Junior quarterback Gabe Myles completed 11 of 18 passes for 280 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Starkville Yellow Jackets to a 35-21 senior night victory over district rival Callaway on Friday night.

Starkville now moves to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the district, and head coach Jamie Mitchell could not be more pleased with his team’s effort against who he deems “the second best team in the district.”

“We got challenged tonight defensively more than we have in a while and we needed that,” Mitchell said. “I thought we fought through some diversity and made some plays when we had to. I give them [Callaway] all the credit; they challenged us to the fullest. We needed that. We needed to play four quarters of football.”

Early in the game, Devin Mitchell, who had four catches for 165 yards, scored two touchdowns to put the Jackets up 14-0. However, the Chargers scored late in the first quarter to make it 14-7.

Stanley Higgins ran the ball in from the 7 yard line with 1:19 in the first half to make the score 21-7 before Stanley Childs intercepted Callaway’s pass with 0:16 left to end the half.

Coming off of a band night filled halftime show, Devin Mitchell ran for a 5-yard touchdown with 6:13 left in the third quarter.

Not to be denied, Callaway scored two quick touchdowns to make it 28-21 early in the fourth quarter.

Starkville mistakes and an interception led to Callaway’s critical touchdowns.

“We’ve got to try to get better and better,” Mitchell said. “10 games in, we shouldn’t be making those kinds of mistakes.”

However, Starkville recovered and offensive playmaker Preston Baker scored a touchdown on a two-yard rush to lead the Jackets to a 35-21 victory.

Next week, Starkville travels to Neshoba Central (6-3, 8-1) to battle for the district championship.