STARKVILLE — There was no question in Chase Nicholson’s mind that the Starkville Academy football team was going to respond.
The only thing Nicholson didn’t know was how Starkville Academy planned to bounce back following a 40-0 loss to Lamar School on Sept. 9.
“We knew Lamar was going to be a challenge,” Nicholson said. “We talked about it all week, but we believed we could do it. We had a great week of practice to our standard to that point. We played the Lamar game and we see how it goes. … There is nothing negative that comes out of that game except we lost. It wasn’t a district game. Nobody got hurt. We had to grow up. It was so huge from that game going into the game against Washington saying, ‘Now guys, because of what happened last week, we have to respond.’ If we don’t respond, our whole season rides on this because it could go either way. We were very honest with them when we told them if you win this game there is no telling how far we can go. If you lose, there is no telling how far we could go. It was such a pivotal thing.”
Starkville Academy answered the challenge of its first loss of the season by going to Greenville and beating Washington School 17-10 last week. A 10-yard touchdown pass from Noah Heflin to Codie Futral and a 1-yard run by Will Miller in the second half propelled the Volunteers (4-1) to the big bounce-back victory.
Starkville Academy will try to build on that momentum at 7 p.m. Friday when it plays host to Heritage Academy (4-1) in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, District 2 opener for both teams.
“We knew it was going to take four quarters at Washington,” Nicholson said. “What was so cool is that some of the kids were like, ‘We can’t call you a liar’ because I told them it was going to take four quarters, that it was going to be a challenge.”
Nicholson said the week of practice prior to the game against Washington School was the team’s best of the season. He was surprised, though, because he believed the players would learn from the mistakes they made against Lamar School and come back to “work” with a different mind-set. He said it helped that the Volunteers had only one turnover and they delivered their usual stout defensive effort to get back on track.
Nicholson said Starkville Academy didn’t make any halftime adjustments last week. He said everyone had confidence the game plan would work if the Volunteers continued to stay focused. Nicholson said it was satisfying to see things finally start to click and for the players to realize what it was going to take for them to pull the game out, especially after a disappointing home loss.
“They have now been at the bottom,” Nicholson said. “We don’t look at it as a season. We look at it as a week-to-week basis. Lamar was the bottom. We were riding high at 3-0. We all got knocked off. I even took the blame for it because I believe every week we are going to win. Why would I think anything different? The loss told me I am ready to go to work and I wanted to get better more than I ever had, so we all went to work together. We come to Washington and we have to battle for four quarters to take this ballgame, and we do it.
“Are we at the high now? No. We have been humbled, we responded, we’re still at work.”
Linemen Walker Tranum, a 5-foot-6, 185-pound sophomore, and Dillon Carrol, a 6-3, 290-pound senior, shared Nicholson’s confidence. In reviewing film of the game against Lamar School, both players said they saw the mistakes Starkville Academy made and that they realized the team needed to make adjustments and control the better. They praised the efforts of the offensive and defensive lines in setting the tone against Washington School.
“(Nicholson) preaches to us after film that we learn from our mistakes and right there and we get better for the next week,” Carroll said. “After Lamar, we forgot about the loss and how we could get better to beat Washington, which we did. We executed really well that game, too. We did a pretty good job.”
Carrol said the Volunteers have been so successful in recent years because they are able to put games behind them and move on to the most important game, the one this week. He said there is no added pressure playing Heritage Academy in the district opener. Carrol said the only issue will be following the game plan of assistant coach Brad Butler, the team’s defensive coordinator, so the Volunteers can shut down the Patriots’ high-powered offense.
“We would be in the driver’s seat (if the team wins Friday night),” Carroll said. “It is going to be fun. It is going to be real fun.
“I am a senior now, so this is my last rival game. We’re all going to play our hearts out.”
Nicholson that way of playing has become the norm at Starkville Academy. He said the coaches didn’t dwell on the game against Lamar School and continued to believe in the players. The confidence the coaches have in the players allows everyone to know the team will respond and not to question if a loss will derail its goals.
Like last week, Nicholson said the goal is simple: Win the week and get ready to move on to the next game. It sounds simple, but it has proven to be effective for the Volunteers.
“We have said it all week, 1-0 in the district and you are in the driving seat,” Nicholson said. “If you’re not 1-0, then you have to fight your way back up, so it is so important. It is not any more important than any other game because it is the game this week, but it just puts us in the driver’s seat to where we want to go.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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