By Dalton Middleton
Special to The Dispatch
Jumping to a quick lead in the first quarter, the Heritage Academy Patriots scored quick and often throughout the game to maintain the lead and beat the visiting Pisgah Dragons 56-49.
Tyler Anderson and Dontae Gray were the story on offense, racking up over 350 yards rushing and 224 passing yards combined. With not only the duo of Anderson and Gray succeeding, the entire offense was clicking on all cylinders, only turning the ball over once and scoring eight touchdowns on the night. Head Coach Sean Harrison said execution was the reason for the success against Pisgah.
“Execution,” Harrison said. “They fight. The o-line was good. It was a total team effort. We have had some injuries so we had a few guys who came in and got some carries that haven’t gotten carries against starters in a while. They came in and executed for us and we got in and rode behind the offensive line there at the end of the game. Tyler and Dontae once again, wonderful games.”
Anderson led the offense with five touchdowns and was pleased with the way he played, but he gave all the credit to his teammates, coach and Gray.
“You know, we were rolling and we made a mistake,” Anderson said. “Coach came to me and told me that we are going to get it back. We did, and his play calling was amazing the whole game. For myself, I have to give all the credit to the linemen, of course. They were dominating the entire game. I also have to give credit to Dontae of course. Happy birthday Dontae!”
On his birthday, Gray had over 250 total yards and three touchdowns. A fan even said that he is a young Josh Robinson out there on the football field. Gray did not know how to feel about that, chuckling it off and giving a big smile.
“I don’t know about being a young Josh Robinson,” Gray said. “It was my team that did so well. We just executed like we know how to do. We do it everyday in practice so we know what to do.”
Late in the first half, a special moment occurred on the field for the Heritage Academy Patriots. Moak Griffin, a sophomore wide receiver and defensive back caught a 10-yard touchdown pass and the stands at Heritage Academy lit up with so much excitement. The sophomore started sprinting across the field in joy, with all his teammates just as excited with him. Griffin, who suffered a cracked vertebra, was playing in his first game back from injury. He finished the game with four catches for 41 yards and a touchdown.
Griffin knew how special of a moment it was, and he said he was excited to come back from the injury.
“It was huge,” Griffin said. “I have been working really hard in rehab and just trying to get back for the team, stretching a lot and getting ready for my first game. I’m a pretty emotional player when I’m on the field, and that led to me getting as excited as I did.
Harrison expressed how special it was to get Griffin back on the field for the Patriots, both skill wise and emotion wise.
“Moak is a game changer for us,” Harrison said. “He has been out obviously, and this was his first game back. That was part of our game plan coming in. We knew they hadn’t seen him. He is a guy you have to double cover. I’d be surprised if there is a guy who can single cover him. They are just all working hard and executing well. Moak is a very emotional player, especially in his first game back and in a big moment scoring a touchdown. That is Moak.”
The Patriots started the first quarter off executing on both offense and defense, scoring three touchdowns and forcing three turnovers. After the Patriots went up 21-0 on two rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown, Pisgah began fighting back with Don Ragsdale scoring on a big play. To start the second quarter, the Patriots scored on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Anderson to Eli Acker, the big freshman receiver.
The Dragons scored two touchdowns to cut it to a one possession lead, but Gray and Anderson took over at the end of the first half to score two more touchdowns and give the Patriots a 41-21 lead going into halftime. In the third quarter, the Dragons dominated and seemed like they were going to win the game. They scored on three long plays of 48, 63 and 86 yards. They took the lead 42-41 before Anderson scored on a quarterback sneak. Gray scored the two-point conversion to give the Patriots back the lead 49-42.
The next play, Ragsdale scored on a 64-yard touchdown run and tied the game back at 49 all. The fourth quarter came and it was a defensive show. Heritage Academy drove down the field, but stalled and gave it to the Dragons who then stalled as well. The Patriots took the ball on the next drive and drove down the field and took a 56-49 lead on a run by Gray.
When the team looks to play Starkville Academy and open up district next week, the Patriots know they are going to have to tune up their team a little bit and be prepared for the rivalry game. Coach Harrison knows he is going to have to get his players back healthy and in shape for the game.
“We are always building on our offense, but the main focus this week is going to be getting our legs back,” Harrison said. “Getting some injured guys some time off. Right now we are clicking. We are going to build on the offense. We wont hit much this week, and we will just work on continuing to execute. On defense, we allowed almost 50 points to the best running back in the state. We were there on a lot of tackles and he ran through us. I am not upset about our defensive effort because we made the stops when we need to. We are a fast paced offense, so our guys get tired and we are going to allow points.”
Gray knew his team got wore out and he said his team is going to have to get better for next week against Starkville Academy to open district play.
“We got a pretty big lead, and I guess that got a little to our heads,” Gray said. “But we came back out in the fourth quarter ready to play. Our biggest thing to work on is going to be to fight. We have to fight all four quarters. Do not get tired and keep putting it on them.”
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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