Talented players make life easier for their coaches.
Sean Harrison knew he had plenty of talented and experienced players when he took over for Barrett Donahoe as coach of the Heritage Academy football team. But Harrison didn’t know how well senior quarterback Tyler Anderson and junior running back Dontae Gray would complement each other until the season started. He had an idea in the preseason, but once the Patriots got rolling and mixed and matched formations, Harrison realized Anderson and Gray could be a deadly combination.
“They were great to have because they are both great players,” Harrison said. “We always knew and it always happened, in our 10 wins at least, that when you needed one of them or both of them and you communicated that to them you got it.”
Anderson and Gray spearheaded an offense that scored 486 points, which is believed to be a single-season school record, and powered Heritage Academy to a 10-3 record, a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA, District 2 title, and a trip to the Class AAA semifinals.
Anderson threw for 1,610 yards and 21 touchdowns and rushed for 607 yards and eight touchdowns, while Gray rushed for 1,910 yards and 24 touchdowns and had 546 yards receiving and eight touchdowns.
For their accomplishments, Anderson and Gray are The Dispatch’s Small School co-Offensive Players of the Year.
Anderson joined his 14 classmates in helping the Patriots have one of their best seasons in recent memory. He did it by overcoming a variety of bumps and bruises and minor injuries to lead an attack that relied on an all-senior offensive line to control the point of attack against virtually every opponent.
Anderson also emerged as a key playmaker by using selective hearing. He admitted that his penchant for taking on contact instead of getting out of bounds made Harrison and the Patriots’ coaches nervous, especially given his history of injuries. But Anderson stayed healthy and walked a fine line between trying to get additional yards and getting down and being safe when he could.
“They were always screaming at me to get down,” Anderson said. “I could hear them on the sidelines whenever I was running. It was a bunch of people and I could always hear them (saying), ‘Get down, get down.’
“It is harder than it looks to get down when someone tells you to. You feel like you can always break the tackles and you don’t want to go down.”
Anderson said he tried at times to get down more this season than in previous seasons, even though he admits he probably didn’t. He said he never considered all of the injuries he had in his playing career and continued to play like he always has played. As a result, he was able to avoid having a major injury for the first time since his sophomore season.
“Tyler’s nickname was Bull,” Harrison said. “He is a big old kid. It is funny. You listen to other coaches talk about Tyler and they would say, ‘He doesn’t look very fast, but he is outrunning everybody on the field.’ That is how he was. He wasn’t very fast, but he was faster than everybody else.
“He made me nervous because he looked for contact when he ran the ball. He would come in Sundays and be bruised and limping.”
Harrison said Anderson had a knack for extending plays. He said Anderson came on in relief and played a key role in Heritage Academy’s come-from-behind victory against West Lowndes.
Despite Anderson’s success, he wasn’t able to go an entire season without a few aches and pains. Harrison said Anderson hurt his hamstring in a victory against Starkville Academy. He said Anderson dislocated his ring finger four times in the game against Pisgah. He said Anderson didn’t throw the ball the week of the game against Leake Academy. As a result, Heritage Academy installed the Power-I because Anderson couldn’t throw the ball, and he still attempted 15 passes because the team needed him to.
“He is just like Dontae in that he loves the game,” Harrison said. “He loved his teammates too much to sit out. … He is one of the toughest kids I have ever coached, and it was because he loved his teammates. I am very proud of that.”
Gray gave Heritage Academy a game-breaker who could make a play at any time. Harrison took advantage of that ability by telling Gray the Patriots needed touchdowns at critical junctures. He said Gray delivered against Pisgah and St. Aloysius to push Heritage Academy to big victories.
But Gray was more than just a runner. Harrison said a decision to use Gray more at receiver in the game against Oak Hill Academy added another dimension to the offense and opened opportunities for other players to make things happen.
“When we started playing him more at receiver, it put people in a bind and I think it increased Tyler’s confidence because he knew somebody was going to have to be double-covered and somebody was going to be wide open,” Harrison said. “Even when Dontae was double-covered, he was probably still going to be open. It definitely increased his confidence.
“In the run game, I think it increased his confidence with him running the ball because he knew they were keying on Dontae so much. Like I said, they are both great players, and they were really great together.”
Hamilton said Gray never fussed about moving to receiver or playing on defense, just like Anderson. He said the love for the game Anderson and Gray share made it easier for both players to complement each other and make the Patriots go.
Gray said Heritage Academy’s success wasn’t built only on his ability to work well with Anderson.
“I think it has always been there because everybody on the team has good chemistry and has known each other for a long time,” Gray said. “I was just trying to make a play for the team and help us get a win. I was just trying to do whatever I could.”
Gray praised the efforts of the Patriots’ offensive line, saying the unit was “the best” he has played behind. He said his teammates’ ability to control the point of attack enabled him to do his job.
“They were big,” Gray said. “They were just pancaking people and everything. They just played great this year.”
Harrison, who coached in the MAIS Senior All-Star game that featured Anderson and senior offensive lineman/linebacker Logan Sneed, agreed that the team’s chemistry was a key ingredient to the 10-win season. He said Anderson’s toughness and Gray’s vision were key components of each player’s standout performances. Even though he admitted Anderson’s stubbornness about getting down or avoiding contact when he ran made him nervous, he said Anderson did what he was supposed to do. He said the same thing about Gray, who used exceptional core strength to be hard to take down.
Individually, Anderson and Gray were special. Together, they were a dynamic duo that produced championship results.
“The big joke was (Anderson) finally started doing it, but when we called a speed option he wasn’t going to pitch it. When we called a read play, he was going to pull it,” Harrison said. “But we gained yards. That big joker when he got going downhill we were getting 4 (yards), whether he blew an assignment or not. He got downhill. That is all we asked for. He didn’t have as many fumbles this year and took care of the ball.
“The main thing that makes (Gray) great is his vision. We do drills in practice to work on vision, but some are blessed with it and some aren’t. He is blessed with it, and he has put in the work in the other areas to be able to use 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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