Preview: Starkville Yellowjackets vs. Oxford Chargers
Starkville is 8-2 against Oxford since August of 2014, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Starkville Yellowjackets will take on the Oxford Chargers at 7:00 p.m. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, the pair will really light up the scoreboard.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Starkville had no problem doing just that on Friday. They claimed a resounding 44-0 win over Southaven at home. Starkville might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won seven contests by 20 points or more this season.
Meanwhile, Oxford waltzed into Friday's game with five straight wins but they left with six. They came out on top in a nail-biter against Germantown and snuck past 47-44.
Mitchell Grandjean went supernova for Oxford, throwing for 226 yards and three touchdowns, while also punching in a touchdown on the ground. Bryant Mix got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Starkville's victory was their fifth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 8-3. That said, the team wasn't facing the toughest opposition over that stretch, as it included 1-9 Clinton and 1-9 Greenwood (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 36.7% over those games). As for Oxford, their win bumped their record up to 8-3.
Starkville took their win against Oxford when the teams last played back in September by a conclusive 33-13. The rematch might be a little tougher for Starkville since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
