State Championship Preview: 7A

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The State title matchups are all set and will begin this Thursday with the 1A and 5A matchups followed by 2A and 6A on Friday and 3A, 4A and 7A on Saturday at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Check out our preview of all the action below, continuing with 7A:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Who: Starkville (10-3) vs. Oak Grove (12-1)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When: 7pm, Saturday, December 2nd.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What to watch for:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Starkville</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Coach Chris Jones and his Yellowjackets have got better and better as the year has gone on. The offense can be virtually unstoppable at times with division 1 talent littered across the field led by the Illinois commit at QB [player_tooltip player_id='273258' first='Trey' last='Petty'] (2,255 yards passing, 23 TDs, 873 yards rushing, 10 TDs). Petty's favorite target is one of the top uncommitted names for 2024 in the state in WR [player_tooltip player_id='139597' first='Braylon' last='Burnside'], who has over 1,000 yards receiving and 15 TDs. The Jackets feature a two headed tandem at running back in Courtland Cooper and [player_tooltip player_id='346421' first='Jay' last='Stevenson'] who collectively are over 2,000 yards for the year. The biggest question mark for Starkville is on special teams which can be a bit of an adventure at times. The Jackets are looking to go back to back as state champs for the first time since the mid-90's.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>Oak Grove</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Warriors were our Pre-Season PRZ Power Rankings number 1 team and held that spot until midway thru the regular season. The amount of talent that Coach Causey runs onto the field is impressive. [player_tooltip player_id='344082' first='Anthony' last='Maddox'] (A.J), Texas A&amp;M commit, has led the Warriors all year at QB (3,103 yards passing, 34 TDs). Maddox favorite target is LSU commit P.J. Woodland (1,266 yards, 10 TDs). Defensively Oak Grove has flashy talent but has been exposed at times. Up front they are as good as anyone led by Southern Miss commit [player_tooltip player_id='617237' first='Caleb' last='Moore'] and 2025 top recruit [player_tooltip player_id='350938' first='Andrew' last='Maddox'].</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Key to the game:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Special teams... Oak Grove feels to have the clear advantage there. Matchup to watch will be the talented Warrior defensive front versus Starkville's offensive line. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->