STARKVILLE — Normal service has resumed in Jacket nation. Starkville won its third straight game on Friday, blanking Germantown 42-0 in the first district matchup of the season.
The Mavericks won a wild 34-33 meeting at home in 2023, and it was something the Jackets didn’t forget coming into this one. They wanted to make a statement in their region opener and did just that with a relentless rushing attack and a swarming defense.
“I think we did a good job executing in all three phases,” Starkville head coach Chris Jones said of the win.
It was a truly comprehensive performance, and the Jackets didn’t miss a beat on either side of the ball after the opening drive. A fumble gave the Mavericks a chance to get on the board first, but Starkville’s defense forced a turnover of their own to give their offense another chance.
The offensive unit responded with five straight touchdown drives.
“Next-play mindset,” Jones said, recalling the response to the fumble. “Ain’t nothing we can do about it now that it’s over with and at the end of the day mistakes are going to happen. You watch it back tomorrow, there’ll be mistakes, Sunday, there’ll be some mistakes, but it’s all about the next play so we need to continue to have a good mindset.”
The Jackets, now 6-1 on the season, pulled away with quarterback Jaylon Ruffin leading the way. He accounted for one touchdown through the air and three on the ground as the Jackets went into halftime with a commanding 35-0 lead.
Ruffin ran for over 100 yards in the first half, leading a ground game that couldn’t be stopped despite the early hiccup. Torian Knox and Davis Harrelson would each add a touchdown of their own on the ground as the Jackets ran rampant over the Mavericks (5-2).
“They seemed like they were more worried about us passing,” Ruffin said of the Mavericks defense. “The box was light so we were able to run the ball. They couldn’t stop us and we kept executing.”
Starkville once again braved a difficult early season schedule and came out the other end looking stronger. A 42-41 loss to Louisville is the only road bump so far, and even that game appears to have lit a fire under Jones’ team. The defense has allowed nine points in the three games since then, and back-to-back shutouts has Starkville looking strong on both sides of the ball entering the 7A schedule.
“Firstly, we need to thank the defensive staff,” Jones said of the recent performances. “Sometimes you need those games to hit the reset button and go back to the drawing board and get better. That’s a part of growth, sometimes you have to take an ‘L’ to get better and grow and we didn’t want to lose, but it made us better. Hopefully, we can hold that hunger to not feel that way again.”
The Jackets will hit the road for their next two games, traveling to face Clinton next week and Madison Central on Oct. 25. It’s the business end of the season for a team that hopes to get back to the state title game in December, and it’s what they’ve been preparing for since the final whistle blew in Oxford last December.
“Since I’ve been here we’ve always played a tough non-district schedule and that’s to get ready for district,” Jones said. “We battled through some adversity, we had some kids who had to play who probably shouldn’t have played, but that just added a different level of depth and helped us practice for competition. We have to focus on being the best version of us that we can be and the rest will take care of itself.”
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