LOUISVILLE — Starkville Academy football coach Jeff Terrill encouraged his team to be a fast-starting unit this season.
Terrill felt like his team needed to be better at scoring early in games. The confidence and momentum earned from early scores can be huge.
Starkville Academy has done that this season, as many quick starts have helped the team to a 6-0 start. On Friday night, Starkville Academy scored 35 points in the first quarter en route to a 42-0 victory against Winston Academy.
“We knew we had to come out with energy and put points on the board early,” Starkville Academy junior Drake Gordman said. “We got a nice push up front and started out hot.”
On the game’s second play, Starkville Academy junior quarterback Houston Clark rambled 79 yards for a touchdown. It was the beginning of a big night on the ground for the Volunteers. Thanks in part to a strong night from the offensive line (left tackle Carter Wood, left guard Seth Watson, center Connor Reinike, right guard Bo Ford, and right tackle Tyler Richardson), Starkville Academy rushed 35 times for 304 yards.
Gordman found the end zone next as he scored from 47 yards. On the next possession, Clark completed his only pass attempt — a 43-yard touchdown to Logan Locke.
“We scored early and that was really the big key,” Locke said. “When you are playing on the road like this, you won’t to get up early and get everybody on your team excited. The defense played great all night.”
The defense came up big when Hunter Peeples returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown. Two minutes later, the first quarter ended when Colt Chrestman scored on a 5-yard touchdown run.
“We have done well at scoring early in games this season,” Terrill said. “That is a testament of taking what you have been doing on the practice field and carrying it into the game. If you are able to score early, you just play with a different mind-set and you have some more confidence.”
Noah Heflin scored Starkville Academy’s final touchdown on a 2-yard run with 8 minutes, 34 seconds left before halftime.
Gordman finished with 74 yards on seven carries, while Heflin had 69 yards on 11 carries. Drew Jackson ran 10 times for 39 yards, while Chrestman ran three times for 33 yards.
“We are playing as a team,” Gordman said. “Everybody was disappointed when we didn’t make the playoffs last year so we are working hard to get back there. Each week, we feel like we have a chance to win the game, if we play hard and smart.”
Winston Academy (2-4) was held to 115 yards of offense.
Ben Moorehead led the Volunteers with seven tackles, while Blake Slaughter and Houston Massey had five each.
“Our defensive effort was really good,” Terrill said. “We had guys flying to the football. We have been a little tougher and more physical this year. We have a lot of experience on the defensive side of the ball so we expected some big things from that unit.”
In hopes of returning to postseason play, Starkville Academy has already bagged three wins in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, District 1, Division II standings. The difficult part of the schedule lies ahead with Madison-Ridgeland Academy (3-3), Heritage Academy (4-2), Jackson Academy (4-2), and Pillow Academy (5-1).
“We are taking things week by week,” Locke said. “We don’t talk about being undefeated. We talk about winning the next game.”
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