STARKVILLE — Rivalry games always mean more, even if both teams involved just try to treat the game as any other game on any other week.
Practices are harder and more competitive, motivation levels are high and both sets of students and fans count down the days in anticipation for that Friday night kickoff.
Nowhere is that more apparent than when Starkville Academy and Heritage Academy square off in a game that has been played every year since 1971, with nearly 60 meetings all told between the two programs.
Friday marks the next installment in the rivalry, one where the Volunteers will look to end a seven-game losing streak at home against the Patriots.
“We’ve approached this week like we’ve done every week, but we didn’t ignore the fact it’s rivalry week,” Starkville Academy head coach Chase Nicholson said. “We’re not going to do that because that would be an injustice to the game and an injustice to the guys.”
This game is bookmarked on the schedules for both programs for a reason, as two local communities in Starkville and Columbus will be represented proudly in this game.
Starkville Academy has a point to prove in this rivalry, especially coming into the game with a 4-1 record, having rattled off three straight victories in impressive fashion since a tough 17-14 overtime loss at home to Jackson Academy.
Following that loss on Aug. 19, the Volunteers have outscored opponents 116-37, averaging 38.3 points per game in that span while allowing just 12.3 points per game to the opposition.
“Our defense, they fly to the ball and they hit people hard,” Starkville Academy quarterback Briggs Bennett said. “Our offense, we’ve come together as one, and we’re figuring it out, and it’s been looking really good.”
Both teams currently sit in the driver’s seat and have had very similar paths to get to where they are heading into Friday’s game, having both lost their second game of the season and won out since that point.
Despite Starkville Academy having a game in hand on Heritage Academy, the Patriots have the upper hand in the all-time series with that current seven-game winning streak.
With this being Patriots head coach Lance Pogue’s first rivalry game at the helm of Heritage Academy, he’s excited for the challenge ahead.
“We have great respect for those guys,” Pogue said. “It’s not just the rivalry; it’s a conference game. It’s so big right now as everyone is playing for standings within the conference and it just so happened to be a rival too, so there’s a lot on the line.”
Heritage Academy has taken care of business in recent weeks, having averaged more than 40 points a game since its loss to Jackson Prep while allowing less than 10 points a game.
As the Vols have heated up, so have the Patriots, making the meeting of the minds on Friday that much more of a big game.
The Patriots know exactly what to expect against Starkville Academy with so much history between the two schools, and playing on the road will be a test in itself.
Even with the bigger stage and bigger importance on this game, Heritage Academy knows exactly what it’s going to take to win.
“It’s going to be the little things,” linebacker Luke Fisher said. “We’ve had all the right pieces there in these first few games. We just haven’t always put them together, and I think Friday is going to come down to four quarters of good ball and taking care of those small details.”
Those small details will be the big difference between a win on both sides of the ball Friday night in a game that’s going to bring out the best in the Patriots and Volunteers.
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