STARKVILLE — Starkville High School football player Tyler Rogers was asked to sum up his night Friday night.

All Rogers could do was laugh.

Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell had no struggle to put his senior defensive back’s night into words.

“Tyler had a great night,” Mitchell said. “Even that would be a major understatement. I am not sure how that happened.

“In all my years of coaching, I had never seen a night like that.”

Rogers had four interceptions and the top-ranked Yellow Jackets again rang the bell on defense.

Starkville dominated the proceedings in a 34-10 win over Southaven in the semifinal round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A playoffs.

Starkville (13-0) will play host to second-ranked South Panola (13-0) in the North State championship game Friday night.

The teams last met for a right to play in the state championship game in the 2001 postseason.

“This is what you want,” Starkville senior running back Matt Fuller said. “All year you dream about the chance to play South Panola.

“We want to get a little revenge from last season.”

Starkville won the Class 5A state championship in 2012. Last season, Starkville moved up to Class 6A and saw its postseason run end with a second-round loss to South Panola in Batesville.

To achieve the dream matchup though both teams had to do their part Friday night.

South Panola held off a late threat in the Fourth quarter to post a 9-7 win against Clinton.

Starkville had no such drama.

“We just had to come out and execute our assignments,” Starkville senior linebacker Alonzo Flowers said. “Everybody was disappointed at how the regular season ended.

“We have come out in the playoffs with a renewed sense of urgency. We have gotten back to doing some of the things we do best.”

Starkville posted four straight shutouts to start Class 6A, Region 2 play. The regular season ended in the other extreme as Starkville allowed 63 total points in wins over Warren Central and Clinton.

“I think everybody was a little embarrassed,” Mitchell said. “Being embarrassed doesn’t last long when you are good enough to do something about it.

“Our defensive effort in this game was outstanding.”

The defense got its tone from Rogers, who actually had all four interceptions in the second half.

“That was pretty amazing,” Rogers said. “I have never had this kind of feeling playing the game. On defense, we just tried to get some pressure on their quarterback and stop the run. I happened to be in the right place at the right time more than once.”

Starkville erased a 10-3 deficit for a 17-10 halftime lead.

The Yellow Jackets drove the ball at will before settling for 1-yard touchdown runs from Brady Davis and Fuller.

Fuller quickly added a 1-yard run to start the third quarter and Starkville was never in any real danger after that.

“The only negative was three turnovers,” Mitchell said. “You won’t be able to do that in the next game.

“Fortunately, we kept making plays.”

Four of those plays were made by Rogers. He got help from Flowers and Derion Ford who each had game-changing tackles for loss early in the play.

“We set a tone very early in the game,” Rogers said. “If we start strong, we are at our best.”

Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott

Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.