At 6-foot-5, 240 pounds, Eli Acker is an imposing target.
Acker, a sophomore, worked in the summer with Heritage Academy quarterback Carter Putt in hopes of utilizing his size and skills at tight end to build a connection that could help drive the Patriots’ offense.
But Heritage Academy coach Sean Harrison opted to use Acker’s size in a different way. In addition to playing right tackle, Acker has moved from defensive end to defensive tackle to help bolster that unit.
Acker showed Friday night he still has some skills and a little speed to play tight end if needed. Acker’s 41-yard interception return in the fourth quarter provided the finishing touches in the sixth-seeded Heritage Academy football team’s 29-12 victory against 11th-seeded Central Private School in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) first-round playoff game at C.L. Mitchell Field.
“I was hoping. I was just praying, ‘Please nobody catch me,’ ” Acker said when asked if he thought someone was going to catch him from behind. “I saw my teammate Fox Walters sitting there beside me and cheering me and I thought, ‘Oh gosh, I am going to get in.’ ”
Acker’s interception return helped Heritage Academy (9-2) set up a matchup against third-seeded Adams County Christian School at 7 p.m. Friday in Natchez. ACCS (10-1) beat Lee Academy (Miss.) 35-8 in the first round.
The victory wasn’t without anxious moments. Cole Averette (29 carries, 262 yards) scored his second touchdown on a 31-yard run to give Central Private (6-5) a 12-7 lead with 8 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
But Heritage Academy answered with an eight-play drive. Moak Griffin had runs of 14 and 20 yards, and Dontae Gray (21 carries, 158 yards) had an 18-yard run to give the Patriots a first-and-goal at the Central Private 8-yard line. On third down, Putt hit Jared Long with a 7-yard touchdown pass. Griffin’s run gave the Patriots the lead for good, 15-12.
From there, Heritage Academy made three stands on defense. One led to a missed 38-yard field goal. The second led to a turnover on downs. Lex Rogers capped the third with an interception.
The stops helped hold the Rebels to a season-low point total and provided a sense of relief on a windy and sometimes rainy that saw the Rebels rush 47 times for 346 yards. True to Harrison’s film study, Central Private ran a varied attack out of the Double Wing. They used midline veer plays and speed runs out of it as well as counters to keep the Patriots off balance.
“It was pretty tough,” Acker said when asked what it was like to prepare for the Rebels. “We had to change our whole defense this week. We usually run a three-man front and we had to change it to a four-man front because of the Double Wing.
“We just had to stay on them. We just had to hit the fullback (Averette) every time. He is a really good runner, and he ran it with a lot of aggression.”
But Acker held his ground when it counted.
With Heritage Academy leading 22-12, Central Private took over on its 41 with 7:04 to go. Quarterback Kaleb Fontenot tried to set up a screen pass in which the receiver broke back to the middle, but Acker read the play, jumped to make the interception, and then turned on the juice. His didn’t have to worry about being caught from behind because he was part of a convoy to the end zone.
Still, Acker was overheard telling a teammate on the sideline, “I thought at least one of them was going to catch me.’ ”
Instead, Acker’s speed helped him score his first touchdown as a defensive player.
“The line didn’t block and I saw the quarterback drop and I saw his eyes go up where it was going to be a screen,” Acker said. “I just watched the ball into my hands and took it.”
In July, Acker was named a Top College Prospect for the Class of 2020 at The Southern Elite Top 150, an earned invitation combine at Coahoma Community College. The event, which was sponsored by 247, an independent digital sports media company that covers college and professional sports, was a showcase for high school players who hope to play football in college.
Acker also attended football camps at Ole Miss, Auburn, Memphis, and a Football University camp in Louisiana. The experiences helped him raise his profile at tight end and likely left an impression on college coaches and scouts he could do other things, too.
In fact, David Johnson of Rebels 247, a website that follows Ole Miss recruiting and news, said at the time Acker “went through the camp with flying colors as a tight end.” Rebels 24/7 said Acker is “big and athletic and can catch the football.” Johnson also said he felt Acker could move to offensive line, where he could become a top prospect as a tackle.
Heritage Academy defensive coordinator Russ Whiteside said the Patriots base out of a three-man front. He said Acker serves as an end in those alignments but that he becomes a tackle when the Patriots walk one or two linebackers down to pack the box. He said Acker’s versatility enables him to handle the responsibilities at both positions.
“He has good feet and moves well for someone as big as he is,” Whiteside said. “He is big enough and strong enough to play inside and he moves well enough to play the perimeter. It takes a special kind of athlete to do that, and he is doing a great job for us there this year.”
Harrison agrees and said he wasn’t surprised Acker had enough left in the tank to make it to the end zone untouched.
“Eli is still getting touchdowns even though he is a tackle,” Harrison said. “He made a great play. He recognized screen and dropped back and extended. I am sure I will hear about putting him back at tight end next week because he sure looked good doing it.
“The big boy was rollin’ a little bit, too. I thought they would catch him, but I didn’t think they would be able to tackle him. He broke one tackle. He ran well.”
Harrison said Acker epitomizes the Patriots’ approach because he has been one of many players who has accepted a move to a new position because it is in the best interest of the team. On this night, Acker’s reward was being in the right position to make a play to score a touchdown.
“Hopefully, that will translate into a deep run (in the playoffs),” Harrison said.
Last season, ACCS beat Starkville Academy 35-7 in the second round of the Class AAA playoffs. Heritage Academy lost to Indianola Academy 42-14 in the semifinals of the 2016 Class AAA. Indianola Academy then defeated ACCS 42-7 in the state title game.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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