STARKVILLE — The Starkville Academy football team reached its breaking point Friday night.
After losing back-to-back games to archrival Heritage Academy, a senior-dominated Starkville Academy was determined not to allow the streak to reach three.
The Volunteers scored on the first possession and cruised from there to a 31-0 victory in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, District 1, Division II game at J.E. Logan Field.
“For the seniors, this was our last time to play Heritage, so we knew we really wanted to get this done,” Starkville Academy senior wide receiver/cornerback Hunter Peeples said. “After the last two years, we really needed to make sure we won because that has been rough. To see it all come together and to get a shutout, well, it’s exciting.”
Starkville Academy improved to 8-1 and 4-1 in district play. The Volunteers hold a half-game lead and the tiebreaker on Magnolia Heights. However, Starkville Academy faces Jackson Academy (5-4) and Pillow Academy (7-2) in its last two regular-season games.
Heritage Academy (5-5, 1-4) will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
“We knew the importance of this game was for the playoffs,” Starkville Academy senior running back/linebacker Drew Harrell said. “We knew how hard Heritage was going to play because they needed to have the win, too, so we just came out and tried to put it all together. When we have offense and defense and everybody plays hard and everybody plays together, we can be really tough to stop.”
A year ago, Heritage Academy had the upper hand in the district standings but had to fight hard to hold off a spirited Starkville Academy upset bid to post a 14-10 win in Columbus. That game was fresh on the mind of both teams.
“It’s a rivalry game, so we knew we had to really start fast,” Starkville Academy coach Jeff Terrill said. “This is a special game, and there is a lot of emotion for both teams. I am really proud of how hard we came out and played. There were some areas where we could have executed better, but we played with emotion and really played a solid football game.”
Entering the game, Starkville Academy felt it could run the football, and it did just that, rushing 42 times for 311 yards. On the opening possession, the Volunteers ran the ball on all five plays and gained 69 yards. Harrell capped the drive with a 16-yard touchdown run.
“Once we stuck that first one in, we thought we had the game under control,” Harrell said. “It’s a rivalry game, so anything can happen. We came out and took care of business right early, and it just gave everybody on the team a huge lift of confidence.”
Starkville Academy only scored once more in the first half. However, the hard-running of junior Drake Gordman kept the chains and clock under control. Gordman ran for a game-high 167 yards, including 115 in the first half. While he didn’t find the end zone, his running and the blocking of the offensive line set the tone.
“We really felt like we could run the ball and control the game,” Starkville Academy junior quarterback Houston Clark said. “That was probably the best our offensive line has played all year. Playing Heritage is a big deal. I didn’t play in last year’s game, so I really wanted to go out there and help the offense find a way to get a win.”
A 21-yard run by Clark lifted the Volunteers to a 14-0 halftime lead. By then, the Starkville Academy defense had already set a dominating tone.
“You can’t let them get down in the red zone on you because when you get the ball on offense, you are not going to go consistently 80 yards on a good defense,” Heritage Academy coach Barrett Donahoe said. “We have to do a better job of getting off the field earlier in possessions. Overall, we didn’t allow the big play. That is how we stayed in it.”
Heritage Academy’s best threat ended with a missed 34-yard field goal attempt to start the second half.
Starkville Academy answered with sophomore Sam Cox drilling a 44-yard kick about five minutes later. The drive essentially wiped out the rest of the clock in the third quarter.
An interception by Peeples snuffed the Patriots’ other threat.
“We played hard, fast and together on defense,” Peeples said. “To be able to get the shutout just shows how we played together as a team.”
Clark hit Logan Locke on a 14-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. Colt Crestman closed the scoring when broke two tackles and raced 40 yards for a score in the final minutes.
With new feel-good thoughts in the rivalry, Starkville Academy will turn its thoughts to returning to the postseason for the first time since 2011. The Volunteers most likely can clinch a berth with one more win. Two more wins would put it at home in the first round Nov. 14.
“We had a tough loss (against Madison-Ridgeland Academy), but we didn’t let that affect us,” Peeples said. “We knew there were places that we wanted to go later on in the season. To be able to get there, we had to put that loss behind us and get back to winning. We are doing a good job with that.”
Follow Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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