Sean Harrison can get used to fast starts like the one the Heritage Academy football team had in its season opener.
Buoyed by big plays from Dontae Gray, Jared Long, Moak Griffin, and Carter Putt, Heritage Academy broke out to a big lead against Kirk Academy in the first half en route to a 46-20 victory in the season opener for both teams.
Fast starts were the staple of a 2016 season that saw the Patriots build big leads en route to what is believed to be a program-record 486 points in 13 games.
Harrison feels Heritage Academy will need another start like that one at 7 p.m. Friday when it plays host to Manchester Academy in its home opener.
“I was proud of the kids,” Harrison said. “That game was on them because we didn’t have a game plan. We didn’t know what to game plan for. We saw things early we thought could do, but they just went out and executed it. It was a good night.”
The lack of game film for Kirk Academy created uncertainty for Harrison and the Patriots. He said not knowing what the Raiders were going to do could have added to a sense of urgency or purpose for his players. Harrison believes that same mentality will be needed Friday night.
Heritage Academy beat Manchester Academy 44-14 in the second round of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA playoffs. A week later, Heritage Academy lost to Indianola Academy in the semifinals of the AAA playoffs to cap a 10-3 season, the program’s best since the state championship campaign of 2012.
Against Kirk Academy, a 200-plus yard effort of Gray, fine catches by Long and Griffin, heady play from Putt, and strong play from the offensive line of Parker Ray, John Henry Fields, Chapman Cooper, Ethan Bumgarner, and Clay Walters, aided the rout.
“Carter is a sophomore quarterback (in his first year as starter), but he has a lot of confidence because of the playmakers around him,” Harrison said. “I feel like we have four or five guys out there, I don’t care what play I call or what defense they’re in, we can score from anywhere on any play as long as we break one tackle. They have more than the capability to do that.
“He made a lot of really good decisions. We had some typical first-game broken plays. On one, there was a bad snap and instead of trying to force the shovel to Eli (Acker) or running around, he just picked the snap up and hit the hole Eli would have hit and took it 15 yards. He is an incredibly smart, mature kid.”
Harrison credited Gray, who he acknowledged is an “incredibly gifted back,” but he made sure to praise the group up front, which included Acker at tight end, for doing its job and for progressing faster than he imagined.
“They come to work every day,” Harrison said. “They have progressed because of how they are working at practice.
“I think they know as long as they will do their job and block their assignment we have a chance to win every game we’re in. That forces them to play at a higher level than they might otherwise play.”
Harrison expects things to be tougher against a Manchester Academy program that dropped down to Class AA in the MAIS’ latest round of reclassification. Manchester Academy, which has 19 seniors, beat Canton Academy, a Class AAA school, 14-7 last Friday in its season opener.
Harrison expects Manchester Academy’s size to present different matchups than the ones the team faced against Kirk Academy. He said the Mavericks have the ability to expose the Patriots if they don’t correct the mistakes they made in the opener.
“We’re going to have to play a lot better,” Harrison said. “We have fixed some things, but they’re good.”
Heritage Academy is highly regarded, too. The Patriots opened the season ranked No. 3 in The Clarion-Ledger’s Class AAA poll. Reigning Class AAA champion Indianola Academy and runner-up Adams County Christian Academy are No. 1 and No. 2.
“We’re aware of (the ranking), but it’s not going to be something we will pay any attention to,” Harrison said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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