Germantown falls to top-ranked Tupelo
Tupelo came into Germantown as the state’s top-ranked team on Friday night and proved just that, defeating the Mavericks by a score of 27-7.
The crucial region matchup was a slugfest early on, with Germantown putting an emphasis on running the ball and dominating time of possession.
A long drive that took almost the entirety of the first quarter for the Mavericks looked like it would give Germantown the first points of the game, but Tupelo came up with a defensive stop inside the five on fourth down that really seemed to set the tone for the rest of the first half, as the Golden Wave found the endzone three times to end the first half and took a 20-0 lead going into the break.
The Mavericks were able to create offense throughout the game, but were unable to string those plays together and find any kind of consistent offensive rhythm throughout the night.
“They have a lot of really talented players up front and it makes it really hard to sustain drives,” Germantown Head Coach Russell Mitchell said. “That made it limited for us to be able to drop back and set our feet in the passing game and let things develop downfield. Most of our successful plays in the passing game came off of quick throws.”
Even with the halftime deficit, Germantown did not quit and came out and scored on the opening drive of the second half on a rushing touchdown by standout running back Nyrikius Johnson.
From there, the Germantown defense only allowed one touchdown in the second half and gave the Maverick offense several opportunities to make it a one possession game in the second half against the state’s top-ranked team.
“They are a super talented team and just made a few more plays than we did tonight and that’s why the game turned out the way that it did. I thought these guys fought hard and stayed together until the end,” Mitchell said. “I have the confidence that one of these nights we are going to come out here and make those plays and win one of these big region ballgames.”
This loss drops Germantown to 5-3 overall and 0-2 in region play. The Mavericks play in one of the state’s toughest regions in Region 2-7A, which includes Tupelo, Starkville, Madison Central, and Clinton.
Tupelo and Clinton are currently the leaders in the region with Tupelo sitting at 2-0 and Clinton at 1-0, while Starkville currently sits in third at 1-1. Madison Central and Germantown are the only two teams that are currently winless in region play, with the Jaguars sitting at 0-1.
The next two games to round out Germantown’s schedule, a matchup at Madison Central next week and a season finale home game against Clinton, will be crucial for the Mavericks and their playoff chances.
The matchup with Madison Central next week especially is a huge matchup for both teams and the direction of the playoff picture in the region.
That huge matchup between Madison County rivals will be next Friday at Madison Central. Kickoff is set for 7 PM.