STARKVILLE — Friday night’s rivalry game between Heritage Academy and Starkville Academy looked all but over in the first half.
The Patriots had scored two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters of the game, taking an emphatic 28-7 lead into halftime, controlling the pace of the game on offense and dominating on the ground.
“We got some quick stops defensively,” Heritage Academy head coach Lance Pogue said. “The offense, they were giving us some matchups that we really liked and we hit some big plays.”
However, things shifted in the early part of the third quarter as Heritage’s starting running back, Jay Stevenson, exited the game with an apparent right leg injury.
Starkville Academy took advantage, stopping the Pats consistently on defense and putting together successful drives on offense that looked to tire out the Heritage defense.
In the end, the deficit was too big and the comeback was too late as a big fourth-quarter scoring drive put the game to bed, a 31-21 win for Heritage (4-1), its eighth straight victory in this decades-long rivalry.
“We were just trying to move the sticks,” Heritage Academy quarterback Jack Ketchum said. “That was the biggest drive of the game right there, getting the field goal.”
At that point, the Vols (4-2) had clawed its way back to a one-score game, scoring a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make it 28-21.
Momentum was 100 percent on the side of Starkville Academy, having broken down Heritage’s offensive line and stuck with its ground game, led by Charlie Nicholas.
Nicholas started breaking off big run after big run, and those smaller 5-yard and 6-yard carries began to quickly add up as well.
“I said, ‘Guys, don’t worry about the scoreboard,’” Starkville Academy head coach Chase Nicholson said. “‘If you come back out and play your game, one play at a time and chip away at it, you’ll give yourself a chance to win.’ We gave ourselves a chance, just came up a few plays short.”
Watching the Vols claw their way back into the game was impressive and showed the fight in this team, which Nicholson alluded to postgame.
Earlier in the season, when Starkville Academy played Jackson Academy, a team that the Vols have had their fair share of struggles against, they did the same thing: tiring out the defense, finding success on the ground and finding themselves in a place to win a game in the second half.
However, a few stalled drives in the fourth quarter sucked the momentum away from them and gave Heritage Academy just enough of an opening to take advantage.
A big credit in the second half of the game, especially that final scoring drive for the Pats, goes to Ketchum for finding open receivers and Luke Fisher, who was the primary back used in the second half of the game once Stevenson left.
“I think that was big for everyone,” Fisher said. “We had a couple people go down with either cramps or twisted ankles, nitpicky stuff here and there, but I stepped up. I’ve been comfortable at running back and me and Jack have a good connection. I was seeing the hole the O-line was making, and I was hitting it.”
Heritage’s first half dominance was anchored by four touchdown passes from Ketchum, two to Trey Naugher alone, and two 60-plus-yard passing plays that resulted in touchdowns.
Stevenson’s performance in the first half was spectacular, capped off by an impressive 84-yard touchdown reception where Ketchum essentially dumped the ball off to him, a 5-yard pass or so, and he just burnt defenders and outran everyone to the end zone.
It was the second half where the Pats weathered the storm and came out victorious that will be the focus heading into next week.
“It says we have heart and guts, and that’s what you have to have,” Pogue said. “These things aren’t easy. This is a rivalry game. They lost a bunch of games against us and they want to win. We knew we’d get their best shot at their place. It wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the second half, but in the record books, they’ll see a W there, and that’s what counts.”
Heritage takes its 4-1 record onto the road next week as the Pats take on Bayou Academy while Starkville Academy looks to rebound after this loss, going on the road to take on Winston Academy next Friday.
Heritage Academy 31, Starkville Academy 21
Heritage Academy (4-1) 13 14 0 3 — 31
Starkville Academy (4-2) 0 7 7 7 — 21
First quarter
HA — Trey Naugher 61 pass from Jack Ketchum (Luke Fisher kick), clock 9:38
HA — Cameron Kidd 12 pass from Ketchum (kick failed), clock 6:12
Second quarter
HA — Jay Stevenson 84 pass from Ketchum (Ketchum run good), clock 8:52
HA — Naugher 27 pass from Ketchum (Fisher kick), clock 8:07
SA — Briggs Bennett 9 run (Tanner McKee kick), clock 5:13
Third quarter
SA — Charlie Nicholas 1 run (McKee kick), clock 6:43
Fourth quarter
SA — Bennett 1 run (McKee kick), clock 11:27
HA — Fisher 21 FG, clock 5:40
Individual statistics
PASSING: Starkville Academy — Briggs Bennett 24-43, 264; Heritage Academy — Jack Ketchum 11-21, 253.
RECEIVING: Starkville Academy — Wyatt Buice 8-84, Drew Williams 5-58, Charlie Nicholas 9-98, Wyatt Johnson 1-11; Heritage Academy — Trey Naugher 5-110, Jay Stevenson 1-84, Cameron Kidd 3-23, Xzavier Webber 1-16, Luke Fisher 1-10.
RUSHING: Starkville Academy — Charlie Nicholas 23-143, Briggs Bennett 9-61, Wyatt Buice 1-(-2); Heritage Academy — Jay Stevenson 11-93, Luke Fisher 17-89, Noah Madan 2-3.
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