STARKVILLE — While the Starkville High School football team has felt little pressure in its first two games, the target on its back grew a little larger this week.

After dominating performances against Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A favorite Noxubee County and Class 5A favorite Oxford, Class 6A Starkville (2-0) will take the field against West Point at 7 tonight at Yellow Jacket Stadium as the No. 1 team in the state, according to The Associated Press, where it shares the ranking with South Panola, the Mississippi Association of Coaches, and The Clarion-Ledger.

“Our goal is to win the state championship, so the rankings really do not matter much to us,” Starkville senior quarterback Brady Davis said. “However, it is great when other people recognize what you are doing. It’s a lot harder to stay No. 1 then to become No. 1.”

Starkville opened its season with a 51-19 victory against Noxubee County. A week later, Starkville romped past Oxford 52-29. Oxford entered the game No. 1 or No. 2 in each of the rankings.

“We took that game as a personal statement,” Starkville senior running back Jacquez Horsley said. “We knew that a lot of people had them as the top-ranked team, so we had to send a message. We let the game last year get away (in a 35-24 loss). It was important we came out with a focus and mind-set to get the job done.”

Starkville did that as two early turnovers set the stages for it to take a 24-0 lead.

“People have really underappreciated the effort of our defense in the first two weeks because the offense keeps scoring 50 points,” Starkville coach Jamie Mitchell said. “The defense set the tone for the Oxford win because if they start scoring then it can be hard to stop them.”

Starkville’s largest single-game outputs last season were 48 points in a 48-28 victory against Murrah and 45 points in a 45-42 victory against Madison Central.

This season, Starkville has eclipsed the 50-plus point mark in each win thanks in part to stellar play by Davis, who has thrown for 594 yards and nine touchdowns. Senior Matt Fuller and Horsley have combined for 388 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

The challenge for Starkville will be to duplicate that offensive production against a West Point defense that has played well this season. The Green Wave opened the season with a 21-16 victory against Grenada and followed that with a 14-10 loss to South Panola.

Last season, West Point allowed 33.75 points per game. Starkville hit that number a year ago, despite dropping a 55-33 decision. A year before, West Point won in the regular season (47-22), but Starkville won the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State championship game rematch (29-28) on the way to the state championship.

Tonight, there won’t be any playoff ramifications. Starkville won’t see Noxubee County, Oxford, or West Point in the postseason since it is in a different classification.

“It’s still a rivalry game,” Horsley said. “We know a lot of their guys and they know a lot of our guys. Any time one of us is No. 1, the game means a little bit more. We just have to stay humble and hungry. That is the only way to be No. 1 in the end.”

Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.

Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.