STARKVILLE — The Starkville Academy boys soccer team missed out on the playoffs last season.
But the Volunteers closed the year by beating the two teams in their division that did qualify for the MAIS Division II postseason — Lamar School and Heritage Academy — in their final two matches.
“We ended on a really strong note,” Starkville Academy coach John Morgan said.
So far, this year’s version of the Vols is picking up right where last season’s team left off.
Starkville Academy is 4-0 and No. 10 among Mississippi schools, per MaxPreps.com. That’s not just MAIS schools, either — seven of the nine teams ahead of the Vols are members of MHSAA Class 6A, the largest public school division in the state.
Morgan’s team sits directly behind No. 8 Tupelo and No. 9 D’Iberville, and the only other private school to make the top 10 was fifth-ranked Hartfield Academy. The Vols even crack the top 100 schools nationally at No. 74.
“To me, I think we’re pretty deserving of it,” Morgan said of his team’s ranking. “We’ve looked really, really strong. We’ve got a pretty complete team.”
The second-year coach said the Vols are “pretty dangerous everywhere” and called them one of the strongest teams he has coached. Morgan previously spent three years in Texas, leading Bob Hope School in Port Arthur for one year and Brenham High School for two.
But Starkville Academy looks good enough to leave those Lone Star State teams behind in the Texas dust. Solid all around the field, the Vols don’t have a discernible weakness, and that’s a rarity.
“It’s really hard to find a team that doesn’t lack something somewhere on the field — is not missing something somewhere on the field,” Morgan said. “But it seems like our guys really have everything together.”
Pick your poison
From Charlie Cox in goal to Isaac Lepard and Andrew Pollan in the midfield to Wilkes Stubbs and Brody Pierce up top, Starkville Academy has plenty of talent, and it’s coming together fast. Cox and the Vols’ defense have combined for clean sheets in three of the team’s four matches; Pierce had three goals in a 5-0 win over Byhalia on Monday; Lepard had two in Tuesday’s 4-0 shutout of East Rankin Academy.
“It’s what we expected,” said Pierce, a senior. “We have a good group of guys, we’re close together, and we know how to play.”
Pierce’s knowledge isn’t limited to soccer, either. The kicker for Starkville Academy’s football team, he went 3 for 3 on extra points in Saturday’s MAIS all-star game — a harder task than his hat trick Monday because of timing and the full pads he had to don.
For Pierce — used to shuttling between soccer (he played for the Oxford Rush club team, part of Mississippi Flood FC) and middle and high school football — playing both sports is nothing new.
“I’ve been doing it all my life,” he said.
Now, he’s doubled his scoring output from this time last year, according to Morgan. Defenses have to make tough choices with Pierce up top, the coach said.
“Either you’re going to give him space short, or you’re going to give him space behind you,” Morgan said. “You’ve got to pick which one.”
The coach said Pierce is being used as more of a “builder” than a pure scorer this season, result being that teams who surround the senior with defensemen run the risk of a pass to a willing Volunteer.
“If you want to get real crowded around him and make sure he can’t do anything, I’ve got other guys,” Morgan said.
Lepard, Stubbs and several Starkville Academy players have been those guys for the Vols this year. A couple defenders have found the net, as have young players: Seventh-grader Nathan Miller had a goal against Bayou Academy.
“You want to have multiple weapons,” Morgan said. “We’ve got guys who will score on you wherever, so it’s nice to have that.”
Championship hopes
Though the Vols have three seniors — Pierce, Stubbs and Jacob Crittenden — and a sizable nine-man junior class, younger players like Miller have played a role, too. Freshman Micah King, starting at central defensive midfielder, is a prime example.
“It means a lot,” said King, playing his first year of varsity soccer. “Everyone’s way older than me — two years older than me. It’s wild.”
Still, King has managed to learn from Lepard, Pollan and other players as well as Morgan and does a little bit of everything — passing, shooting and defending — for the Vols. And already, he’s got lofty goals for his first season with the big club.
“I’m hoping to win it all,” he said.
So is Pierce, who said Wednesday he’s hoping to be asked his “ring size” for a championship band. But he and Morgan both said the Vols can’t afford to get a “big head” too early with so much in front of them, including back-to-back games against Pillow Academy and Nettleton on Monday and Tuesday. The contest with the Mustangs and a matchup with St. Aloysius after winter break are long since circled in red on Morgan’s mental calendar.
“We’ve got some tough tests that are coming up, and I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.
Morgan said he thinks when division play begins Jan. 4 against Heritage Academy, Starkville Academy will be able to compete with the Patriots, Lamar and anyone else on the schedule.
“I think we have or two more athletes than most of the teams that we go up against,” he said. “It’s just a matter of, ‘Do we execute?'”
So far, the Vols have done just that: They’ve passed their preliminary exams, including a 4-2 battle over Bayou on Nov. 20 in Cleveland. Pillow is next up, so that’s Starkville Academy’s singular focus at the moment; but when the postseason nears, the Vols will be ready to prove themselves.
“We’ve competed pretty well against the opponents we have, so I’m confident that we have what it takes to get where we want to be as a team and get into the playoffs,” Morgan said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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