Holiday leads Jaguars to No. 1 state ranking

Madison Central quarterback Jimmy Holiday can be a very difficult opponent with the use of his arm and his legs.

The Starkville Yellow Jackets don't plan to make it easy for him on Friday night.

Holiday will lead the No. 1 Jaguars into Starkville to take on the Jackets in a key Class 6A, Region 3 matchup and it's a battle between two of the top five teams in the state.

“They are explosive with the run game and their quarterback is very fast and mobile,” SHS linebacker Ronnie Randle said. “It's going to be hard to contain them, but we can get it done.”

Holiday is the engine that makes the Madison Central offense go as he is responsible for 20 total touchdowns this season already. He has completed 57-of-81 pass attempts for 657 yards and eight touchdowns, then adds 838 yards rushing on 89 carries and 12 scores.

SHS head coach Chris Jones said Holiday is so explosive that the key will be to put him in the most difficult situations possible.

“It can't be second and 5 or third and 3,” Jones said. “We can't make it easy for them. That's kind of what they want. Hopefully we'll get them in long down and distance stuff so we can dictate some of the play calls. If you have an open playbook, they will hit you with a whole lot of stuff that you can't defend. Hopefully we can narrow it down by down and distance and keep them behind the chains. To me, that gives us the best chance to keep Jimmy from doing what he does.”

Jones also said keeping Holiday and the Jaguar offense off the field as much as possible will be important.

That means the Jackets will have to do their part offensively to put together long and sustainable drives.

“We've got to score to make them play a different brand of football,” Jones said. “We've got to be good this week on offense. They are good on defense, but not like years past. In year's past, they've had a good defensive line and great linebackers.”

Starkville and Madison Central have had one common opponent so far this season in Brandon. The Jackets lost to the Bulldogs 27-21 in the first game of the season, while the Jaguars defeated Brandon 28-14 in week two.

Madison Central has won region games against Clinton 21-15, Murrah 24-0 and Warren Central 28-7.