INDIANOLA — Sean Harrison didn’t expect to see a different Indianola Academy from the one that beat his team four weeks ago.
After scoring 159 in three wins since playing Indianola Academy, the Heritage Academy football coach believed his team could erase the memory of a 22-point loss in the regular season and punch its ticket to the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA State title game.
Unfortunately, the second time around proved to be just as wearing as the first.
Sebastian Harris had 30 carries for 181 yards and a touchdown, and Sherman Timbs added 96 yards and three touchdowns to help top-seeded Indianola Academy beat fourth-seeded Heritage Academy 42-14 in the semifinals of the MAIS Class AAA State tournament.
“I told you they weren’t going to adjust anything, and they didn’t,” Harrison said.
Indianola Academy (13-0) will play second-seeded Adams County Christian School, which beat sixth-seeded Greenville St. Joseph Catholic School 36-20, at 7 p.m. Thursday at Jackson Academy.
Heritage Academy ends a season in which it scored what is believed to be a school-record 486 points at 10-3.
Indianola Academy defeated Heritage Academy 35-13 in Indianola on Oct. 14. Scoring 121 points in playoff wins against St. Aloysius and Manchester Academy gave the Patriots’ offense confidence it could forge a different path in the rematch. It looked like that could be the case in the first quarter when quarterback Tyler Anderson connected with running back Dontae Gray on a 36-yard touchdown pass. The Patriots mixed the run and pass on the drive that took 4 minutes, 43 seconds off the clock.
“It felt really good,” Anderson said. “I honestly felt like we had it in the bag.”
Said Harrison, “We did (have the momentum). They are a great defense coached by a great staff. We got them early, the defense held.”
The defense did its part by making big plays at big times. The biggest in the first half came following a Heritage Academy fumble gave Indianola Academy the ball at the Patriots’ 42-yard line. The Colonels drove to the 16 before losing 3 yards on a pitched handoff on third down. Logan Sneed then came up and stuffed quarterback Will Davis for a 1-yard loss to turn the ball over on downs.
Heritage Academy appeared to have the momentum following a 22-yard run up the middle by quarterback Tyler Anderson helped move the football out of the shadow of the end zone. But Anderson rolled to his right and was intercepted by linebacker Stefon Smith with a little more than a minute remaining in the second quarter. A pass interference penalty aided the Colonels’ march to the red zone before Harris scored on a 6-yard run with seven seconds left in the half. Will Lang’s kick tied the game and gave Indianola Academy all of the momentum.
“A really terrible play call on the pass there at the end of the half allowed them to score and tie it up,” Harrison said. “That is on me, and then we just couldn’t hold up. That is what a great team does to you.”
Indianola Academy quickly built on that momentum in the third quarter, as quarterback Will Davis hit T.K. Bolden on an 83-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the quarter.
The Colonels then turned to a ground game that used four players to carry the ball 59 times for 345 yards. Harris, a 5-foot-8, 175-pound junior, provided the speed and escapability, while Timbs, a 6-3, 262-pounded provided the pounding back who often required multiple Patriots to go low to bring him down.
“They’re both very good,” Anderson said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw them at the next level.”
Harrison said the Colonels carried the momentum over to the second half. Gray said he noticed a difference in the Colonels, too, which made it tough for the Patriots to get anything going on offense.
“They started flying around to the ball,” Gray said. “They had gained the momentum in the second half after that long touchdown pass.”
The Colonels’ defense also rose to the challenge in the second half, holding the Patriots to three-and-out on their first two possessions of the second half. The third possession went five plays and out. The fourth lasted only three plays before resulting in a safety four seconds into the fourth quarter.
“Offensively, we couldn’t find anything to work,” Harrison said. “They have a great defense and great players.”
Anderson connected with Gray on a 4-yard pass to account for the Patriots’ points.
Even though Gray felt the Patriots “played harder” than they did in the first game against the Colonels, he said they couldn’t turn the tide when the momentum shifted in the second half.
“We did have a lot of momentum,” Gray said. “We were hyped and ready to play. We held them to seven in the first half. We played our best football in the first half.”
Unfortunately, the Patriots rushed for only 5 yards in the second half, which made it even easier for the Colonels to tee off on Anderson, who threw 14 passes in the second half.
Anderson said it was tough to think that his high school football career and the careers of 13 of his classmates were over, but he credited Indianola Academy for having a great team.
“You always have to keep your head up when you get down,” Anderson said. “You’re going to have ups and downs, so you have to keep going with it. It was a great season with a great group of people.”
Harrison said he hoped the players would remember the highlights of a season that reached double-digit wins and included a District 2 championship. He encouraged all of his players, especially the seniors, to strive to be the best in everything they do. He hopes the underclassmen will use the game as motivation to come back next season and take the next step. For players going on to another sport, he hopes they will use it as incentive to win state titles in basketball and baseball.
“We played our butts off,” Harrison said. “We played as hard as we could play. Coach (Russ) Whiteside did a great job. In the end, we fell short as a coaching staff and as a team. I told them in the locker room that your life is shaped on how you respond to failures.
“It was a great year. This senior group and this group accomplished a whole lot. I couldn’t be more proud of them and am thankful for them.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.