GLUCKSTADT — Germantown feasted off explosive plays.
Behind the play of quarterback King White along with receiver Keyshaun Coleman, the Mavericks knocked off Starkville 45-28 in their Region 2-7A opener at The Ranch on Friday night.
“As long as our guys believe in themselves, we can go toe to toe with anyone and tonight they proved that,” said Germantown coach Russell Mitchell. “King is really efficient with his running and has come along so much as a passer and as a leader and I’m super proud of him.”
The Mavericks didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard as they scored on the first play from scrimmage when White hit Lawson Branson on a 57-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead.
The score stayed that way until 6:57 left in the second quarter as Kingston Johnson hit Chaden Walker on a 42-yard touchdown pass for Starkville to tie the game up at 7-7.
Germantown regained the lead at 10-7 as Nate Muzzi hit a 41-yard field goal.
The Mavericks extended the lead to 17-7 as White found Branson on another 57-yard touchdown pass with 1:58 left in the first half.
The Yellowjackets cut the lead to 17-14 with 25 seconds left in the second quarter on a Torian Knox 9-yard touchdown run.
Germantown extended the lead to 24-14 on their opening drive of the second half as White found Coleman on a 21-yard touchdown pass with 8:18 left in the third quarter.
White and Coleman connected again from 60 yards out to stretch the Maverick lead to 31-14 with 28 seconds left in the third quarter.
Starkville cut the lead to 31-21 on a 11-yard touchdown pass from Johnson to A’braylen Jenkins.
Germantown answered immediately on a 51-yard touchdown run from Ny Johnson to extend the lead to 38-21.
Johnson then found Walker on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 8:46 left for Starkville to cut the lead to 38-28.
The Mavericks responded as Coleman scored on a 62-yard kickoff return. The Tulane commit finished with nine catches for 160 yards and three total touchdowns for Germantown.
“When Keyshaun gets to touch the ball good things happen for us. He’s a really good player and a big part of our plan,” Mitchell said. “There’s not any easy wins in this region and Starkville is a really good team, so we will take it.”
White finished 21-of-28 passing for 393 yards with four touchdowns to lead Germantown (4-2, 1-0 Region 2-7A).
Johnson finished 20-of-47 passing for 302 yards and three touchdowns to lead Starkville (4-2, 0-1).
“Germantown has some explosive players, and we knew that coming in and they made plays when they got the ball,” said Starkville coach John Carr. “We couldn’t get going on offense early especially running the ball and didn’t hit on some plays. It was really frustrating in all three phases for us tonight.”
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