By Logan Lowery
Special to The Dispatch
STARKVILLE — Starkville Academy stayed within striking distance of Heritage Academy the entire game Friday night.
But every time the Volunteers would gain some momentum their rivals from Columbus would be right there to thwart it. The Patriots were the beneficiaries of three turnovers and scored twice on fourth down when route to a 19-6 victory.
“I just think you have to give Heritage’s defense and offense credit,” said SA coach Jeff Terrill. “They came in and played a great football game and we congratulate them.”
Starkville Academy was limited to just 189 yards on the evening and threw two interceptions and fumbled once.
“We turned the ball over and had costly penalties and with the effort and determination that Heritage is playing with you can’t do that,” Terrill said.
It was all part of the defensive game plan for the Patriots according to head coach Barrett Donahoe.
After a 33-7 whipping by Starkville Academy last year, Donahoe wanted to insure his Heritage team eliminated the big plays and keep the Volunteers out of the end zone.
“We never allowed that home run because of (Starkville Academy)’s ability to get first downs up and
down the field,” said Heritage coach Barrett Donahoe. “We said to win the game we couldn’t allow that home run hitter because that gives them a distinct advantage. Even though they got a few big plays we did a good job of containing the quarterback and stopped the inside dive. I believe we played a really
good game.”
Starkville Academy’s only points came on 36 and 32-yard field goals from Johnathon Burton.
The first turnover by the Vols would turn out to be the most costly. Starkville Academy’s special teams had just made a huge play by stopping a fake punt one yard shy of a first down on the first possession of the game and took over at the HA 36-yard line.
The Volunteers offense began clipping away from there on the ground but Drew Pellum’s pass was
picked off by Heritage’s Parker Dunaway and returned 86-yards for the touchdown.
“It was just a bad decision by our quarterback and it blew up in our face,” Terrill said. “It shook our confidence but it was early and we’ve been down before. There was still plenty of time and it was nothing we couldn’t overcome.”
The rivalry between the two Golden Triangle teams was apparent throughout the contest. Coming out
on the losing end of the game was tough for the Volunteers to take.
“We won’t hide from anybody that this was an important game to us and we’re very disappointed that
we lost,” Terrill said.
The loss evened Starkville Academy’s record to 1-1 on the year. But Terrill was quick to point out that his team has plenty of fight left in them with bulk of the season still ahead of them.
“It was a good test for us,” Terrill said. “We did not pass the test but that doesn’t mean the course is failed yet. We will go and get better next week. Football is a marathon, not a sprint. This is a non-division game. We are 0-0 in the division and have got 20 sophomores on this team. We did a lot of good things too tonight. We’ve got everything out in front of us.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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