Columbus Christian Academy was going to need every bounce it could get to knock off cross-town rival Heritage Academy. The opening kickoff was a bad start.
Heritage didn’t onside kick on purpose, but managed to recover the ball nonetheless on an accidental pooch kick that the Rams up-backs didn’t fall on. The first play from scrimmage, senior running back Michael Ledbetter rushed off the left side of his offensive line and broke down the sideline for a 33-yard touchdown. Thirteen seconds into the game, the Patriots had the lead for good.
From there, Heritage Academy cruised to a 48-0 win in the Mississippi Association of Indepedent Schools opener for both teams at C.L. Mitchell Field.
“It feels good offensively, it seems like we’re going to have a good season this year,” Gray said.
It was a victory by committee approach for the Patriots. Head coach Barrett Donahoe spoke before the season about how his depth at skill positions. Ledbetter’s backfield mate, Dontae Gray took it 65 yards to the house the next Heritage drive.
Six Patriots crossed the goal line Friday, as Heritage cruised to a 48-0 lead in the first half and never looked back. Heritage rushed for 334 yards and five touchdowns.
Three running backs reached the end zone. Quarterback Tyler Anderson threw for two touchdowns and 169 yards.
Many Patriot starters were out of the game by the first half, but the running game found success no matter who was carrying the ball. While the Patriots had many options to carry the ball, their blockers remained constant throughout the game.
“We don’t have a lot of numbers on the offensive line, so tonight they got a lot of quality reps,” Donahoe said. “I was pleased with what they did and please with the reps they got. It was fun to see them have success.”
Senior offensive lineman and linebacker Thomas Cooper felt his unit was able to congeal nicely in the run game.
“I felt like the O-line worked really hard today in the game,” Cooper said. “We worked up to our second-level blocks. We could have been better in our pass blocking, but we’ll work on that this week and get ready for Lamar.”
Back-up quarter back Zach Oswalt rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown on five carries. Second team backs Lukas Bryant and Toby Young combined for 75 yards on the ground.
“I was happy to see the way our second group responded and I though they got a lot of good reps tonight,” Donahoe said.
The Patriots travel to Lamar next Friday in what will be a tougher matchup for the Patriots. But Donahoe has had a chance to see his depth at skilled positions perform on the field, and he likes what he’s seen so far.
“I though the effort was good,” Donahoe said. “I thought our running backs ran the ball really hard. They battle for reps and they all try to get as many reps as they can, because they know their time is limited. And I thought they all did a good job tonight. Both our quarterbacks executed our read option stuff well; I was pleased with that.”
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