Summer Preview: Mississippi Region 2-6A

From Tupelo, MS down to Madison Central there is a region that has what most say is the toughest divison in the state of MS. Some say this is the SEC West of football for MS. Every week you are promised a thriller when their division play gets going. Let’s dig in and see what these guys have in store. You can win seven games in this division and still miss the playoffs. Preseason Player Picks: Offensive MVPs: QB [player_tooltip player_id="273258" first="Trey" last="Petty"] (Starkville), RB DeAndre Pullen (Madison Central), WR [player_tooltip player_id="108979" first="Isaiah" last="Spencer"] (Madison Central) ATH [player_tooltip player_id="139597" first="Braylon" last="Burnside"] "Stonka", OL [player_tooltip player_id="108897" first="Zay" last="Alexander"] (Tupelo) Defensive MVPs: DL Eric Thomas, Jr (Starkville), LB Tristan Jernigan (Tupelo), DB Donovan Coleman (Clinton) 2021 Season Standings 1. Starkville (13-2) 2. Madison Central (13-1) 3. Clinton (6-5) 4. Oxford (7-5) 5. Tupelo (7-4) 6. Germantown (4-7) 7. Grenada (5-6) 8. Murrah (1-10) 2022 Season Projected Standings 1. Starkville 2. Madison Central 3. Tupelo 4. Clinton 5. Oxford 6. Grenada 7. Germantown 8. Murrah Starkville The Yellowjackets are back ready to hit the ball rolling again this year. They are returning a lot of key players and they will be lights out on offense. [player_tooltip player_id="273258" first="Trey" last="Petty"], [player_tooltip player_id="139597" first="Braylon" last="Burnside"] "Stonka" and [player_tooltip player_id="340821" first="Jaylon" last="York"] are going to put up big numbers in their spread offense this year. We all know Coach Jones likes to spread it out and toss it over the field. His QB has been getting progressing everyday this summer. The Yellowjacket defense is going to be a great bunch. They are lead by defensive lineman Eric Thomas who is a beast upfront. They also have senior Brandon Short holding down their secondary. This team is going to be playing with a lot of energy next season. Don’t be surprised if they get over the hump and make it to the state title game this year. Madison Central The Jaguars ended last season as champs. They went on to win a ring with their backup QB after [player_tooltip player_id="108930" first="Vic" last="Sutton"] went down in the second round vs Oxford. They played with a lot of fight all season and proved why they are the champs. This year they are looking to repeat. [player_tooltip player_id="108930" first="Vic" last="Sutton"] is back, [player_tooltip player_id="108979" first="Isaiah" last="Spencer"] is back and their thousand yard receiving RB DeAndre Pullen is back. This is going to be another great season for the Jaguars. The Jaguars have a very balanced offense with Vic having his legs and Pullen doing what he does. They also get it done in the air. Spencer had a thousand yards receiving last year. That is saying a lot for a team with this much talent. The Jaguar defense will be back biting hard this year. [player_tooltip player_id="340827" first="Braxton" last="Barney"] will be the leader of that bunch and he was a major force on their team last year. Especially during their title game. [player_tooltip player_id="346401" first="Ryan" last="McCall"] was a sophomore last year holding it down at the LB position. He will bring his experience to that LB core. I expect another big season out of the Jaguars. Tupelo There has to be a very bad taste in the Golden Wave’s team mouths. They went 7-4 last year and didn’t make the playoffs. They had some hard fought battles and fell short. That’s what this division can do for you. Expect for them to come out blazing all season this year. They have a great offense that is ready to lead the way for their team. [player_tooltip player_id="344100" first="Jeremiah" last="Harrell"] had a great season for them last year and the 2024 QB will be back in the pocket setting things up again this year. He has [player_tooltip player_id="340864" first="Daelyn" last="Patton"] and a few more good receivers to get the ball to. I can see him having a 2500 plus yard throwing year. The Golden Wave defense is a nice group as well. Tristan Jernigan is a name you are going to want to keep up with on that side. He is a 2024 guy that was holding it down for their defense last season. Tupelo had a big number of college coaches come through their school this spring. Things like that happen for a reason. I think they are going to shock some people this year with the team they have. Clinton This team right here is known to be some tough fighters. Their head coach was a state title victory winner in his varsity days just like his team was in 2016. He has a hard nosed style and you can see that in his team. They fight hard every and always find themselves in tough battles. This year they can expect the same thing. It just may work out more to the Arrow favor more time than not this year. They are returning eight studs on offense this year. They only lost two offensive lineman and one wide receiver last year. Their QB, Jordan Batee is going to be back leading the way. [player_tooltip player_id="340860" first="Jakobe" last="Calvin"] lead the team in rushing and will return this year. Kyler Huttong is going to be back catching passes from Jordan. The defense is going to be nasty lead by four angry defensive lineman. These guys play with bad attitudes. The type of bad attitude a husband tries to avoid when he knows his wife is upset at them. There are going to be a lot of RBs trying to avoid these monsters. TJ Spann and Johnathan Flowers will be amongst that bunch causing major problems. Kenny Andrews will be the leader of the DL. Oxford Oxford has [player_tooltip player_id="106161" first="Mack" last="Howard"] with them now. The Chargers look to add some more fire power to the offense. Last year they lost during the second round to Madison Central. The Chargers will be bringing back some guys on offense this year to help them fight amongst this tough division. On defense they have [player_tooltip player_id="106769" first="Alex" last="Sanford"] and [player_tooltip player_id="106318" first="Malaki" last="Pegues"] who will hold it down for them. It’s going to be interesting to watch them play against these other teams this season. So many of these teams are going to be bringing a lot back this year. I think they will make it a fun season. It’s hard to make any predictions at this moment. Grenada If you take this Charger team and put them in Region 1-6A they would be playoff contenders every year. Unfortunately we all can’t have what we want. They have a lot of talent year in and year out. Things just don’t always work out for the Chargers. They have some nice guys returning this year. [player_tooltip player_id="340859" first="Tre" last="Parker"] and [player_tooltip player_id="340863" first="Jalon" last="Townes"] will be holding that defense down for the G. Those two guys bring a nice force to their defense. It’s going to be very tough on them again next year. They are losing a big time push in their rushing game. I think they may have a few problems in the offensive game that may keep them from being a playoff team this year. Germantown When you take a close look at Germantown’s schedule last year you will see they lost four of their division games by ten points or less. Only one of those four games was a ten point differential. These guys fought very hard last year and fell short. They were right there in the mix amongst some of the best teams around the state last year. Again this is one of the toughest divisions in the state. It will be another tough season for them, but I expect them to fight hard. Drew McCluskey, Jeremiah Washington and Branden Harris will be some guys to keep up with over there. Murrah It’s always rough during this time of the year for the Mustangs. They had a very rough season last year with only one victory that came over Port Gibson. I don’t think much will change this year. They are in a very tough division. Hard to compete with the top guys of this region.