By Robert Wilson
Germantown lost about 90 percent of its offensive productivity last season to graduation.
No one would have known it watching the Mavericks’ season opener Friday night against Northwest Rankin.
Germantown scored 30 points in the first quarter and a half and went on to defeat the Cougars 60-27 in a non-region MHSAA Class 7A Metro Jackson matchup before a record-setting crowd of an estimated 5,000-plus at Germantown’s Maverick Field – nicknamed the Ranch – in Gluckstadt.
Germantown – ranked No. 7 in Class 7A and No. 8 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – opened the season with a victory despite having only six returning starters on offense and defense from last year’s 8-4 team.
Northwest Rankin – ranked No. 12 in Class 7A and No. 19 in Mississippi – returned seven starters from last year’s 6-5 team, which included a 24-17 victory over Germantown to open the season.
Germantown lost offensive stars like quarterback King White (now playing at East Central Community College, wide receiver Keyshawn Coleman (Tulane), and running backs Ny Johnson (Southwest Mississippi CC) and Lawson Branson (Northwest Mississippi CC). While passed for 2,435 yards and 26 touchdowns and ran for 623 yards and 14 TDs, Coleman caught 61 passes for 875 yards and nine TDs, Johnson had 1,039 yards and 14 TDs and Branson ran for 415 yards and six TDs and caught 45 yards and 784 yards and 11 TDs.
Despite all that, Germantown came out scoring points early and often.
Germantown senior running back and Madison St. Joseph transfer Sy McBeath scored on a 3-yard run three minutes into the game and Bryce Johnson returned a kickoff 99 yards for a TD to give the Mavericks a 14-7 lead after one quarter.
Germantown junior quarterback Langston Branson – Lawson’s brother who was making his first career start – ran for a 4-yard TD, then Germantown got a safety and Branson ran for a 42-yard TD to push the lead to 30-7 with 9:06 to play before hafltime.
After a Northwest Rankin score (Gavin Phillipson completed a 13-yard TD pass to Nick Taylor), Germantown junior Nate Muzzi kicked a 20-yard field goal on the last play before halftime for a 33-13 lead.
Northwest Rankin closed the gap to 33-27 on Kelvin Robinson’s 13-yard TD run and a 8-yard TD pass from Phillipson to Taylor, but then Germantown scored the next 27 points on a Branson 42-yard run, a 41-yard pass from Branson to McBeath, a 37-yard pass from Branson to Johnson and Josiah Jenkins 7-yard run.
Branson ran eight times for 118 yards and three TDs and completed 6 of 11 passes for 100 yards for two TDs. McBeath had 15 carries for 124 yards and one TD and one catch for 41 yards and one TD.
Germantown’s offensive front – led by seniors Everett Turnage and Wells Higginbotham – helped produce 389 total yards.
“When you see a group of young people buy into a program and work as hard as our team has over the past eight months, it gives you great satisfaction as a coach to see their hard work turn into success,” said Germantown coach Russell Mitchell, who started his sixth season at the Madison County school. “This team has a great combination of experienced linemen and explosive playmakers. Our coaches and players see it in practice everyday, so it wasn’t a great surprise to anybody in our building to see the offense be so explosive. Hats off to Coach (Chris) Lee and his offensive staff for having a really solid game plan that our players executed at a high level. Special teams made the biggest difference in the game. Nate Muzzi kicked two beautiful onside kicks that gave our sideline an emotional lift and allowed us to steal possessions when the game was tight. Bryce Johnson’s 99-yard kickoff return was another major momentum shifter early in the game. Northwest Rankin snapped it over the punters head twice. Our defense stepped up and made big stops when we needed them the most. Forcing three turnovers made a huge difference in the outcome of the game. I thought we played hard and ran to the ball with violent intent. There’s plenty of room for improvement. We’ll get to work this weekend and focus on being a better team next week when we play a good opponent in Oak Grove.”
“Our success on offense was I think the chip we had on our shoulder from being so heavily doubted,” Turnage said. “Our offensive line was clicking and firing on all cylinders, which led to our running backs getting chunk plays often through the whole game. We were heavily overlooked because we lost big star players and I think that’s led to us keeping our heads down and ready for anything. As for the rest of the season, I believe we are going to continue to prove we’re here to compete and win against anyone we line up against.”
“We had a lot of young skill players as well as some transfers step up and prove themselves this game,” Higginbotham said. “Coming into it, we were really fueled because we felt like we were being doubted, and there was a lot of noise surrounding the game. Being a part of a veteran offensive line, I think our experience up front gives those young guys confidence to go out there and make plays. We’re still hungry to prove ourselves and this will only help us get better week after week.”
Junior defensive back Solomon Cameron, junior linebacker Kerry Jackson and senior linebacker and Jackson Academy transfer Jaiden Hulbert had 11 tackles each and Marques Saffold and Christian Mumford had one interception each to led Germantown’s defense, which lost two Division I players to graduation (end Jayden Gross to Florida and defensive back Mikey Johnson to Jackson State).
Northwest Rankin’s Phillipson – an East Central CC baseball commitment – completed 24 of 32 passes for 243 yards and three TDs. Senior wide receiver and Georgia Tech commitment De’Shawn Dillon – rated the No. 16 player in Mississippi and the No. 71 wide receiver in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports and the 2025 Mississippi Gatorade Boys Basketball Player of the Year – had nine catches for 80 yards. He had 67 catches (tied for third in Mississippi) for 979 yards (19th in Mississippi) and six touchdowns last season as a junior.
“We lost in two phases of the game that will always cost you in the early season,” Northwest Rankin coach Devin Cooper said. “Special teams and turnovers hurt us big time. I was proud of our effort from our guys. We closed the gap in the score in the third quarter. We fought back to be down 33-27 and had the ball in good position. Germantown took advantage of our mistakes and capitalized to expand the lead. We have many correctable aspects of the game that we will work hard to improve on this week. Good teams teach you lessons to help prepare you for what’s to come. We’ll go to work and get ready for a big home opener vs a really talented and well coached Clinton team.”
