STARKVILLE — Senior running back Jordan Mitchell rushed for four touchdowns Friday night and the Starkville High School football team turned what looked like a shootout at halftime into a rout with a 63-21 win over Hernando in the opening round of the MHSAA 6A playoffs.

“Just do your job,” Jackets coach Chris Jones said. “When all 11 guys do their job, that’s when things go right. They got a good quarterback, and he made us pay a few times, but we made a few adjustments, had some guys get hurt, but end of the day we got the win.”

The Tigers received the opening kickoff and went for it on fourth down three times on the game’s first drive. The first time an illegal substitution penalty on the Jackets bailed them out, and on the third try Christopher Jones took a direct snap and scored from a yard out to cap a 7-minute drive and give the visitors a 7-0 lead.

It took just three plays for Starkville to get into the red zone on the following drive, with Trey Petty using a screen pass and a read option to move the Yellow Jackets down the field. Jordan Mitchell scored the tying touchdown from 2 yards out.

A quick stop and weak punt set up the Yellow Jackets on the Hernando 40, and again they moved quickly. This time Petty found Braylon Burnside for a 9-yard score and a 14-7 lead.

It was the Tigers’ turn to answer, and quarterback Zach Wilcke broke off a long run to put them in position to tie the game. On another fourth down from the Starkville 1, Jones took another direct snap into the end zone to level the score at 14-14.

The Yellow Jackets appeared to take command over the next 3 minutes. Jordan Mitchell’s 72-yard run gave Starkville an immediate answer to Hernando’s touchdown, and a fumble gave the Jackets the ball at the Tigers’ 36. A few plays later, Petty scored on a 2-yard keeper and it was 28-14.

But the Tigers didn’t buckle. Wilcke scored on a keeper with a minute to play in the half, and the Yellow Jackets were forced to punt for the first time on the opening possession of the second half. 

From that point on, it was all Starkville.

The Tigers went three and out and again couldn’t punt out of their own territory. Mitchell needed one play to find the end zone on a 48-yard run. Later in the third quarter, Tyler Nichols broke off an 86-yard scoring run that was called back by a holding penalty, but moments later Nichols delivered again, scoring on a 75-yard run that made it 42-21 going into the fourth quarter.

If the outcome was still in doubt, Starkville put away the game early in the fourth with a touchdown pass from Petty to Johnathan Lampkin that covered 29 yards midway through the fourth quarter. That was followed by a strip sack that set up an 18-yard TD pass from Jaquez Harris to Jaquavin Jenkins.

The second unit was as dominant as the first during garbage time, and Jenkins put an exclamation point on a remarkable offensive performance with a 4-yard run to cap the scoring.

The Jackets next will play Southaven, which defeated Clinton 14-10 on Friday. Jones already was thinking about the next one after the game and stressed the need for focus on the goal of a 6A title.

“Our mission is to win the state championship, so we gotta make sure we go 1-0 next week,” Jones said. “The focus is on Southaven now, so whatever we gotta do to get a victory that’s what we gotta do. 

“We need a good week of practice, good week of preparation and give ourselves the chance to win next week.”

Starkville 63, Hernando 21

Hernando (5-7)  7  14   0   0  —  21

Starkville (11-1)  7  21  14  21  —  63

First quarter

H — Christopher Jones 1 run (Jackson Uselton kick), 4:59

S — Jordan Mitchell 2 run (Joshua Eaves kick), 2:10

Second quarter

S — Braylon Burnside 9 pass from Trey Petty (Eaves kick), 10:51

H — Jones 1 run (Uselton kick), 7:27

S — Mitchell 72 run (Eaves kick), 7:13

S — Petty 2 run (Eaves kick), 4:06

H — Zach Wilcke 3 run (Uselton kick), 1:05

Third quarter

S — Mitchell 48 run (Eaves kick), 8:48

S — Mitchell 76 run (Eaves kick), 1:13

Fourth quarter

S — Johnathan Lampkin 29 pass from Petty (Eaves kick), 8:01

S — Jaquavin Jenkins 18 pass from Jaquez Harris (Eaves kick) 6:25

S — Jenkins 4 run (Eaves kick), 3:47

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