Friday Night Writes: Starkville @ Madison Central

This Friday at Jaguar Stadium in Madison, MS, the Starkville Yellow Jackets will take on the Madison Central Jaguars in a rematch of what was a closely-contested week two game last year, in which SHS came out on top 16-14 at home. This year both the jackets and the jags return two completely different teams. The jackets relied heavily on their Dandy Dozen QB/CB Gabe Myles, a MSU signee, as well as their front end heavy 5-2 offense to disrupt Madison Central's rushing game (They held Hugh Warren to 27 yards on 11 carries. Yeah.). The Jags were still running the veer with Drew Rowell, even though it was out of a power-I formation at this point last year. How exactly did the Yellow Jackets win? They forced Drew Rowell to pass the football (unsuccessfully) and Madison Central missed an important near 30 yard field goal, which was apparently enough to win. Simply put, the jags couldn't take advantage of opportunities that the jackets gave to them.

This year, the Jackets return that same Dandy Dozen player and their peculiar 5-2 defense, but recent reports have revealed that Gabe Myles will not play in Friday night's game because of an ankle injury. SHS will have to start 6'3" backup QB Caleb Wilson, son of Mississippi State defensive coordinator Chris Wilson. Frankly, I don't have very much info on the sophomore quarterback, but if his genes hold any clue, its a good sign for Starkville-Wilson's father was a four-year letterman at Oklahoma University as a linebacker. As for Starkville's 5-2 defense, look for it to be more of a liability for Starkville than an asset. It was absolutely perfect for stopping a run-first team like MC last year, but might become a burden against a team that has the ability to move the ball through the air.  Starkville tends to play more man-coverage, which should leave jags QB Jake Schwartz plenty of space to throw the football to his talented wide receiver group.

Keys to the Game

• Madison Central offense- Jump on the jackets early. Take them out of the game because the jackets don't have the offensive fire power to play keep up with you. Specifically, offensive line, keep the yellow jacket's front 7 off of Jake Schwartz and give him time to throw the football. Key Player: Bailey Pepper
• Madison Central defense- Don't give up the big plays. Safeties, keep everything in front of you. If you take back OB's two big plays from them, you would win that game by 11 points. You can't give Starkville's offense a chance to fuel an upset. P.S. Play well. Caleb Wilson's father might just be at the game. Key Player: Jayron Harness
• Starkville offense- It all starts at quarterback for an offense, but Gabe Myles is hurt. I sure hope your coach has given backup Caleb Wilson some playing time in practice, he is going to need everything he's learned and then some against this stout jag defense. Key Player: Caleb Wilson
• Starkville defense- If you are going to play man-coverage against the Jag's spread offense you have to do two things. 1) Defensive backs, lock down MC's receivers. 2) Defensive line and linebackers, get to MC's quarterback and make him feel the pressure. Key Unit: Defensive Line 

Prediction: I was already leaning towards picking MC by a good 10 points before Gabe Myles was ruled out. Now I think the number is somewhere between 13 and 20. Everything about this game screams mismatch to me. The potency of MC's passing offense and the front-heaviness of Starkville is a bad combination for the yellow jackets. Starkville 13, Madison Central 31.