STARKVILLE — One more play.
An incompletion on fourth down at the 4-yard line in the first quarter. A pass that was batted down at the goal line in the fourth quarter.
The Starkville Academy football team also had its chances on defense. Twice the Volunteers had two players in position to make a play on a ball only to see the Adams County Christian Academy to come out with the football.
Taken individually, none of those four plays was the reason No. 14 seed ACCS defeated No. 6 seed Starkville Academy 32-13 on Friday night in the second round of the Mississippi
Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA playoffs at J.E. Logan Field. Collectively, though, the missed chances and the Rebels’ ability to make big plays proved too much for the reigning Class AAA State champions to overcome.
“It was always just one more play,” Starkville Academy coach Chase Nicholson said. “We had to continue to do that all night long. Down there the first time we didn’t score, we ran a little dump pass to Cade (Vickers) and he is open and Tay(lor Arnold) just misses him.
“One play. We throw a ball and fingertip hits it. The first long ball to Hawk (Howell Archer) and one hand hits it. Glue (quarterback Garrett Lewis) throws it to the flat one time and a hand hits it. Down here, we have another RPO (read-pass option) and somebody comes flying in and hits. It was always just one play.”
ACCS (4-7) will take on No. 2 Heritage Academy, which beat No. 7 Leake Academy 43-13, at 7 p.m. Friday in Columbus for a chance to advance to the state title game at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, at Jackson Academy.
According to the MAIS website, ACCS was forced to forfeit its first seven games due to an ineligible player. The Rebels, who haven’t lost on the field this season, likely would have been a top-five seed by virtue of winning District 5. They showed the big-play capabilities of a state title contender, as senior quarterback Sterling Yarbrough was 11-for-19 for 293 yards and five touchdowns. The first came on a 25-yard pass to Jakarius Caston that beat double coverage. Yarbrough also hit Caston on a 48-yard jump ball to help set up a 31-yard touchdown pass to Yohan Thompson. The pass to Thompson also beat double coverage thanks to Yarbrough putting just enough loft on the ball to help it sail over the arms of one of the defenders. The score gave the Rebels a 26-13 lead with 6 minutes, 21 minutes remaining.
The Rebels tacked on a fifth scoring pass with 1:22 remaining.
The final score in no way reflected how closely the game could have turned. After trailing 20-0 at halftime, Starkville Academy seized the momentum thanks to a 32-yard pass from Lewis to Archer in the third quarter. The play moved to Volunteers to the Rebels’ 12-yard line. Two plays later, and with the aid of a penalty, Arnold scored on a 3-yard run.
Starkville Academy’s defense then answered the call by stuffing Adams County Christian on a fourth-and-1 from the Rebels’ 44. On third-and-10 from the 34, Lewis scrambled and hit Nason Heflin for his second touchdown pass. The kick was blocked, but the Volunteers had all of the momentum trailing 20-13 with 48 seconds left in the quarter.
“The defense kept making the one play and trying to keep us in it, and the offense was fighting and we made some plays,” Nicholson said. “It just always seemed like it was one step away from us and we could never catch up to it.”
ACCS had a long touchdown run at the end of the third quarter called back due to a penalty. A sack by Walker Tranum helped to force the Rebels to punt. The Volunteers then used a 59-yard pass from Lewis to Zak Kelly to set up a first-and-goal from the ACCS 6. But a run by Arnold gained 1 yard. A pass on second down was deflected at the line of scrimmage. A pass on third down was broken up at the goal line. Arnold missed a 22-yard field goal with 8:16 remaining.
Starkville Academy coach Brad Butler praised the effort of his defense. He said the Volunteers made the Rebels one-dimensional by limiting them to 77 yards on 28 carries. But he credited ACCS for making plays that were just a little better all evening.
“We knew they had a lot of skill guys who could make big plays,” Butler said. “A lot of times we were in the right position, but they just made a few more plays than we did.”
Campbell Spivey’s interception was the only turnover the Volunteers forced. Unfortunately, the Rebels intercepted Lewis five times, including three times in the second half when Starkville Academy attempted to rally from a 20-0 halftime deficit.
Butler credited his defense for playing well against the run. He said film the coaches watched of ACCS indicated it was able to do what it wanted when it ran the football or threw it. Butler was proud the Volunteers didn’t let that happen Friday night.
“We never felt like we were really out of it,” Butler said. “We felt like we were in it pretty much the whole time. I was proud of the way our players fought, and I thought we had a good defensive second half.”
Nicholson was equally pleased with the resolve his players showed in the second half. He said that mentality is something Starkville Academy has become known for in the last few years. He stressed to his players after the game that they needed to keep that mind-set through the ups and downs that life throws at them.
Following that talk, it still was hard to Nicholson to wonder what could have happened if his team made one more play, particularly in the second half, to tie the game. With momentum on its side, Nicholson knows there would have been no telling what could have happened. As it turned out, the Volunteers will have to ponder the possibilities in the offseason and wait until the 2019 season to make them a reality.
“I told them at halftime they had to come out and fight,” Nicholson said. “Everybody showed up and ready to fight. They had a choice to make in life, come out here and work hard where it was real hot and nasty and fight or not. That is life. That is what I love about this game. It teaches you so much about 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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