BRANDON — The 2025 Yellow Jackets have not been known for their defense.

That changed on Friday night.

Behind the defense along with the play of Kingston Johnson, the Yellow Jackets spoiled homecoming as they held off Brandon 22-14 at Bulldog Stadium on Friday night.

“It’s fun watching our defense grow. We had a couple of rough weeks to begin the season, but our guys have bought in and are starting to play more physical,” said first-year Starkville coach John Carr. “We needed some positive things to happen in the second half and when we got the safety that gave us the momentum we needed.”

Brandon struck first on their opening drive of the game to take a 7-0 with 6:18 left in the first quarter as four-star running back Tyson Robinson raced 52 yards to the end zone.

Starkville answered to tie the game at 7-7 as Johnson found Philip Swann on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 1:39 left in the first quarter.

The score stayed the same until the second play of the second half as Sladen Shack found Robinson on a 74-yard touchdown pass to give Brandon a 14-7 lead with 11:14 left in the third quarter.

Starkville cut the lead to 14-9 on a safety as a Shack fumble rolled out of the end zone with 3:27 left in the third quarter and on that play knocked Shack out of the game with a concussion.

The Yellow Jackets scored off the safety to begin the fourth quarter as Johnson hit Latrent Agnew on a 27-yard touchdown pass to take a 15-14 lead with 10:33 left in the fourth quarter.

Starkville extended their lead to 22-14 with 8:16 remaining as Ladanuel Jordan blocked a punt and Graham Hancock scooped the ball up and ran it in from nine yards out.

Johnson finished 15-of-27 passing for 158 yards and two touchdowns to lead Starkville (4-1).

“Defense played great tonight and made a lot of stops. The safety was huge, and we were looking for momentum and that got us what we needed,” Johnson said. “We were able to get things going in the passing game at times and ran the ball well, so this is a big team win.”

The Jacket defense held Brandon to just 215 total yards.

“When you combine the way we played defense, special teams, and offensively we got going in the second half and got a big win,” Carr said. “We got a bye week next week to get healthy, get guys healthy, and get ready for district.” 

Shack finished with 108 yards passing to lead Brandon (2-3).

“They made big plays when they needed, so give them credit. We had the lead, got a stop, they force a safety, and (our) quarterback gets banged up, and can’t make a critical mistake like that,” said Brandon coach Lance Pogue. “Safety changed everything. Their quarterback is dynamic and we weren’t just able to counter tonight.”