OXFORD – The gloomy weather and the absence of head coach Chris Jones did not break Starkville, as the Yellow Jackets captured a 14-9 victory over Oxford on Friday night in the “Little Egg Bowl”.
In the absence of Jones, assistant coach William Stewart stepped in as the interim head coach for Friday night’s contest. For Stewart, the gritty performance from his team was the result of battling through the adversity heading into Friday night’s matchup.
“We had a gutsy performance,” Stewart said. “The defense did a great job… We went through some stuff last week and they got it fixed. Our kids locked in this week (and) we had a good week of practice. We had a lot of adversity, but one thing I’m going to stick with and I’m going to stand by, Chris Jones says it all the time, ‘The standard is the standard.’”
There is no questioning what this game meant for both squads heading into the 25th “Little Egg Bowl”. But in the same sense, there is no doubting Starkville’s dominance of Oxford. The Yellow Jackets have set a standard of sending players to the next level and being one of the most competitive and toughest squads to line up against, and Friday night’s contest proved to be no different.
With the remains from Hurricane Helene unleashing rain onto the turf field in Oxford, the Starkville Yellow Jackets still jogged out of the tunnel energetically because the stakes of this game were so high. Both sidelines screamed back-and-forth in anticipation of the opening kickoff, as Oxford attempted to put the first points on the board in the contest.
Starkville was not going to break easily, however. The Yellow Jackets forced the Chargers to a quick three-and-out, but quickly had the momentum snatched after fumbling the ball on their first offensive possession of the contest.
The first points of the game came from quarterback Jaylen Ruffin connecting with wideout Jaheim Deanes to put Starkville up 7-0 over the Chargers in the first quarter. But Oxford quickly responded with seven points of its own on a rushing touchdown from Jamarion Pegues.
“Nothing surprises me with Jaylen Ruffin,” Stewart said of his starting signal-caller. “The only problem with Jaylen Ruffin was Trey Petty being here so long. We knew what Ruffin can do and what he’s been doing for us. Again, I’m going to stick with what Chris Jones (believes). He believes in getting kids ready. He talks about player development and (Ruffin) is a picture-perfect example of that by Chris Jones.”
Amid increasingly heavy rain, a back-and-forth third quarter eventually led to the Yellow Jackets breaking through and retaking the lead, as big plays from Ruffin and junior running back Torian Knox helped Starkville march downfield for six.
As the clock wound down, it looked as if Starkville was going to close it out and walk out of Oxford with their fourth victory of the season. The Chargers, however, had other plans.
With four minutes remaining, Oxford converted back-to-back fourth down conversions to keep the potential game-tying drive alive. The Chargers moved the ball down to the one-yard line, but Starkville’s defense did what it does best. The Yellow Jackets bent, but did not break and stuffed the Chargers on the goal line to regain possession with mere seconds left in the game.
After the Yellow Jackets regained possession following the goal-line stand, a mishap on the snap resulted in a safety for Oxford, making the final score, 14-9.
As Stewart hoisted the golden egg high with pride, he gave the team a message that he hopes they never forget.
“Let’s play hard. Play hard not only for Starkville, but play hard for your coaches (and) for each other. It’s a great win. But at midnight, it’s over. We got to start over,” Stewart said.
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