The standards are pretty high at Heritage Academy, which is understandable to a point. This year’s senior class has seen the Patriots go 39-6, including a state title two years ago.

So Sean Harrison and his squad have set a very high bar, and they are quite self-critical when, in their eyes, they don’t reach it on any given Friday night.

For example, here is Harrison after the Patriots’ most recent game:

“I got outcoached, there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. They took away our best plays, and we didn’t do a good job of responding to it.”

That filters down to his players. 

“Our offense didn’t play too well tonight,” Trey Naugher said. “I’m not going to lie. We honestly played horrible.”

Oh, yeah, in case you missed it, the “horrible” and “outcoached” Patriots defeated rival Starkville Academy 30-0. 

Of course, in one way, comments like that are a sign of respect for the opponent, acknowledging that the Vols kept them from doing what they wanted to do for much of the evening. And it would be wrong not to use a game, regardless of the result, to learn what you can do better next time. 

Naugher caught a touchdown pass with two defenders in the way just two plays after a similar play was incomplete because he caught the ball out of bounds.

He was asked if he realized he was heading out of bounds.

“No, I didn’t want to take my eye off the ball,” said Naugher, who caught two touchdown passes and was a big part of an outstanding defensive effort. “And the weather was a little drizzly so I was just going to focus on catching it.

“But I should have dragged my feet.”

Not, “but I made up for it two plays later,” “we got it back right after that” or even “the coverage was too good on that play.” It was “I should have dragged my feet.”

Yep, a pretty high bar.

— Tom Rysinski

Delay might have come at right time for Jackets

The weather picked a good time to stop cooperating for Starkville High School’s homecoming game Friday against Louisville.

Four plays into the contest, lightning forced an automatic 30-minute delay. Repeated strikes kept the teams off the field for almost an hour and a half before play resumed.

And it came at an opportune moment for Starkville, which had two plays blown up for a loss before an interception on its opening drive. 

Louisville had the ball at the Jackets’ 33-yard line before a false start penalty was called. Then the game was suspended and both teams sent to their locker rooms.

In the Yellow Jackets’ gathering, head coach Chris Jones remained quiet.

“I didn’t want to mess with them,” he said. “I didn’t want to have two pregame speeches. I didn’t even have anything else to say.”

His silence, apparently, was golden. Starkville came out and scored two touchdowns in the first quarter en route to a 28-23 victory.

— Theo DeRosa

Cheer little, too late

“I believe that we will win” has become a common cheer since it first became well known at games involving the U.S. men’s national soccer team during the World Cup. (Not the last one, the one for which they actually qualified.) On one level, it’s a simple sign of enthusiasm and confidence; on another level, it can be a little boost to a team that has fallen behind or is otherwise struggling on the field.

So it wasn’t exactly a surprise to hear it Friday night at Heritage Academy during the Patriots’ game against Starkville Academy.

Except it was heard with 49 seconds left. In the fourth quarter. With Heritage up 30-0. 

Not exactly going out on a limb there, was it? 

— Tom Rysinski

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