Jackets dangerous with run and pass

Since Chris Jones took over as head coach at Starkville High School in 2017, the Yellow Jacket offense has been known to be one of the best offenses in the state.

Sometimes it's because of the passing game and sometimes it's because of the running game, but the best offenses are the ones that can do both. That's been what's really set SHS apart over the course of the last seven weeks and is why the Jackets went from 0-3 in Class 6A, Region 2 to playing for a state championship on Saturday night against the Brandon Bulldogs.

The biggest key in Jones' eyes isn't just the ability to be balanced, however. Jones believes that William Stewart's offensive line playing at the top of its game has been the difference.

“I think we've been really good up front,” Jones said. “It's allowed us to throw the ball and run the ball and that's always key. We've got some really good skilled guys, but if you can't get the ball to them, it doesn't work. Giving Trey (Petty) time to throw and also opening up lanes for our running game has been crucial.”

The offensive front is led by tackle Chris Hayes and the group has been stout all season paving the way for the Jacket offense to put up 34 points a game and over 5,500 yards of total offense. Six times this season SHS has scored over 40 points and the team's season low in points came against Tupelo in the regular season with 17 and that was without the starting quarterback Petty.

The most impressive feat is what the Jackets did to that Golden Wave team. Tupelo had surrendered no more than 10 points against another team this year but SHS. The Jackets had 56 points in two games with the rest of the teams on Tupelo's schedule scoring 46 points all season. Last week's 41-point showing in the North State championship topped the 17 points the Golden Wave had surrendered in eight games combined at home all season.

It was in that first Tupelo game earlier this year that Jones and the staff decided to move former defensive player

C.J. Willis to running back for the first time. The SHS running game had hit a snag early in the season and was making the offense more one dimensional. When Willis had switched over to offense, he ran for 207 yards and the Jackets had found their running game.

Willis has averaged 93 yards rushing a game since moving to offense and he's taken some pressure off of Petty. As Tupelo found out, it's much more difficult to stop an offense when it can do it all.

“He wasn't the guy from the beginning,” Jones said of Willis. “He hasn't played running back since junior high so to have an impact like this speaks volumes. We took him from defense and brought him over to offense and he didn't complain. He's been a blessing.”

Of course, a major key to the offense is also the quarterback that's running it. Petty has been the difference for Starkville since he stepped foot on the field last season and the junior is having himself a year.

He missed the Tupelo game in the regular season but had his vengeance last week when he scored five touchdowns and had over 300 yards of offense in the 41-32 win. This season, Petty has 2,543 passing yards and 28 touchdowns with 704 rushing yards and 14 more scores.

He's got some great weapons at receiver as Stonka Burnside just went over 1,000 yards with 71 catches and 10 touchdowns and Jaylon York is closing in on the milestone with 59 catches, 955 yards and nine touchdowns. Qua Jenkins has 54 catches for 620 yards and seven scores himself.

On Saturday, Petty is confident that the offense that has been strong for the back half of this schedule will be ready to go against the Bulldogs. If it performs to its standard, the Jackets could be bringing home another gold trophy.

“I feel like my offense is one of the best offense in the state,” Petty said. “We have playmakers all over the field, offensive line blocks their butt off. We were made to do this.”