STARKVILLE — It was early in the fourth quarter when Louisville head coach Tyrone Shorter decided that the Wildcats had to go for it on fourth down.
Starkville’s defense had stood tall in the third quarter and forced a turnover on downs and two punts from the Wildcats in the third quarter, and Shorter felt his offense had to convert on 4th-and-3 while trailing by two scores and the clock becoming the enemy. The Yellow Jackets had already forced two turnovers and posted two fourth-down stops. They made it three with another stop of running back Zaiden Jernigan, setting up the offense perfectly to score again and put the game beyond reach in a 36-16 win.
“That was our main thing playing for the week,” linebacker Graham Hancock said. “We knew we had to stop him to win the game, and we did that. We made it our goal and we succeeded.”
The Jacket defense had a lot to work on after two weeks of the 2025 season. The unit allowed 54 points in a narrow opening win, and then was demolished in a 48-15 loss at local rivals West Point.
It was more than just a slow start for the players and for first-year head coach John Carr and defensive coordinator Jamario Winters. It was something that simply had to change, and change it did in just two weeks as the Jackets now sit 3-1 with another win over a strong nondistrict opponent.
“They watched the West Point game, and I think they were embarrassed,” Carr said of the defense. “They were embarrassed by the way they played. I know our staff, me included, were embarrassed, because that ain’t the product that we like to put on the field., The guys took it personally, went back to work, and had a great week of practice before Meridian, then this week, a rivalry game against a fantastic opponent, and passionate fans. Our guys answered the bell.”
Starkville held the Wildcats scoreless in the second half, building off of a positive start to the game with two turnovers created by Kaden Wilson and Kaesen McQuiller. The former saved a touchdown with an interception in the end zone and the latter made one for himself on a scoop and score.
It was a thoroughly positive performance from the unit, and it all started with getting to the opposing team’s star back.
“The key tonight is we knew we had to stop Jernigan, try not to let him get his touches,” Carr said. “He still got his plays, but I thought we did a nice job of corralling him, and then the offensive line in the first half played really well. Got a little sloppy in the second half, but made enough plays to finish.”
The Jacket offense deserves its flowers as well, as quarterback Kingston Johnson and running backs A’braylen Jenkins and Torian Knox ran the Jackets into a big lead before halftime.
Johnson had to learn the offense as well as his teammates and coaches after moving in from out of town over the summer, but has already made a name for himself with composure under center.
Carr called him a “natural leader,” giving him plenty of credit for his dual-threat ability and his performance on the ground to keep the Jackets moving on third downs. Both coach and quarterback are new kids on the block in Starkville, and they’ve made positive first impressions through four games, but Carr emphasized the process when discussing his team’s progress, and he is looking forward to seeing more from his team and himself as the season continues.
“This is a journey. You won’t play your best in Week 1 or 2, you’ve got to try and get better,” Carr said. “And you find out a lot about your team and who is going to make plays in crucial moments. Who you can depend on, so we’re still trying to figure it out. It’s still my first year, we’re figuring out pieces, but I can tell you what we have is we’ve got a lot of good kids that are playing hard, that took the loss at West Point to heart, took hard coaching, and it was good to pay off the last two weeks.”
The game was put on pause late in the fourth quarter after a scary injury to Wildcats receiver Trey Tippett, who took a hard hit to the upper body on a punt return. After examination from athletic trainers, paramedics were called onto the field to secure his head and neck before putting him on a stretcher and taking him away in an ambulance.
Starkville begins Region 1-7A play next week with a trip to Brandon.
Starkville 36, Louisville 16
Starkville (3-1) 15 14 0 7 — 36
Louisville (2-2) 0 16 0 0 — 16
First quarter
S — Kingston Johnson run 1, (Gallegos kick) clock 9:31
S — Torian Knox run 1, (2-pt pass) clock 4:09
Second quarter
L — Zaiden Jernigan run 3, (2-pt pass) clock 9:37
S — Johnson pass 58 to Chaden Walker, (Gallegos kick) clock 8:43
S — Kaesen McQuiller fumble return (Gallegos kick), clock 7:32
L — Triston Edwards pass 55 to Jernigan, (2-pt pass) clock 0:24
Fourth quarter
S — Johnson run 6 (Gallegos kick), clock 9:43
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