Mississippi high school football rewind: Louisville stuns; Oak Grove pulls out thriller over MRA
It all came down to one final drive at Jacket Stadium Friday night.
The No. 2 Starkville Yellowjackets got the ball back at their own 37, trailing the No. 4 Louisville Wildcats 26-22 with 2:21 left on the clock.
Star quarterback Trey Petty drove the Jackets to the Louisville 27-yard line, but the Wildcat defense forced four-straight incomplete passes to seal a monumental 26-22 upset win over last year's Class 6A State Champion.
The Wildcats (4-0) trailed 14-3 at the half and 22-9 headed into the fourth quarter.
"I told our guys, we bend but don't break," Shorter said. "I said in the locker room we gotta come out and play a better second half, and they played a heck of a game in those final two quarters."
Louisville trimmed the Starkville lead to 22-16 with an eight-play, 78-yard touchdown drive on their first possession of the fourth quarter. Quarterback Xavien Hunt took it in on a one-yard dive.
The Wildcats took a 23-22 lead two possessions later when Hunt shrugged off a 3rd-and-7 and connected with Xzavion Haynes for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 4:52 to go.
As rowdy as the visitor's grandstand was following the touchdown pass, it was even louder when Louisville freshman Ayden Coleman (remember the name) recovered the ensuing kickoff for the Wildcats.
Ceidrick "Sugarfoot" Hunt tacked on a 28-yard field goal with 2:26 to go, setting up the final drive for Starkville.
Petty tried to make up for his two fourth-quarter fumbles, rushing for 28 yards on the final drive. But the senior Illinois commit could not connect with any of his receivers on his final eight attempts.
The Wildcat defense came up with play after play on the final few Starkville possessions, with forced fumbles from Tay Quon McKinney and Jayshaun Robbins, and several pass breakups from Jykevious Goss, who finished with an interceptions and multiple pass breakups on the game-winning stop.
The Jackets (3-1) found success in the first half with the Petty to Braylon Burnside connection. The duo connected four times for 68 yards, including a 28-yard touchdown pass.
But the Wildcats did not struggle to run the football, and salted away much of the second have with a steady dose of Haynes and Jaylin Jordan.
"We had to keep their offense off the field," Shorter said. "We felt like we could come in and run the ball, and we did. We did a great job as an offensive staff of controlling the ball and the momentum."
No. 2 Oak Grove pulls out another thriller
The top-ranked Oak Grove Warriors survived a big scare from the MAIS powerhouse Madison-Ridgeland Academy Patriots in a 45-44 thriller at Oak Grove.
After the Patriots forced overtime by blocking a potential game-winning field goal, the Warriors struck first with a one-yard touchdown dive from Kyle Champagne.
Southern Miss commit John White answered right back for MRA with an eight-yard touchdown pass, but the Patriots got stuffed on the two-point try.
Elsewhere in the Top 10
Third-ranked Tupelo Golden Wave took care of business with a workmanlike 49-7 win their over former region foe, the Oxford Chargers.
The Golden Wave (4-0) took a 14-7 lead into the half, then outscored the Chargers (2-2) 35-0 in the final two quarters.
The Tupelo defense has now given up just two touchdowns in 16 quarters this season.
The fifth-ranked Picayune Maroon Tide beat Gulfport 28-21 thanks to a big defensive play from Niquis Ratcliff.
Ratcliff read Gulfport quarterback Nico Williams' eyes, jumped a route and housed a 41-yard interception return to put the Maroon Tide ahead with just under three minutes to go.
The Northwest Rankin Cougars were all smiles Friday night after knocking off sixth-ranked Madison Central 28-21.
The Cougars just missed an upset over No. 7 Ocean Springs, but didn't miss twice.
Northwest Rankin drove half the field on the final drive, and Dylan Lewis scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:30 to go.
The seventh-ranked Ocean Springs Greyhounds took care of business against Natchez (0-4) with a 39-14 homecoming win.
Will Smith rushed for five touchdowns and the Greyhounds avoided the stumble before next week’s big matchup with Picayune.
The No. 8 Pearl Pirates rolled over Ridgeland 45-7 at Ray Rogers Stadium in Pearl, and the Brandon Bulldogs smothered the No. 10 Warren Central Vikings (2-2) over in Vicksburg, 20-7.
