By DAVID MILLER
Special to The Dispatch
In the waning minutes of a running clock Friday night, Heritage Academy football players facetiously asked one another on the sideline, “do you know what week it is?”
Of course they do — it’s Starkville Academy rivalry week. Next week’s matchup with the undefeated, defending state champions – that beat Heritage by three points last year – will be the biggest game in Mississippi Association of Independent Schools football.
The anticipation and matchup was just as hyped last year, but Heritage coach Sean Harrison bemoaned the “dogfight” his team had with Winston Academy last year because it was looking ahead to Starkville Academy.
That didn’t happen this Friday. Heritage Academy put the game away in the first half and escaped healthy in a 35-7 win.
“Last year happened … we overlooked Winston,” said Sean Harrison, Heritage Academy coach. “The kids didn’t care anything about playing Winston; they were worried about Starkville. They really stayed lock in this week and obviously showed it.”
“It wasn’t easy” to temper the excitement and anticipation, said Jared Long, who caught a pair of touchdown passes Friday.
Lineman Ethan Bumgarner said Heritage was a “better team than Winston” Friday and simply needed to “play like it.”
Their focus was sharp from the opening drive, as Heritage quarterback Carter Putt went 5 for 5 and drove Heritage 55 yards for a touchdown. It was vintage Heritage Academy (6-2, 2-0) offense, which has eclipsed 35 points or more in all but one game this year. Harrison said he was pleased to see his offense execute new empty sets on the drive, something they hadn’t shown this year.
He was especially pleased to see Long break out with five catches for 76 yards, two touchdowns, and a remarkable fingertip grab along the sideline.
“He’s been a little uptight this year, putting a little bit too much pressure on himself,” Harrison said. “It was fun to see old Jared come out here and just relax and play ball.”
The team’s extra emphasis of maintaining focus and executing for Winston Academy (2-6, 0-2) trickled down to Long, who said he never lacked confidence in their previous games, but he’d struggle to shake off bad plays.
“Once I would drop that first ball, it felt like, ‘here we go again,'” Long said. “I would beat myself up and back myself into a corner, and I wasn’t able to get out of it.”
Long said it’s easier to get out of a funk when playing in an efficient, explosive offense. He said quarterback Carter Putt’s ability and enthusiasm are motivators for him and the other skill players. The game becomes more fun when Heritage plays with tempo, he said.
“Once we start, you can’t stop us,” Long said. “It’s amazing when we get the call that we’re fixing to go and start passing a lot. When Carter gets on fire, he starts throwing dimes and dimes, and I’m on the receiving end. He gets fired up, he’s pointing to me, and I’m point back to him, just feeling the emotions in the level of play are rising to another level.”
Putt went 16 for 22 and threw for 185 yards. He had three touchdowns and a pick and played just one series in the second half. KJ Smith had 81 yards on 14 carries and had a score.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Harrison said. “We have great skill. Of course, Carter is so good and makes such good decisions. And having KJ back there – teams are really having to choose which one they want to stop.”
The Heritage Academy defense held Winston Academy to just four first downs and under 100 yards of offense.
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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