Jackets shut out Vols in ‘Battle of the Ditch'
The ditch between Starkville High School and Starkville Academy may have been full of water because of heavy rain earlier in the day, but that did not keep the “Battle of the Ditch” from happening on Tuesday.
With bragging rights on the line for the two schools that are only separated by Lynn Lane, the Yellowjackets and Volunteers took the wet and slick pitch.
The match took a while to get going but eventually SHS found a way to score goals and never looked back, shutting out SA 5-0.
“Despite the shutout loss, I'm proud of our guys,” Starkville Academy head coach JoJo Dodd said. “SHS is a very good and competitive team and we obviously have a lot to work on. Going into the Christmas break off of a loss is never easy, but we'll work hard to battle back for the next game.”
In the 13th minute, Lucas Elder punched in the first goal of the contest to give the Jackets a 1-0 lead.
The ball was knocked around four times near the goal in the 26th minute, until an own goal occurred off of the head of Vols goalkeeper Zak Kelly to give the Jackets a 2-0 lead.
In the 30th minute, the SHS lead grew to 3-0 with a Lazer goal off the foot of Filippo Della Volta.
Della Volta punched in his second goal of the evening in the 36th minute to extend the lead to 4-0 for the remainder of the half.
“I'm very proud of my team (Tuesday night) after the victory,” Della Volta said. “Going forward, I think that we can continue to improve and compete with Madison Central and Northwest Rankin to get a playoff berth.”
The second half looked to be a scoreless one until the 72nd minute when Matteo Spatafora launched in another goal for the Jackets to provide the final margin.
“In this game, I was very pleased with my players, because we finally were able to execute on a lot of things that we've been working on,” Starkville boys soccer coach Rob Fyke said. “Execution finally came together along with cooperative weather and I was happy to be able to play (Tuesday night). Going forward to Caledonia, we just need to continue to improve offensively and score goals.”
With the victory, the Jackets improved to 2-0 in the cross town series and 7-2 overall. The Vols fell to 3-2.
SHS will be back in action hosting Caledonia on Thursday and Starkville Academy resumes play on January 10 hosting Indianola Academy. College Football AP Top 25
Team…..Record
1. Clemson (43)…..(12-1)
2. Oklahoma (18)…..(12-1)
3. Georgia…..(12-1)
4. Alabama…..(11-1)
5. Ohio State…..(11-2)
6. Wisconsin…..(12-1)
7. Auburn…..(10-3)
8. Southern Cal…..(11-2)
9. Penn State…..(10-2)
10. Central Florida…..(12-0)
11. Miami…..(10-2)
12. Washington…..(10-2)
13. TCU…..(10-3)
14. Notre Dame…..(9-3)
15. Stanford…..(9-4)
16. LSU…..(9-3)
17. Oklahoma State…..(9-3)
18. Michigan State…..(9-3)
19. Memphis…..(10-2)
20. Northwestern…..(9-3)
21. Washington State…..(9-3)
22. Virginia Tech…..(9-3)
23. South Florida…..(9-2)
24. Mississippi State…..(8-4)
25. Boise State…..(10-3)
Others receiving votes: North Carolina State 54, San Diego State 40, Toledo 25, Louisville 11, FAU 8, Michigan 8, Fresno State 6, Missouri 3, Troy 1, Kansas State 1.
Amway Coaches Top 25 Top 25
Team…..RecordAP
1. Clemson (49)…..(12-1)
2. Oklahoma (10)…..(12-1)
3. Georgia (2)…..(12-1)
4. Alabama…..(11-1)
5. Ohio State…..(11-2)
6. Wisconsin…..(12-1)
7. Southern Cal…..(11-2)
8. Auburn…..(10-3)
9. Penn State…..(10-2)
10. Central Florida…..(12-0)
11. Miami…..(10-2)
12. Washington…..(10-2)
13. TCU…..(10-3)
14. LSU…..(9-3)
15. Notre Dame…..(9-3)
16. Stanford…..(9-4)
17. Oklahoma State…..(9-3)
18. Memphis…..(10-2)
19. Michigan State…..(9-3)
20. Northwestern…..(9-3)
21. Washington State…..(9-3)
22. Virginia Tech…..(9-3)
23. Mississippi State…..(8-4)
24. South Florida…..(9-2)
25. Boise State…..(10-3)
Others receiving votes: North Carolina State 54; San Diego State 50; Florida Atlantic 24; Toledo 21; Michigan 11; Troy 11; Fresno State 5; Louisville 4; South Carolina 4.
CFP Rankings
1. Clemson (12-1)
2. Oklahoma (12-1)
3. Georgia (12-1)
4. Alabama (11-1)
5. Ohio State (11-2)
6. Wisconsin (12-1)
7. Auburn (10-3)
8. Southern Cal (11-2)
9. Penn State (10-2)
10. Miami (10-2)
11. Washington (10-2)
12. Central Florida (12-0)
13. Stanford (9-4)
14. Notre Dame (9-3)
15. TCU (10-3)
16. Michigan State (9-3)
17. LSU (9-3)
18. Washington State (9-3)
19. Oklahoma State (9-3)
20. Memphis (10-2)
21. Northwestern (9-3)
22. Virginia Tech (9-3)
23. Mississippi State (8-4)
24. North Carolina State (8-4)
25. Boise State (10-3)
Bowl Glance
Dec. 16 Celebration Bowl At Atlanta
NC A&T 21, Grambling State 14
New Orleans Bowl
Troy 50, North Texas 30
Cure Bowl Orlando, Fla.
Georgia State 27, Western Kentucky 17
Las Vegas Bowl
Boise State 38, Oregon 28
New Mexico Bowl Albuquerque
Marshall 31, Colorado State 28
Camellia Bowl Montgomery, Ala.
Middle Tennessee 35, Arkansas State 30
Tuesday, Dec. 19 Boca Raton (Fla.) Bowl
FAU 50, Akron 3
Today, Dec. 20 Frisco (Texas) Bowl
Louisiana Tech (6-6) vs. SMU (7-5), 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Thursday, Dec. 21 Gasparilla Bowl At St. Petersburg, Fla.
Temple (6-6) vs. FIU (8-4), 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Friday, Dec. 22 Bahamas Bowl Nassau
Ohio (8-4) vs. UAB (8-4), 12:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Boise
Central Michigan (7-5) vs. Wyoming (7-5), 4 p.m. (ESPN)
Saturday, Dec. 23 Birmingham (Ala.) Bowl
South Florida (9-2) vs. Texas Tech (6-6), Noon (ESPN)
Armed Forces Bowl Fort Worth, Texas
San Diego State (10-2) vs. Army (8-3), 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Dollar General Bowl Mobile, Ala.
Appalachian State (8-4) vs. Toledo (11-2), 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday, Dec. 24 Hawaii Bowl Honolulu
Fresno State (9-4) vs. Houston (7-4), 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, Dec. 26 Heart of Dallas Bowl
West Virginia (7-5) vs. Utah (6-6), 1:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Quick Lane Bowl Detroit
Northern Illinois (8-4) vs. Duke (6-6), 5:15 p.m. (ESPN)
Cactus Bowl Phoenix
Kansas State (7-5) vs. UCLA (6-6), 9 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, Dec. 27 Independence Bowl