more than 10 points to any opponent it’s faced this season.
“We need to come out and execute,” York said. “Play up-tempo, play fast, play hard, continue every play.”
That task will not be easy for Starkville as it most certainly has its hands full against the Golden Wave, but riding the energy of a good home atmosphere and using added motivation from how the last two games have gone should only work in the favor of the Yellow Jackets.
We’ll see which Starkville team comes out Friday as it looks to hand Tupelo its first loss of the season.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 46 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Join the Discussion