With only a winning season to play for, the Grenada Chargers made the trip to Starkville last Thursday to face the 7-3 Yellowjackets. GHS looked like they might pull off the upset leading 14-13 with just over nine minutes left in the game, but Starkville rallied to sneak by the visitors.
Starkville proceeded to drive 81 yards in the final eight minutes and used a 13-yard touchdown pass from Trey Petty to Ashton Bogard with 57 seconds remaining to regain the lead. The two-point conversion helped the Jackets escape with a 21-14 victory over Grenada.
With the win, Starkville improves to 8-3 overall and 4-3 inside Class 6A, Region 2. Grenada ends its season at 5-6 overall and 1-6 inside the region.
“We challenged our guys to see if they would just quit or go out and play hard,” GHS head coach Ashley Kuhn said. “Our effort was outstanding – there were a lot of young ones out there and I was proud of the way they fought through adversity. Some questionable calls went against us, but we continued to play hard.”
The Chargers defensive unit came up big drive after drive against the Jackets offense and junior quarterback Trey Petty. Starkville scored on its first and last possessions of the contest.
Grenada opened the contest driving from its 29-yard line to the Starkville 10. The Chargers were helped in the drive by a 35-yard pass from Jaylon Skinner to Amari Conley. The drive stalled and Michael Cavanaugh missed a 27-yard field goal with 8:13 left in the opening quarter of play.
Starkville answered the missed field goal with an 8-play, 80-yard drive. Petty completed a 24-yard pass to Curtis Willis and a 31-yard pass Jaylon York. The touchdown came on a pass from Petty to Jaquavin Jenkins from nine yards out. Brayden Green’s extra point made it 7-0 Starkville with 5:40 left in the opening quarter.
Grenada started its next possession following the touchdown at the Starkville 47-yard thanks to a 48-yard kickoff return from Jekerious Williams. Three plays later, the Chargers turned the ball over on a fumble.
The Jackets took the turnover and drove as deep as the Chargers 15-yard line before losing the ball on downs at the GHS 5-yard line.
Grenada got the football following a defensive stand that forced a punt. The Chargers needed 8 plays to drive 89 yards for the game-tying points. Freshman quarterback Brayden Trusty completed passes of 19 yards and 10 yards to McCaleb Taylor, along with a 29-yard pass play to Ashton Ross. The drive was capped by Taylor, who went in from three yards out for the touchdown. Brayden Neathery kicked the extra point to make it 7-7 with 4:08 left in the half.
Second Half
After holding the Jackets on its first possession of the second half, Starkville intercepted Skinner and returned it to the GHS 23. The Chargers defensive unit held strong forcing a field goal that was missed.
Following the missed field, Grenada ran three plays and punted back to Starkville. The Yellowjackets scored on a 14-yard pass from Petty to York. The extra point failed following a bad snap, leaving the score at 13-7 with 2:18 left in the third period.
The Chargers again turned to a big play in special teams as Williams returned the Starkville kickoff following the score to the Jackets 22-yard line. Five plays later, Taylor went into the end zone to tie the game at 13-13. Neathery’s extra point made it 14-13 with 11:34 left in the game.
The Grenada defense stood firm once again and got the ball back for the offense at its 22-yard line with 9:35 left. Offensively, the Chargers put together three first downs before they had to give up the ball on a punt to Starkville.
Using the legs and arm of Petty, the Jackets took 11 plays to get the ball into the end zone for the winning touchdown.
On the second play following the touchdown, Trusty was intercepted and Starkville ran out the clock to get the win.
By the Numbers
Grenada finished the night with 227 total yards including 113 passing yards and two interceptions. Taylor was the leading rusher with 56 yards on 23 total carries. He finished his first varsity season with 1,012 yards and eight touchdowns.
Defensively, Tre Parker and Jalon Townes led the way with 6 1/2 tackles each. Jahmani Washington finished with 5 1/2 tackles.
Kuhn said the offseason begins immediately. Last Thursday, it was released that Grenada will be in Class 6A, Region 1 next season with the addition of a Class 7A for larger schools in Mississippi. The new region will consist of Grenada, South Panola, Center Hill, Olive Branch, Saltillo and Lake Cormorant.
