STARKVILLE — Lightning did not strike twice for Starkville Academy against Leake Academy on Friday night.
After a 38-7 Volunteers victory in September, the dominoes looked to be falling in the right place with home-field advantage baked on top of it.
That was until the second quarter hit and the mistakes began flowing in for the Vols.
From a botched snap on a punt accidentally making the punter take a knee inside their own 25-yard line to a roughing the kicker penalty on a Leake Academy punt, nothing seemed to be going right for Starkville Academy.
The Rebels (5-6) had a point to prove after September’s loss, and that they did, scoring two touchdowns in each of the last three quarters of the game for a 41-7 blowout win, bouncing the Vols (7-5) from the first round of the playoffs.
“(Leake Academy) knows what it takes to get it done,” Starkville Academy head coach Chase Nicholson said. “We just couldn’t stop them and didn’t stop them. That’s on me. I didn’t do a good job of preparing them this week.”
Despite a scoreless first quarter, Starkville Academy seemed like it was already behind the 8-ball early on, unable to generate any big offensive plays.
Under center, Vols quarterback Briggs Bennett struggled for large portions of the game through the air, completing just three of 11 passes in the first half and nine of 26 passes overall.
The first-year quarterback had to get things done on the ground where he was able to total nearly 100 rushing yards in the game, but the passing struggles loomed large in the end.
“They came out and played hard,” Bennett said. “I wish we could have played harder. They won it this time, and sometimes, that’s just how it goes.”
Outside of Bennett, there wasn’t much going offensively for the Vols, who had numerous drives stall out due to offensive inefficiency and inability to produce.
Running back Charlie Nicholas was unable to find holes through the neutral zone, getting just 10 carries in the game for 11 yards. He ended up being most effective as a receiver, with three catches for 30 yards in the loss.
However, for as much as Starkville Academy couldn’t produce offensively, the defense could do nothing to stop Rebels quarterback Whitt Welch, who had five total touchdowns on the day, three of which coming on the ground.
“At the end of the day, it was their night,” Nicholson said. “That’s the difference. It wasn’t ours.”
From winning out to end the season and securing a home playoff game to what ended up occurring Friday night, it felt almost inevitable that something would go wrong in the end.
The Vols, a team that’s struggled to get off to hot starts but showed fight in the second half of games this season, weren’t able to replicate that same success against Leake Academy.
A game of uncertainty turned into an unfortunate formality and an early playoff exit, but the gears are already turning for 2023.
The playoffs might have ended on Friday, but the chase for redemption has already begun in Starkville.
“I’m ready for next year,” Bennett said. “I’m going to be better than ever.”
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