STARKVILLE — After a loss against Oxford last week, the Starkville High School football team was looking to rebound in a big way.
The Yellow Jackets did just that Friday night against Germantown.
Jordan Mitchell ran for 83 yards and two touchdowns, and Braylon “Stonka” Burnside returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown in Starkville’s 35-7 victory over Germantown.
Starkville coach Chris Jones said his team did what it had to do coming off of its first loss of the season.
“Oxford’s a good team, and we made too many mistakes,” Jones said. “We’ve got to clean up some stuff, and that’s what we kind of did.”
Starting quarterback Trey Petty completed 17 of 24 passes for 94 yards and ran for 25 yards, while senior Quez Harris completed both of his pass attempts, including the team’s only passing touchdown.
On defense, nine of the Yellow Jackets 45 total tackles were for losses, and they made two sacks.
Starkville, No. 8 in the AP Mississippi Top 10, scored on the opening drive when Tyler Nichols capped a 14-play drive with a 5-yard rushing touchdown with 6:59 remaining in the first quarter.
After the teams traded turnovers, the Yellow Jackets (9-1, 5-1 6A-2), struck again with 40 seconds left in the opening quarter, as Mitchell scored his first touchdown of the night on a 27-yard run. Josh Eaves’ second PAT gave the Jackets a 14-0 lead.
The highlight of the game for Starkville came early in the second quarter. Germantown reached the Starkville 39-yard line before the defense forced a punt that could have pinned the Yellow Jackets deep in their own territory.
But Burnside had other plans, returning the punt 90 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 21-0 with 8:58 remaining until halftime.
The excitement of that play was somewhat short-lived, as the Mavericks answered with a big play. Jackson Hood threw a 73 yard passing touchdown to Tykwon Wade less than 2 minutes after Burnside scored, and the Mavericks were back in the game heading into the half.
After a scoreless third quarter, Starkville finally put away the game midway through the fourth. Mitchell rushed for his second touchdown of the night — this one for 12 yards — to give the Yellow Jackets a three-score advantage again.
Starkville wasn’t done. After forcing the Mavericks to punt on the ensuing drive, the Jackets put the final nail in the coffin when Harris entered the game and tossed a 33-yard touchdown pass to junior Chipper Hornburger on his second pass attempt of the night for the Jackets’ final score.
Starkville will finish the regular season with a trip to Grenada (5-5, 1-5 6A-2), which lost 19-17 to Oxford on Friday night.
“We’ve got one more regular season game to get ready for the playoffs, so we need to make sure we have a good week of practice so we can finish strong,” Jones said.
Starkville 35, Germantown 7
Starkville (8-1) 14 7 0 14 — 35
Germantown (5-6) 0 7 0 0 — 7
First quarter
S — Tyler Nichols 5 run (Josh Eaves kick), 6:59
S — Jordan Mitchell 27 run (Eaves kick), :40
Second quarter
S — Stonka Burnside 90 punt return (Eaves kick), 8:58
G — Tykwon Wade 73 pass from Jackson Hood (Hayden Houpt kick), 7:30
Fourth quarter
S — Mitchell 12 run (Eaves kick), 6:34
S — Chipper Hornburger 33 pass from Quez Harris (Eaves kick), 3:23
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Starkville's Chipper Hornburger finds an opening during Friday's game against Germantown in Starkville. Hornburger scored the Yellow Jackets' final touchdown on a 33-yard pass from Quez Harris. Austin Frayser/Special to The Dispatch
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