By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
HATTIESBURG – When the Class 6A playoffs began in November, not many people outside Oktibbeha County gave Starkville much chance of going very far.
But with junior standout quarterback Trey Petty healthy and at the top of his game, the Yellowjackets made an emphatic statement Saturday night in the Class 6A Championship Game.
Starkville dominated Brandon from start to finish, crushing the Bulldogs 48-32 in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Gridiron Classic at M.M. Roberts Stadium on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi.
Starkville (12-3), completing a remarkable surge as the fourth seed out of Region 2-6A, won its seventh state title, but the first since 2015. Brandon (12-2) lost in the 6A finals for the second straight season.
Petty earned Player of the Game honors after a stellar performance throwing and running. He completed 13 of 19 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran for a net of 62 yards on 23 carries yards and scored three rushing touchdowns.
“My plan was just to come in here and play my butt off,” said Petty “My offensive line played great, my receivers helped me make plays, the defense came up with some big-time stops early in the game and we came out on top.”
Petty got the scoring started late in the first quarter on a 1-yard run to cap a nine-play, 47-yard drive.
A pair of fourth-down stops led to two Yellowjacket touchdowns in the second quarter. The second stop came after it appeared that Brandon had kicked a successful field goal, but a penalty nullified the score and pushed the Bulldogs out of field-goal range.
Petty completed the first drive, a 12-play, 82-yard march, with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Stonkka Burnside.
After stopping the Bulldogs on fourth down near midfield, Starkville drove 47 yards on 10 plays, with Petty scoring from 1 yard out on a fourth-down run with 19 seconds left in the first half.
Brandon beat the clock to get into position for senior Will Elliott to convert a 38-yard field goal with no time on the clock, after the Yellowjackets were called for a holding call on the final snap of the half.
Petty wasted no time getting Starkville back on the scoreboard in the second half.
On the second play after the opening kickoff of the third quarter, Petty connected with Burnside for a 62-yard pass play to the Brandon 2-yard-line, and Petty covered the rest of the distance for the score.
“Nobody really knows our story, what goes on in practice, who all was injured,” said Petty. “We played through it early in the season, and when we got everybody back, we just started kicking.”
Brandon finally got its offense going on the ensuing possession, driving 67 yards on 12 plays, with junior tailback Nathanial Blount scoring on a 7-yard run.
After forcing the Yellowjackets to punt for the first time in the game, the Bulldogs appeared to have momentum, driving to the Starkville 25.
But on a first-down run, Starkville senior Jaylon York stripped the ball away from Brandon senior Jarvis Durr, and appears to score a touchdown, but it was nullified by a block in the back.
But it didn’t matter. Petty drove the Yellowjackets 64 yards on 10 plays, getting the score on a 13-yard pass to York and a 35-10 lead with 5 seconds left in the third quarter.
Starkville was particularly effective on third down, converting 8 of 14, and the Yellowjackets were 2 of 4 on fourth down. By contrast, Brandon was just 1 of 10 on third down.
“We’ve been in playoff mode for a long time,” said Starkville coach Chris Jones. “Hats off to these kids. We were able to finish the right way.
“We knew we could be here, we just had to get some guys healthy. We just trusted the process. You saw what we did; we just kept working hard every day.”
Starkville continued its onslaught in the fourth quarter. After stopping the Bulldogs on a fourth down at the Brandon 36, the Yellowjackets needed just five plays to score, with sophomore Courtland Cooper scoring on a 12-yard run.
Brandon made the score respectable with three touchdowns in the final period, scoring on passes of 14 yards and 11 from junior quarterback Landon Varnes to senior Lester Miller, and a 1-yard run by Blount.
Starkville added a 16-yard touchdown run by Cooper midway through the fourth quarter to build a 48-18 lead, before the Bulldogs rallied in the final four minutes.
Brandon was able to amass 508 yards of offense, led by Varnes and Blount.
Varnes completed 20 of 38 passes for 297 yards and two scores, and Blount netted 180 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns. Miller had 168 yards on eight receptions, and sophomore Quincy Phillips also had eight catches for 104 yards.
But in the end, it was Starkville that celebrated a big comeback after falling to 0-3 in region play.
“We didn’t care about traveling anywhere,” said Petty. “We had an 0-0 mindset coming into every game, like we were down 14-0, playing from behind, play hard, play fast.
“I wanted to come out aggressive. I love playing games like this, big crowds against good teams. It makes me play better, play harder.”
GAME SUMMARY
Class 6A State Championship
Saturday at Hattiesburg
Starkville 48, Brandon 32
Brandon 0 3 7 22 – 32
Starkville 7 14 14 13 – 48
First Quarter
S – Trey Petty 1 run (Will Wells kick), 4:00 (9 plays/47 yards/2:23 possession).
Second Quarter
S – Petty 22 pass to Stonkka Burnside (Wells kick), 5:04 (12/82/4:13).
S – Petty 1 run (Wells kick), 0:19 (10/47/3:34).
B – Will Elliott 38 field goal, 0:00 (3/47/0:19).
Third Quarter
S – Petty 2 run (Wells kick), 11:11 (3/65/0:49).
B – Nathaniel Blount 7 run (Elliott kick), 7:31 (12/67/3:40).
S – Petty 13 pass to Jaylon York (Wells kick), 0:05 (10/64/3:58).
Fourth Quarter
S – Courtland Cooper 12 run (Kick failed), 9:32 (5/36/2:10).
B – Landon Varnes 14 pass to Lester Miller (Blount run), 8:49 (4/44/0:43).
S – Cooper 16 run (Brayden Green kick), 4:23 (7/55/4:26).
B – Varnes 11 pass to Miller (Blount run), 3:18 (3/69/1:05).
B – Blount 1 run (Run failed), 1:59 (9/46/1:19).
TEAM STATISTICS
B S
First downs 24 25
Total net yards 508 444
Rushes-yards 34-211 56-250
Passing yards 297 194
Comp-Att-Int 20-39-0 13-19-0
Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 11-105 7-55
Punts-total (avg.) 3-123 (41.0) 2-80 (40.0)
Sacks 2-13 3-8
Third down 1-10 8-14
Fourth down 3-6 2-4
Time of possession 19:41 28:19
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Brandon– Nathaniel Blount 24-180, Jarvis Durr 2-32, Landon Varnes 6-6, Quincy Phillips 1-1, Team 1-9-8); Starkville – Curtis Willis 14-85, Courtland Cooper 11-67, Trey Petty 23-62, Jaiden Turnipseed 1-20, Jaquavin Jenkins 3-9, Jaylon York 3-6, Stonkka Burnside 1-1.
Passing
Brandon – Landon Varnes 20-38-0-297, Team 0-1-0-0; Starkville – Trey Petty 13-19-0-194.
Receiving
Brandon – Lester Miller 8-168, Quincy Phillips 8-104, Jahare Buckhalter 2-24, Nathaniel Blount 2-1; Starkville – Stonkka Burnside 4-114, Jaylon York 5-56,Nigel McCarter 1-9, Jontavious Rogers 1-8, Curtis Willis 1-7, Jaquavin Jenkins 1-0.
Photos courtesy of Jesse Johnson
