STARKVILLE — The cooler weather feels fine to Chase Nicholson.
The Starkville Academy football coach and the Volunteers should be right at home in the fall temperatures because senior Kyle Faver has had Nov. 18 on the group’s mind ever since the beginning of the season.
At 7 tonight, second-seeded Starkville Academy will kick off its Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) Class AAA march when it plays host to 15th-seeded Park Place Christian Academy at J.E. Logan Field.
Starkville Academy (9-1), the District 2 champion, is coming off a 21-13 victory against Leake Academy. Nicholson acknowledges the Volunteers, who didn’t score in the second half, didn’t play as well as he would have liked, but he said the players regrouped at the start of the week and had solid practices that he feels will put them back on track.
“I think they’re ready for it,” Nicholson said. “Every day they buy in and go to work. They know when mistakes are made and they know what mistakes are made.”
Starkville Academy relied on a defense that had four interceptions on a night in which it offense struggled to move the football. Nicholson reminded his players they will need to be focused and won’t be able to look past any team, especially Park Place Christian Academy if they want to go to Jackson Academy on Nov. 18 to play for a state title.
Nicholson feels the maturity level of this year’s team will use the victory against Leake Academy the right way. You could see some of that last week after the game because the Volunteers didn’t have a raucous celebration to make their return to the top of the district. In fact, reaction was muted, almost as if Starkville Academy realized it won on a night it played far from its best.
“I think they are smart kids and know the second half was not us from the first half,” Nicholson said. “We barely got by a great Leake team that we should have scored more points against. I think they came in this week with the attitude knowing there is no tomorrow. I think that is important for all of them because no one is ready to see this end.
“I think a new season has started, so it is almost like a fresh start and we hit the re-set button.”
Nicholson said he is proud to talk about a district championship and a one-loss regular season. But he has stressed all season the Volunteers are about more than that, which is why Faver, one of the team leaders, has made a point to pipe up in team meeting and say, “Nov. 18” to remind his teammates of what it takes to play for a state title.
Nicholson wants to see that level of focus and execution tonight in what he hopes can be a long road into mid-November.
“I reminded them Sunday that we wrote down all of the reasons we were playing for a district championship,” Nicholson said. “You heard them from every direction, and everybody had a different reason they thought we reached that point. They said, ‘teamwork, hard work, selflessness, outwork your opponents, Monday through Thursday, practice, focus.’ We didn’t get to this point because it was easy. There was not a game we played that we said it was easy. It will be the same this week, so we have to continue to prepare the same way we have been preparing for the first 10 weeks and continue to do and build on what we do well mentally and physically.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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