I was at the Starkville-Madison Central game last night...

TheStateUofMS

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Starkville has many D1 prospects.

First off I gotta give credit to Madison Central. They were getting dominated early and couldn't do anything to match the power Starkville has. I really think Starkville has way more talent than MC, but MC is well coached. I gotta give Bobby Hall credit. His kids play hard, play disciplined, didn't get rattled when they couldn't do anything most of the first half. Starkville seemed to crumble a crucial times. Several times Starkville strung together 3 or 4 solid runs in a row to start the drive and then would throw a bad int and also lost about 3 fumbles near mid field which led to MC touchdowns in the second half. I think if you give Bobbly Hall Starkville's players, Starkville could field a hell of a team. MC does have a few studs like CB #2...that guy is about 6-2 or 6-3 long, rangy and I dont think they completed a pass or attempted many on him all night. A few others were pretty good. RB #28 is small but he runs hard.

On to Starkville....Chris Wilson's son is a potential D1 talent. It was hard to tell how athletic he was, but he threw a couple of nice balls, but he has a lot of work to do and I dunno if I saw enough athleticsm from him to see him play another position, but he is just a sophomore. I was told he could throw a nice ball, but the field conditions were pretty bad and I wouldn't be seeing it last night and I didn't. David Fair WR/RB/DB #3, FS #17, DB/RB#2, SS#9, a few more guys on their team all were solid D1 prospects. #17, #3, and #2 especially might be SEC caliber.
 

mstatefan10

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Aug 24, 2012
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What's the word on MC lineman Bailey Pepper (#50)? I know he is a three year starter, and I remember hearing a lot about him as a sophomore. Did he fall completely off of the radar, or has he been shown any D1 interests?
 

Todd4State

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Mar 3, 2008
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They're so disciplined

Starkville has many D1 prospects.

First off I gotta give credit to Madison Central. They were getting dominated early and couldn't do anything to match the power Starkville has. I really think Starkville has way more talent than MC, but MC is well coached. I gotta give Bobby Hall credit. His kids play hard, play disciplined, didn't get rattled when they couldn't do anything most of the first half. Starkville seemed to crumble a crucial times. Several times Starkville strung together 3 or 4 solid runs in a row to start the drive and then would throw a bad int and also lost about 3 fumbles near mid field which led to MC touchdowns in the second half. I think if you give Bobbly Hall Starkville's players, Starkville could field a hell of a team. MC does have a few studs like CB #2...that guy is about 6-2 or 6-3 long, rangy and I dont think they completed a pass or attempted many on him all night. A few others were pretty good. RB #28 is small but he runs hard.

On to Starkville....Chris Wilson's son is a potential D1 talent. It was hard to tell how athletic he was, but he threw a couple of nice balls, but he has a lot of work to do and I dunno if I saw enough athleticsm from him to see him play another position, but he is just a sophomore. I was told he could throw a nice ball, but the field conditions were pretty bad and I wouldn't be seeing it last night and I didn't. David Fair WR/RB/DB #3, FS #17, DB/RB#2, SS#9, a few more guys on their team all were solid D1 prospects. #17, #3, and #2 especially might be SEC caliber.

that they racked up 22 penalties and over 200 yards of penalty yardage against Olive Branch. Hard to tell anything from that game because of the weather and the fact that Starkville had a back-up QB in. After Petal, I think we'll know more about them.

I do think MC needs to shore up their defense and tackle better- lot of grabbing and guys out of position out there.

I think MC has a shot at winning 6A, but they're going to have to shore some things up. The biggest thing that they have going for them is if/when they win the district and if they make it to North state, it will be in Madison. But then, if they go to the Big House- they're going to have to beat someone like Meridian, Petal in a rematch, Brandon or Biloxi.
 

coach66

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Mar 5, 2009
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Pepper

Pepper hurt his knee Friday night, not sure how bad. He wanted to play for state but Hevesy told him he was too short.
 

Todd4State

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Pepper is only

like 6'0" tall if that. So, I'll have to side with Hevesey on that. I'm sure he could walk-on if he wanted to.
 

TheStateUofMS

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Todd4State: I heard that MC was pretty much royally screwed by the refs at OB, but I'm sure teams, on average, commit a fair amount of penalties their first game of the season in high school football. I could tell a lot from the Starkville game. MC was smaller and slower than Starkville, but they played smarter, kept the gameplan, and didn't panic. Starkville got rattled after every turnover in the second half and every MC score. That's how I know they were better coached and more disciplined.

Mstatefan10: Pepper was definitely pretty big and I'm 6-1 and he looked at least my height. He was a big boy, but he did get hurt and was on crutches after the game. Looked like an ankle. He looked pretty good, but he'd be a project. I can't see him playing in the SEC. I'll pass on him if I was Mullen/Heavsey.

I would be evaluating Starkville's players pretty hard if I was Dan. They have some athletes. I was talking to a guy from MS Gridiron the Magazine at the game, and take it for what it's worth, but he said he thinks Starkvilles FS or SS (he wasn't sure which one the Starkville HS head coach was bragging about), but he thinks may become the best safety in the state this year. I think #17 looked really good, but I doubt he'll be the best safety. I'm not the recruiting guru I used to be, but I doubt he's number 1. Top 5 for sure. He's a hell of an athlete. Number 2 and Number 3 David Fair were very impressive. Almost everybody on Starkville's defense looked like great athletes.
 

Todd4State

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22 penalties is simply unacceptable

I'm sure the majority were legit. Bobby Hall throwing his hat to midfield to rack up a personal foul on himself was uncalled for and probably didn't help matters among other things. I don't really care how bad of a call it was- he has to keep himself composed better than that.

I saw the same thing happen at South Panola in 2009- MC got a bad call go against them and Hall goes completely apeshit and the team follows suit. He simply has to keep his composure better. And yes, you can yell/argue with officials without crossing the line.