With only three weeks remaining in the high school football season, Starkville, West Point, Caledonia and West Lowndes will each be playing at home for a berth in the state semifinals.
And their playoff histories couldn’t be more different.
The Yellow Jackets and Green Wave are regulars to late-November football. Starkville has made 32 trips to the postseason, reaching the semifinal round 16 times and playing in 11 state finals, winning six. West Point has made the playoffs 28 times but owns 11 state championships, including four in a row from 2016 to 2019.
At the other end of the spectrum sits Caledonia. The Cavaliers were 0-6 in their playoff history before this season. Now they have two victories and eager for more with perennial power Louisville coming to town.
Somewhere in between sits West Lowndes. The Panthers, who have been playing football since 1975, do not have any state titles, but they have made 10 trips to the postseason and have five playoff victories. But they have not won a second-round game since a 1992 win over Eupora, so a win over Taylorsville tonight will give them a chance to make a little history.
Class 6A
Southaven (9-3) at Starkville (11-1): Even this late in the season, Yellow Jackets coach Chris Jones is stressing fundamentals.
“We made a lot of mistakes,” he said of last week’s 63-21 win over Hernando, a game Starkville led just 28-21 at halftime. “It’s about getting better every day. We’re still trying to make sure we’re playing football the right way.”
Considering the talent on Starkville’s roster, if they play football the right way they could be unbeatable. But Southaven is certainly capable of taking advantage of any openings they get.
“They’ve got two Division I players,” Jones said of the Chargers, who went 6-1 and lost out to South Panola for the Region 1 title on the head-to-head tiebreaker. “They’re in the playoffs for a reason. They didn’t get there by luck.”
Southaven got here with a 14-10 win over Clinton, a team the Yellow Jackets defeated 28-21 back on Oct. 1. It was the fewest points the Chargers had scored since the loss to South Panola; they averaged 35 points per game during a four-game winning streak that closed the regular season.
Junior John Slaughter was critical to the playoff victory; he made a dazzling catch of a 15-yard scoring pass midway through the third quarter and a leaping interception deep in Chargers territory to stop a potential Clinton scoring drive.
These teams have met 21 times over the years, with the Yellow Jackets winning 17 games. But they have not met since 2017, Jones’ first season as head coach, when Starkville opened the playoffs with a 6-0 win on its way to the championship game. The Yellow Jackets are 4-0 against the Chargers in playoff games dating to 1983.
In Starkville’s playoff win over Hernando, Jordan Mitchell rushed for four touchdowns — including runs of 48, 72 and 76 yards — while quarterback Trey Petty threw for a touchdown and ran for another.
“Hopefully the kids step up and make some plays, and hopefully the staff will step up as well,” Jones said. “We understand that this time of year is when big-time players do their thing. We hope our kids rise to the occasion and do what they’ve got to do to get the win.
“I think they will.”
The winner will face Madison Central or Oxford in next week’s semifinals.
Class 5A
Vicksburg (8-4) at West Point (9-2): This is the Green Wave’s time of year. Coach Chris Chambless has a career playoff record of 39-9, and West Point has scored double the points of its opponents in those games. That’s crazy.
Meanwhile, when the Gators fought through some early struggles to defeat Cleveland Central 25-3 last week, it marked the first home playoff game for Vicksburg since 2008. The Green Wave easily dispatched Ridgeland 40-7 in their playoff opener.
Expect the clock to keep moving in this one. Both teams want to run the ball down opponents’ throats, and Vicksburg does it with the wing-T. The Gators are averaging more than 200 yards on the ground and 29.4 points per game.
But their defense has been the story. The Gators have shut out four opponents and have not allowed more than 18 points since the opener against Germantown.
Their problem seems to be penalties. In a 14-12 loss to Holmes County Central to end the regular season, the Gators had three touchdowns called back by penalty, and the coaching staff said the team has lost more than 20 touchdowns because of flags this season.
