SHS hosts West Point to begin the season
It’s not just the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s kickoff tonight. It’s Starkville-west Point week.
There couldn’t be a better way to start the 2020 season than the two rivals separated by one county converging under the Friday night lights and the 25% capacity at Yellow
Jacket Stadium will be challenged by many patrons of both schools who live for this game year in and year out.
The Green Wave have won 10 games in the matchup since 2004 with SHS most recently putting a dent in the rivalry as it has taken a 4-2 mark since the 2014 season, but last year’s loss still stings Jacket fans and players alike after the team blew a 14-0 lead by giving up 41-straight points to West Point.
Dandy Dozen quarterback Luke Altmyer of Starkville was pulled from that game against the Green Wave by coach Chris Jones after an interception and the Jackets made a come back to get back in the game. Following what was probably Altmyer’s least favorite game of the year, he threw just two interceptions over the course of the final 12 games and took SHS to the Class 6A North State championship.
West Point coach Chris Chambless is aware that Altmyer is looking for a much better game on Friday.
“He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the country and we know that he’s going to be ready to play,” Chambless said. “He can make all the throws and is a really smart kid so I have no doubt that it’s going to be a challenge for our defense.”
Last season’s rough night against the Green Wave was an example of just how the game goes sometimes in a major rivalry. Great players have come and gone in the rivalry and the game hasn’t cared how talented the other team might be.
Mississippi State has six players that took part in the rivalry over the years and they know more than anyone how tough the game is every year. The Jackets won a state championship in 2015 and West Point has won four-straight of its own. MSU junior safety Marcus Murphy lost to the Jackets twice during his ca
reer despite winning two state championships.
“That’s been a rivalry for years and is like Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss,” Murphy said. “It’s a battle of who is the best team in Mississippi. I know that they’re 6A, but it doesn’t matter. When the two teams match up, it’s going to be a great matchup no matter who is playing or who is coaching.”
Senior defensive end Kobe Jones of the Bulldogs had successful years while he was at SHS against the Wave with his junior and senior years being dominant. When he took the field against West Point, he knew that it was bigger than the dozens of players on the field.
To the people right in the middle of the rivalry every day, there is much
pride involved. It’s why Murphy and Jones will both be at the game on Friday night representing their program and pulling for a win.
“That rivalry is everything,” Jones said. “As we like to say in the local community, there are a lot of paychecks that get bet on that game.
“(With) Starkville and West Point, we consider ourselves one of the two most dominant powerhouses in Mississippi. That game is all or nothing. When you go against West Point, they’ll give you all you’ve got no matter who they’re lined up against.”
Chris Jones is a part of the rivalry now too as he enters year four with the Jackets. Starkville is not only looking for revenge and a rivalry win against the
Green Wave on Friday, they’re looking to start a quest to get back to the state championship.
While West Point has been replacing star players and still racking up state titles, the Jackets have been just short the last few years and they’re hoping to change that in the all-toostrange 2020. It all starts tonight with a big one right off the bat.
“It took me a couple of years, but I truly know just what this game means to people in the communities,” Chris Jones said. “You have people that work together in West Point and Starkville that talk about this game all year and they get their bragging rights. It’s just a great rivalry with great players and great fans and we’re excited about kicking off the season with it.”