By Dalton Middleton
Special to The Dispatch
STARKVILLE — In a must-win game for Starkville Academy, the Volunteer defense stepped up and carried their team to a playoff spot.
The defense only allowed one offensive touchdown while forcing two key turnovers in route to a 14-12 victory over Winston Academy in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA, District 2 final game at J.E. Logan Field.
Starkville Academy finishes the regular season at 7-3 overall and 2-1 in district play. Starkville Academy earns the No. 7 seed in the playoffs and will host Hartfield Academy (6-4) in a first-round game Friday night.
Head coach Chase Nicholson knows his team is built on their defense and that they have to keep playing well in order to advance keep playing.
“Always defense,” Nicholson said. “I mean we believe in our defense and we lean on our defense. We have to play great defense and we know that. If we want to get where we want to go then we have to play great defense, and that’s what we do. We did a really good job of stopping some things and adjusting to things we did not know coming.”
On their annual senior night, two seniors for Starkville Academy stepped up and dominated on the field. Torin Hamilton, star defensive lineman, recorded two key sacks and had another tackle for loss on a huge hit that excited all the fans. Codie Futral, star wide receiver and defensive back, recorded four catches including one touchdown and recovered a fumble recovery on the one-yard line during a major goal line stand. Futral even stepped into quarterback at one moment when starter Noah Methvin went down with an injury.
Nicholson was extremely pleased with his two players, praising their work ethic and their consistency throughout the season.
“Big time players make big time plays in big games,” Nicholson said. “Futral has come through for us week in and week out with some big plays. He works hard and understands what is going on. Torin played really well tonight. He made a lot of big plays. He gives us everything. He sells out week in and week out and does a great job.”
Hamilton knew how special this game was, especially the fact that they had to win to get into the playoffs.
“We had a chip on our shoulders and it was senior night,” Hamilton said. “We know it is the last time most of us will ever play on this field so we came out with a mentality to refuse to lose the game.”
With all nine seniors lined up to be celebrated before the game, anyone could tell they were ready to play. As soon as they received the ball on the kickoff, the Volunteers set the tone of how they were going to go out on their home field.
Not even two minutes into the game, Methvin rushed the ball for a 31-yard touchdown to put Starkville Academy up 7-0. Soon after, it became a dog fight. In the second quarter, Methvin threw a pass over the top to Futral who caught the ball at the highest point over the cornerback in the end zone to put the team up 14-0.
After the touchdown catch, the Volunteer offense sputtered and shut down, not scoring anymore points and struggled to move the ball down the field. That was when the defense for Starkville Academy stepped up and proved their dominance. Allowing an 82-yard touchdown run, the defense bent but did not break. They then forced a fumble on the one-yard line and caught an interception from the Winston Academy quarterback.
The Patriots fought hard and got back into the game when Methvin dropped back and threw a 45-yard pick six. When the Patriots went for two to tie the game, the Vols defense did not allow it and kept it a 14-12 game until the final buzzer went off.
Nicholson stated that there was no talk about playoffs and that their team just wanted to get the division win and finish the season strong.
“We didn’t think about not making the playoffs or not,” Nicholson said. “We were worried about this game, a big district game. We did not want to finish 1-2 in the district, we wanted to be 2-1. So you know we haven’t really talked playoffs or discussed it except knowing this was going to be a big game for us going forward. If we wanted to go forward, this game had to be played the way we wanted it to be played.”
Futral and Hamilton said they could not explain what it felt like to make the playoffs, but their team will continue to prepare on Sunday and the rest of the week.
“It is a feeling like no other to make the playoffs,” Futral said. “I don’t know what else to say about it. I just know next week we will have to continue to improve on everything we did bad and get better.”
Nicholson said his team is ready for the second season.
“The formula never changes,” Nicholson said. “Just get better. We have to keep getting better. That’s what we have to do each week. Its playoffs now, but that won’t change our formula because it has gotten us this far.”
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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