The Starkville Academy football team returned to work this week eager to prove one game won’t ruin its season.
In its last outing, Starkville Academy lost to archrival Heritage Academy 19-6. The bounce-back game will be at 7 tonight against Magnolia Heights Academy in Senatobia.
“You can’t get too high when you win a football game or too low when you lose one,” Starkville Academy coach Jeff Terrill said. “What you can control is how hard you work as a team. I think the players have responded and are ready to play another game.”
Starkville Academy gained 189 yards of total offense and drove inside the red zone five times last week, but hurt itself with three turnovers.
“You have to give credit to Heritage Academy for the way they played on defense,” Terrill said. “We really couldn’t build anything. We would put some plays together but could not put together drives.”
An inability to go the length of the field has been a concern for Starkville Academy. The Volunteers had four turnovers in a season-opening 13-0 win against St. Andrew’s High School. The ability to complete or sustain drives also will take pressure off the defense.
“We have played well on defense, but some of that has been lost because of the tough field position,” Terrill said. “We will work hard in practice and correct our mistakes. I think there is potential in this group and they want to make sure the program continues to achieve after last season.”
Starkville Academy finished 10-3 last season and lost to Washington School in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, Division II title game. It was the program’s first trip to the championship since it won the title in 2005.
Heritage Academy had one defensive touchdown in the victory, so the Volunteers have allowed only two offensive scoring drives in eight quarters.
Quarterback Drew Pellum threw for 108 yards and had two interceptions last week. Starkville Academy shared the rushes, but its running backs combined for slightly better than 2 yards per rush.
Magnolia Heights Academy (1-1) opened the season with a 28-10 loss at Marshall Academy. It defeated Kirk Academy 49-20 last week at home. The Chiefs were 1-9 a year ago.
Starkville Academy won last season’s meeting, 22-0 at home.
North Pontotoc (1-1) at East Oktibbeha (1-1)
East Oktibbeha County High School prepares for its biggest challenge of the season at 7:30 tonight when it plays host to the Class 4A North Pontotoc Vikings.
“It is a really big challenge for this football team,” said East Oktibbeha coach Randy Brooks, whose team is in Class 1A, the smallest classification in the Mississippi High School Activities Association. “They will have three or four times the numbers of players we will have. However, you get better from playing good competition. We play this type of game to learn more about our football team.”
If coaches look for improvement from the season opener to week two, Brooks had to like what he saw from his team. After a 40-6 loss to Leake Central, East Oktibbeha responded with a 55-0 shutout of McAdams on Friday night.
“I think we had some players who really weren’t ready for the first game,” Brooks said. “An actual game is a lot different than practice. We have so many few faces. To their credit, they didn’t get down after the first game. Instead, it was back to the practice field and more hard work.”
Against McAdams, Jermaine Gillespie led the way with three touchdowns. Juwan Roberts had a rushing touchdown and a receiving score. Destin Covington also had two rushing scores.
North Pontotoc (1-1) opened the season with a 19-16 home win against Mantachie and lost at Ripley 42-28 last week.
North Pontotoc won last season’s meeting, 55-0 in Crawford.
West Oktibbeha (2-0), open date
Finally something has been found to slow down the West Oktibbeha County offense – an open date.
The Timberwolves lead Class 1A with 122 points through two games. West Oktibbeha has won each of those early contests — a 66-6 home win against S.V. Marshall and a 56-6 win at Montgomery County.
“We have a lot of returnees on both sides of the ball,” West Oktibbeha coach Adam Lowery said. “It puts you ahead of the game when you are not teaching your offense during spring and fall practice. In our case, we have been fine-tuning things.”
The fine-tuning is coming along nicely. Quarterback Von Smith has thrown for 396 yards and 10 touchdowns. Tiberias Lampkin has rushed for 159 yards and six scores. West Oktibbeha has scored 17 touchdowns.
“We started strong and then had some struggles last year,” Lowery said. “I think the kids have a stronger mental outlook this season. We are looking forward to the remainder of the year.”
West Oktibbeha returns from its rest Thursday night to play at Eupora.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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