#HSFT16: Stop No. 59 – Starkville Yellowjackets

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) — Starkville has set out to do the double in 2016.

That’s the mindset and that’s the goal is to go back to back but getting back means the Yellowjackets will have to reload the offense.

Starkville averaged 34 points per game a season ago, but big names have departed which gives a new challenge to head coach Ricky Woods for the new year.

“We will have a different look,” coach Woods said. “You gear your offense to your players and we still have unanswered questions. I think the offensive line will be one of our strengths. We’ll go as they go.

“We were balanced last year and people thought we threw it all the time. But if you go by the statistics, we were 50-50 across the board. That’s what we’d like to continue to do.”

The 34 seniors that graduated from last year’s State Title team leaves a big void to be filled, but the upcoming seniors relish the opportunity to lead this year’s team and they have taken on that big responsibility.

“After watching guys like AJ Brown, Kobe Jones, Montario Montgomery, the way they led, those are big shoes to fill,” senior Willie Gay said. “Us seniors need to step up and do our job to make sure we’re successful.”

“We try to lead by example,” senior Connor Reinike said. “We don’t talk as much and we just try to go out and take care of business.”

And Starkville will be honest with you: they are focused on going all the way again and winning the Gold Ball in their hometown university’s stadium.

But what they aren’t focused on is last year’s team. This year’s group has their own identity and mindset as they aim to do something only one other Starkville team has done: win back to back State Championships.

“The goal is do the same thing and take it one game at a time,” Reinike said. “We can’t look ahead. If we do, we won’t stay focused.”

“We lost great pieces,” Gay said. “We lost a good quarterback, good receiver and running back. We have to go hard every day. We can’t take any games off or plays off or practices off.”

“Nobody cares what we did last year,” Woods said.  “They don’t, our community doesn’t, and I don’t. It’s about what you’re going to do now. Last year has come and gone. The focus is one game at a time and get better this week. That’s the mindset I have and I think that’s the mindset our guys have too”