STARKVILLE — Special teams mean more at Starkville Academy.
“We start practicing special teams in June,” Starkville Academy football coach Chase Nicholson said. “We believe in special teams, and we take pride in that.”
On Friday night, that dedication paid off.
The Volunteers used first-half punt returns of 16, 19, and 29 yards — plus another lengthy one that was wiped away by a penalty — to set up advantageous field position. The offense repeatedly turned that field position into quick scores in a 41-0 victory against 15th-seeded Park Place Christian 41-0 in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA first-round playoff game at J.E. Logan Field.
Second-seeded Starkville Academy (10-1) will play host to seventh-seeded Central Hinds Academy at 7 p.m. Friday in the second round. Central Hinds defeated .
“We tell our guys other teams are working offense and defense, we’re working offense, defense, and special teams,” Nicholson said. “From day one, there’s at least two periods where we’re working special teams, and punt and punt return are two we work the most.
“We believe in it because it really is a third of the game. Some people say that, but we really believe it. We buy into it. Our kids buy into it.”
After forcing a Park Place punt on its first possession, Howell Archer returned a punt 16 yards to put the Volunteers 36 yards from a touchdown. Noah Methvin capped a three-play drive with a 13-yard touchdown run.
Taylor Arnold’s 19-yard return on the final play of the first quarter put the Volunteers on the plus side of the 50-yard line. They didn’t attempt a pass on a physical eight-play scoring drive that made it 14-0.
“Me and Taylor have been putting work in all week back there returning kicks,” Archer said. “I just saw a couple of holes and I tried to fill them. We just knew we’d cover each other.”
Starkville Academy benefited from Park Place’s miscues when it wasn’t using punt returns to set up easy scoring drives. Park Place fumbled nine times, and although it only lost one, the others kept the Crusaders from finding their rhythm. Park Place finished with three first downs and 35 yards of offense.
The Volunteers” offense didn’t need much help.
Starkville Academy ran for 330 yards and averaged more than 7 yards per carry. Quarterback Ben Owens was 5-for-9 for 92 yards. Arnold and Methvin ended the game with two touchdowns, while six Volunteers ran for at least 20 yards, despite some doing so on as few as two carries: Owens (35 yards), Arnold (90), Methvin (27), Nason Heflin (57), William Wolfe (28), and Garrett Lewis (65).
The Volunteers did it all through a cold, at times powerful rain. The threat of inclement weather forced several schools in the area to move their games to Thursday night. Speaking about it after the game, as the rain poured down his hair, face, and shirt, Nicholson appeared like he never considered moving the game up a day to avoid the elements. It was as if he treated the game as an opportunity to enforce a program mantra and send a message to upcoming playoff opponents.
“Everybody else moved their games so they could stay dry; we got wet. We welcome adversity,” Nicholson said. “This is part of the game, and we welcome it. We don’t hide from the rain. We don’t hide from the cold. When we think some people are going inside and taking it easy, we’re grinding. That’s our mentality.
“We don’t move times when it’s hot. We don’t move times when we think it’s going to rain.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brett Hudson on Twitter @Brett_Hudson
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