STEENS — Kimarri Whitfield knew.
The other members of the Columbus Christian Academy football team didn’t need to say anything. When you’re a team leader, you expect to shoulder a little more responsibility.
A season-ending injury to quarterback Dawson Shaw left the Rams with six seniors, so Whitfield and his classmates were left to pick up the slack and to do a little bit more.
But football doesn’t discriminate and often asks you to do even more. Whitfield has been playing long enough to know that, which is why it didn’t faze him when CCA football coach Greg Watkins talked to him Monday about how the team was going to move forward without junior RJ DeLoach, who is out for the season with a broken ankle. The message was simple: We need you.
Whitfield responded in a big way Friday night, scoring six touchdowns to lead CCA to a 49-35 victory against Oak Hill Academy in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AA, District 2 game.
“I knew they were going to be counting on me more,” Whitfield said. “In practice, we put in a lot of new plays that were designed for me, so I just figured go hard in practice and the game would be easy.”
The game wasn’t easy because CCA had to contend with the playmaking ability of senior quarterback Ken “Buddy” Dill, who threw for 402 yards and four touchdowns.
But Whitfield acted as the perfect foil to Dill, rushing for touchdowns of 7 and 8 yards and catching touchdown passes of 30 and 42 yards. He nearly added an 88-yard touchdown catch and run to the mix, but he fumbled the ball just as he was about to cross the goal line and then fell on it in the end zone.
Whitfield added a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown, one of three interceptions the Rams had to improve to 2-5 and 1-1 in the district.
“We couldn’t cover him,” Oak Hill Academy coach Chris Craven said of Whitfield. “Early in the game, we had trouble covering him. He was their go-to guy. He is fast. We talked about it all week, hey, if this guy gets out in the open he is going to be gone and if we don’t get hands on him before he hangs the edge on the sweep, we might not be able to catch him. That was the case sometimes. They singled him out and put him in man-to-man coverage and hey, you have got to man up. You can either cover him or you can’t. He also played well on defense covering some of our go-to guys in the passing game.”
Watkins said he knew from watching game film that the Rams might be able to capitalize on mismatches with the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Whitfield, who has breakaway speed and the ability to escape trouble with the best in MAIS.
Watkins said it hurt not having DeLoach, a 6-1, 195-pound junior, to balance the field with equal speed and playmaking ability. But Watkins praised the efforts of junior Kelvin Mitchell and junior Nate Parker and senior Tyler Beaird, who shared snaps at quarterback.
“Kimarri is part of that senior group that has a strong will,” Watkins said. “They came out here and worked hard this week and concentrated. We blew a couple of coverages, but you have to give Dill credit. We would have the coverage and then he would make a play. You can’t take anything away from him.”
Watkins said the Rams wanted to pressure Dill to disrupt the timing of his throws but not enough that they gave him chance to be an effective runner. CCA found that balance, as Dill had eight carries for 3 yards.
“When you lose (the turnover) battle, it is hard to win games,” Craven said. “We didn’t tackle well. It doesn’t matter who you play. If you turn the ball over and then don’t tackle them it doesn’t turn out on your side.”
Whitfield made sure his side came out on side by rushing for 67 yards and catching five passes for 199 yards.
Whitfield said he tried to “give it my all” every play. He was most successful after Dill hit Powell Tabor with a 28-yard touchdown pass on the Raiders’ first possession of the second half. Grayson Easterling’s kick tied the game at 21 with 10 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Oak Hill Academy held CCA on the ensuing possession, but Bryar Kemp forced Dill to fumble and Tony Dantzler recovered for the Rams. Two plays later, Whitfield scored on a 7-yard run.
On the first play of Oak Hill Academy’s next drive, Whitfield intercepted a pass by Dill and returned it 60 yards to give CCA a two-score lead.
“I felt a lot of (responsibility on my shoulders), but I did it for them,” Whitfield said. “I wanted Dawson to come in on that last play and kneel like he did. That was special right there.”
Watkins knew he could count on Whitfield. He also relied on a piece of wisdom he took from a speech by Alabama football coach Nick Saban at a coaching clinic. Watkins said Saban talked about coaches not complicating matters and putting the football in the hands of their playmakers. There was no better example than late in the fourth quarter when CCA was driving for a score to put the game away. Following an interception by Whitfield, the Rams faced a third-and-3 from the Raiders’ 8. Whitfield took the handoff and went to his left, but he found no running room. He reversed his field and down shifted into fifth gear to pull away from his pursuers and sneak into the right front corner of the end zone with 2:03 to play.
“He probably ran about 50 yards on an 8-yard touchdown,” Watkins said.
Dill capped the scoring with a similar play when he chased a bad snap and needed several attempts to corral it. When he did, several Rams already were hot on his heels. The senior quarterback continued to roll toward the CCA sideline and threw moving to his left back to the middle of the field to find James Peavy for a 30-yard touchdown with 1:28 remaining.
The Rams recovered an onside kick and were able to run the clock out. They did so by honoring Shaw, who took a knee to run out the clock. Shaw tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his knee against Heritage Academy.
“He was begging to hold for the extra points, but I told him I wasn’t going to put him out there with guys rushing in there,” Watkins said. “We had the opportunity and I told the official we were going to let him take a knee out of shotgun. It gave him a chance to step on the field on Senior Night and take a few snaps.”
The move was fitting because CCA will conclude the regular season with games at Deer Creek Academy, Carroll Academy, and Wayne Academy. The first two will be Class AA, District 2 games that will determine the Rams’ playoff fate.
With someone like Whitfield on his side, Watkins knows the Rams will have a chance.
“We put it in his hands and he made plays,” Watkins said. “Defensively, he made the plays. … Nate had an interception down there at the goal line and runs it back about 30 yards. It is making plays on both side of the ball. That is what athletes like him do. That is what seniors do. That is what you expect seniors to do, and Kimarri has that mentality. He will be playing somewhere at the next level.”
Whitfield was especially pleased with his interception return for a touchdown. He didn’t make a highlight-worthy move on the play, but the interception and score helped the Rams avoid the running obligation Monday at practice.
“It feels great,” Whitfield said. “When I had three touchdowns, I was like, ‘Man, this is going to be a good game,’ and I just took advantage of it.”
Whitfield’s play also earned his special praise from Craven and a family member.
“Kimarri. Kimarri, you did good,” Brenley Whitfield told her brother after the game. The 3-year-old was dressed in a Columbus Christian cheerleader outfit. After she offered her congratulations, she scurried away to another part of the field to enjoy the post-game celebration.
Craven echoed Brenley’s sentiments.
“That is a tribute to him. He is a great athlete,” Craven said. “There is nothing else you can say about it.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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