The learning opportunities continue for the Heritage Academy football team.
As coach Sean Harrison sees it, the good thing for the Patriots is the team is in a three-game stretch where it can gain valuable playoff points for a victory and not suffer too big of a hit if it loses. The other good thing is Heritage Academy has shown an ability to put lessons learned to good use. It did that following a 3-0 victory against Manchester Academy when it regrouped to defeat Wayne Academy 42-16.
This week, Heritage Academy (3-1) will try to bounce back from a loss to Lamar School when it travels to Greenwood to take on Pillow Academy.
The matchup is the second in a three-game stretch against Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAAA, Division II teams. Last week, Lamar School defeated Heritage Academy 27-3. Smaller classification teams — Heritage Academy is a Class AAA school — earn more playoff points if they beat higher classification schools. Next week, Heritage Academy will travel to Senatobia to take on Magnolia Heights.
“I was really encouraged by our defensive play and our offensive play,” Harrison said. “We kind of moved the ball at will up and down the field, but we didn’t finish. It is kind of like the old adage it is never as bad as it seems once you look at the film.”
Harrison was pleased to see the Patriots come back in the right frame of mind following the loss. He said the team had a good week of practice as it gets closer to the Class AAA, District 2 opener against Leake Academy on Sept. 29 in Columbus. Harrison feels changes this week on both sides of the ball in practice have created more competition for playing time, which he feels will keep the players sharp.
Despite moving the ball at times against Lamar School, Heritage Academy committed two turnovers in the red zone. The initial interception came in the second quarter when the Patriots were driving to answer the Raiders’ opening score.
“As far as one loss getting us down, it is not,” Harrison said. “These kids are good about taking their lessons and moving on.”
Harrison touched on one of those lessons Friday night after the game. He said the Patriots might have to stop blowing plays dead as quickly as they have been in practice to get the players to work more on holding their blocks. Harrison said finishing has been an issue for an offense that has had opportunities to break plays if it could have maintained a block for a little longer. He said all of the Patriots worked well for longer stretches in practice and showed improvement on their blocking. Harrison said he has treated practices as full-on scrimmages where plays aren’t over until someone is tackled with previous teams, but he usually hasn’t done it at this time of the year. With a young team, though, Harrison believes the move will help his players understand one thing they need to improve on.
Harrison also said sophomore quarterback Carter Putt threw the ball well last week. He said Putt tried to force the ball on the initial interception and then had a miscommunication with H-back Eli Acker on the second one. Harrison feels Putt continues to mature and will put the latest lessons learned into action.
“We have adjusted some plays. We have put some new things in. We have added some wrinkles,” Harrison said. “I am still trying to find what best suits us. I hate that it has taken this long, but we’ll continue to build. We have said all along that by week seven against Leake is when we want to be hitting our stride, and that is still the goal.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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