You can’t beat yourself and expect to beat West Point, which is looking for a sixth consecutive trip to the state final. You also can’t focus on one player; the Green Wave had four players rush for more than 50 yards in the win over Ridgeland, led by Cameron Young’s 81 yards on nine carries. And despite only throwing five passes, Kahnen Daniels connected on two of them for touchdowns. The Gators are a strong defensive team, but stopping everything the Green Wave can throw at them figures to be just a bit too challenging.
The winner will face either Neshoba Central or Lafayette in the semifinal round.
Class 4A
Louisville (10-2) at Caledonia (10-2): Here we go again. For the second consecutive week, the Cavaliers are somewhere they’ve never been playing a team they’ve never beaten.
This time, it’s the Wildcats in the 4A quarterfinals. Louisville is 7-0 all time against Caledonia, including a 26-13 win in the first round of the playoffs last season.
While the Cavaliers had not won a playoff game before this month, the Wildcats have won 89 of them. They have won two of the past three 4A state championships and have had at least 10 wins in five consecutive seasons. This year, their only losses have been by one point in two overtimes to West Lauderdale and by five points to 6A Starkville.
“I see a good football team,” Caledonia coach Michael Kelly said. “On the defensive side of the ball, they play physical and swarm to the football. We need to get some positive yards on first down.”
The Cavs are equipped to do that, of course, but they will have to be at their best against a defense that has posted 25 sacks and 164 tackles-for-loss. Three Louisville players have more than 100 tackles, and seven are averaging more than one tackle-for-loss per game.
Meanwhile, the offense is even more balanced, as the Wildcats have gained almost exactly as many yards on the ground (1,954) as through the air (1,953).
“Offensively, they have several playmakers,” Kelly said. “They find creative ways to get them all touches and in space.”
At the controls is quarterback Jace Hudspeth, who has completed 137 of 221 passes with 21 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Jarvis Rush has been on the receiving end of 40 of those passes for 691 yards and 7 TDs, while Keyarrion Jackson (38 for 525, 4 TDs) and Jaden Triplett (34 for 382, 6 TDs) are targeted almost as often.
On the ground, Emory James has been the workhorse with 133 carries for 801 yards and 11 scores. The Wildcats’ backs have combined for 325 rushing attempts with only one fumble.
It’s a tall order, but it was only a week ago that the Cavaliers faced a Pontotoc team they had never beaten and won 27-8. And that was on the road; this game will be in Caledonia.
“It means a lot to our community and fan base,” Kelly said of the home playoff game. “They’ve been waiting on this a long time.”
The winner will take on either Senatobia or Itawamba Agricultural in next week’s semifinals.
Class 1A
Taylorsville (7-4) at West Lowndes (9-2): If any team was mentally penciled in to be in a state final before the season started, it was Taylorsville. After all, the Tartars had played in the past four state championship games, winning three of them, at the 2A level, and this year they were shifted into 1A. They had to be overwhelming favorites.
Not so fast.
Sure, Taylorsville is good again; the Tartars always are. But after losing four games in the past four years, Taylorsville is 7-3 this time around, losing two games to larger schools but also losing 14-12 to Bay Springs in what was basically a region title game. That marked the first time since 2016 the Tartars didn’t go into the playoffs as a region champion.
Still, the Tartars are a formidable opponent. Sophomore Cobey Craft is the primary running back, with 181 carries for 1,233 yards and 16 touchdowns. Freshman quarterback Laza Beavers has thrown for 1,392 yards and 17 touchdowns with 7 interceptions, and Taylorsville is averaging almost 27 points per game.
But this West Lowndes team has just been leveling opponents. Quarterback Fred Rice is beating people with his arm and his legs, and with JaQuavious Tate running the ball and Marquez Shelton and Decamby Willis catching the ball, the Panthers are tough to stop.
The first meeting between Taylorsville and West Lowndes should be a good one, and the winner will move on to face either Bay Springs or Lumberton in the semifinal round.
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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 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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West Point quarterback Kahnen Daniels jukes past a defender during a 38-19 win over Noxubee County on Sept. 10, 2021, in Macon. Photo by: Austin Frayser/Special to The Dispatch
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