WEST POINT — The final score once the clocks hit 00:00 last Friday wasn’t quite what West Point football was expecting from their season opener at Louisville.
A rematch of the 2022 season opener between the Wildcats and Green Wave became a blowout as Louisville dominated en route to a 35-13 win.
It was familiar, yet unfamiliar territory for West Point, who dropped its opening game for the fourth-straight season.
While the Green Wave are known for tough non-district schedules, Friday night’s loss was its worst since 2000, but it sets in motion added motivation for the 97th all-time meeting between them and Starkville this Friday.
“Our communities are so close together,” West Point head coach Chris Chambless said. “People know each other. They work together. Even though we go to different schools, our kids really know each other. It’s one of those games that’s a tradition.”
Between these two programs, Starkville has had the upper hand in recent years, a 7-2 record in the last nine meetings overall and a current three-game winning streak against the Green Wave.
That includes a 44-13 blowout victory in Starkville last season that caught some fans in the area off-guard.
It was one of a few defining victories early in the season that helped lead to a seventh Mississippi High School Activities Association state title in December, and a game similar to the Yellow Jackets’ 49-18 season-opening win over Noxubee County last Friday.
“I feel like we’re in an OK spot,” Starkville head coach Chris Jones said. “We have a lot of getting better to do and we understand the task at hand by replacing a bunch of guys on one side of the ball. … It’s not going to always look pretty. It’s a work in progress. It’s all about getting better and I think we are.”
These two programs have combined for 18 MHSAA state titles and 37 district titles, all since 1981. The two communities make up two-thirds of the Golden Triangle region, and the people within them know each other well.
While friends off the field, on the field is a very different story. The Green Wave are \looking to get win No. 1 in the books for 2023.
“I feel like we got better this week in practice,” Chambless said. “This is a big game for both communities and we’re just trying to get better every time we go out and play. … It’s going to be a good, hard challenge for us and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”
Starkville made a statement against a state-title game finalist at home in Week One, defending its home turf well, but history does not favor the Jackets on the road in recent years.
In their last six games at West Point, the Jackets are 2-4, with one of those wins being a forfeit due to a COVID-19 outbreak for the Green Wave in 2021.
The all-time series might favor Starkville, but the rivalry has evened out significantly over the last 21 meetings, where the Jackets have the slight 11-10 edge.
With college commits on both sides of the ball in Trey Petty and Braylon Burnside for Starkville, and Kahnen Daniels for West Point, this game has all the makings of a potential game-of-the-season in Mississippi.
“It brings out the best of us when we play teams like West Point,” Jones said. “They’re one of the best teams in the state, year in and year out. It’s always good to have a rivalry of that magnitude. I think it adds to the rivalry.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 28 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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West Point athlete Quinterion Tillman Evans makes a catch during the Green Wave’s season-opening loss to Louisville Aug. 25. The Green Wave host Starkville Friday night. (Photo by Chris McDill/Special to The Dispatch)
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