JACKSON – Oak Hill Academy has the opportunity to do what not many get to do.
Play a familiar opponent in a state championship game.
The Raiders will meet district rival Winston Academy for the MAIS Class 2A, Division II state championship at Mississippi College’s Robinson-Hale Stadium on Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
Oak Hill (9-3) is seeking their first state championship since 1990.
The Raiders beat Winston 28-7 back on Oct. 3 in the regular season.
“Exciting to be here and a lot of big changes since last year not winning a game and relied on our seniors being leaders and if it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be here,” said Oak Hill Academy coach Tom Goode. “We faced them in the middle of the year, so we’ve seen them and Coach Byrd and those guys play hard from the first play to the last play of the game. A good, (well) coached football team.”
Offensively, Oak Hill comes in averaging 32.1 points per game, anchored by quarterback Jackson Holton, running back Boston Cunningham, tight end Simon Reynolds and receiver Chantz Harris.
Defensively, the Raiders give up just 17.4 points per game, led by Sam Baggett and Brody Buchanan.
“Each week I tell the kids, especially this time of year, the team that makes the least number of mistakes, doesn’t turn the ball over, and limit the penalties will determine who wins the game,” Goode said. “This will be an equally matched type of game.”
Winston (4-8) offensively is averaging 15.1 points per game and will lean on quarterback Jayson McMillin, running backs Beau Boatner and Jonah Hood and receiver Kingsley Ashford.
Defensively, the Patriots do give up just under 24 points per game, led by defensive end Rett Hatcher, linebacker Ben Caperton along with Hood at linebacker and McMillin, Boatner, and Kingsley in the secondary.
“The key is our kids got better each week and here we are trying to win a football game,” said Winston Academy coach Pat Byrd. “They got more size than we do, so we got to be more aggressive and move and win the line of scrimmage. We got to take care of the football. The first time we played them we turned it over four times, so we can’t turn the ball over and we can take our chances.”
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