Barrett Donahoe has talked about the importance of positioning the Heritage Academy football team late in the season so it can realize its goals.
Through five weeks, the Patriots are in a good spot, even if everything hasn’t gone according to plan. With less than 30 players on the roster and having to use several key players on both sides of the ball, Heritage Academy (3-2)evened its Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, Division II record at 1-1 last week with a 42-13 victory against Hillcrest Christian.
Heritage Academy will take a break from Class AAA action at 7 p.m. Friday when it travels to West Point to take on Class AA Oak Hill Academy.
Donahoe would love to have more depth, but he said the Patriots have worked hard to maintain their focus and not get caught up in the success of other teams — like Starkville Academy, which is 5-0 — or what it will take for the Patriots to advance to the playoffs.
“We’re seeing improvement in spots,” Donahoe said. “We haven’t seen the consistent improvement across the board we would like to see. We feel like we are beginning to understand the game better. We still are making a lot of mistakes on positioning and assignments and things we have to do a better job on.
“We haven’t digressed with our practice structure this year trying to accommodate the youth. We have pushed them through just like we have done the past couple of years.”
The Patriots will try to capitalize on the growing confidence of Michael Ledbetter. The junior rushed for 202 yards and four touchdowns and added another touchdown on a 71-yard punt return against Hillcrest Christian.
“We still feel good having Cayden (Upton) and Mattox (Heredia) back there,” Donahoe said. “As people begin to try to take away our perimeter run game with Michael, we’re going to have to focus in on doing different things with Cayden and Mattox. When healthy, they’re very good, too.
“Michael has just been so dynamic on both sides of the ball and on special teams. He is just a really good athlete.”
Donahoe already has cautioned Ledbetter that things likely won’t come as easily the rest of the season for him as they did Friday night. But that doesn’t mean Ledbetter will stop getting the ball or making plays. In fact, Donahoe said Ledbetter’s confidence is soaring due to his success and the fact he is playing offense, which he has admitted he enjoys more than playing defense.
“As an offensive coordinator, that is just phenomenal for me to have somebody that wants to be there with us and wants the ball as much as he does,” Donahoe said. “Anybody who can produce the way he is is going to continue to get the ball.”
Heritage Academy will need all of the production it can get this week against an Oak Hill Academy team that gave it all it could handle last season. Hunter Anderson rushed for more than 100 yards last season to help the Patriots beat the Raiders 23-14 at C.L. Mitchell Field in Columbus. In 2012, Heritage Academy beat Oak Hill Academy 42-0. This year, Heritage Academy will face an Oak Hill Academy team under the leadership of veteran coach Tony Stanford, who most recently was the coach at Columbus High School. Stanford took over the program after Daniel Merchant left to become an assistant coach at West Lowndes High.
Oak Hill Academy (3-2) is coming off a 29-27 victory against Newton County Academy. The Raiders are riding a two-game winning streak. Donahoe recalls how difficult it was to beat the Raiders last year. He is counting on things to be just as tough Friday night.
“When we watch film, there are so many things we can continue to improve on,” Donahoe said. “I like our intensity. I liked our guys intensity at practice (Monday). They are gaining confidence, and gaining confidence is not a bad thing, We have seven very solid opponents coming up in a row. We have some very physical football teams (coming up), and that is going to start Friday night. Oak Hill has a very good football team. They have athletes on the field at all positions and are playing very hard.”
Heritage Academy will return to Class AAA play next week when it travels to Washington School. It will play host to Pillow Academy the following week. Donahoe feels Heritage Academy is on pace to realize its potential if it can stay healthy.
“Our guys are giving us everything they have,” Donahoe said. “Our guys are focused and they are trying This group, more than any group that we have had here, in my opinion at this part of the season, is working harder than any group we have had. Not to say any other groups haven’t worked hard or to devalue their effort, but we’re in year three now and the guys are more comfortable with the coaching staff. They understand their expectations. For where we are going into week six, we are ahead of where we have been going into week six from that standpoint.
“I am cautiously optimistic. Our guys understand there are going to be some teams we play that are going to have more talent on the field. Our coaching staff understands that. We don’t feel there is anybody on our schedule that we can’t compete with. Do we feel like we’re fixin’ to run the table? That would be a difficult task ahead of us simply because of the week-in, week-out competition and all of the factors that play into it. … We know what we have to do to be a playoff team. We will see if we can’t keep these guys on the right track.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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