STARKVILLE — The Starkville Academy football team closed its regular-season home schedule in cool fall fashion with a championship Friday night.
Ryan Mann rushed for 119 yards and a touchdown to help Starkville Academy pile up 280 rushing yards in an 18-7 victory against East Rankin Academy that helped it secure the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA District 2, Division II championship.
Things got even cooler after that as the Volunteers prevented coach Jeff Terrill from escaping and then dumped a cooler full of ice on him.
“You’ve got to overcome adversity to win, and we talk about that to them a lot,” said Terrill, who brought his team back from a winless season two years ago. “We thought there’d be more of an offensive explosion tonight, but both defenses played great. But our defense just played lights out, no doubt about it.”
At the start of the game, the moment seemed as unlikely as Starkville Academy’s one-loss season. East Rankin Academy junior receiver Colby Crotwell returned the opening kickoff 82 yards to silence the home crowd only 12 ticks off the clock.
Terrill didn’t let the early score throw the Volunteers off their game. It didn’t take long for the defense to keep Patriots quarterback Jacob Weldon in check and scoreless.
Starkville Academy (9-1, 4-1 district) finally got going on a 20-yard run on second-and-long by junior Colby Runnels that put Starkville Academy in business deep in Patriots territory, but the Volunteers settled for a field goal from the 3-yard line with 11 minutes, 56 seconds left in the first half.
The teams traded field position until Runnels came up just inches short on fourth-and-goal on a controversial goal line play that gave East Rankin Academy (5-5, 2-3) the ball inside their 1. On the next play, a blitz by senior linebacker Mann and junior Taylor Hunt caught Weldon in the end zone to give Starkville Academy a safety with 1:53 remaining in the first half.
The safety cut East Rankin Academy’s lead to 7-5 at halftime and erased all of the momentum gained on the first play of the game.
Starkville Academy got the ball to start the second half, but went three and out. East Rankin managed two first downs on its series, but stalled just across the 50. Starkville Academy almost blocked the ensuing punt, causing a shanked kick that went out of bounds at the 36.
The next play set the tone for the rest of the game.
The pass hadn’t been there all game for Starkville Academy, so Terrill called for a quarterback option. Junior quarterback Drew Pellum saw the defensive end take his tailback and turned back inside, where the offensive line had opened a huge hole in front of him. As he sped down the field, senior safety Macauley Gibson dove and missed at the 5, allowing Pellum to coast in for the 64-yard touchdown score that put Starkville Academy up 12-7 with 6:31 left in the third quarter.
Its defense took over and kept the Patriots on their heels as the third quarter closed. The Volunteers kept the pressure on throughout the fourth quarter, forcing a high snap on fourth down that the Patriots had to cover up on their 3 or give up another safety.
A safety might have been the better choice. On the next play, Mann scored on a 3-yard scamper to put the Volunteers up 18-7 with 4:38 left to play. Seconds later, Starkville Academy forced another error and took over after a fumble and ran out the remaining 4:30. Mann helped seal the deal and finished the game with 1,063 yards on the season.
“I knew we had the talent to do it if we put in the effort,” Mann said. “We put in the effort in the offseason and it’s paying off for us. It’s conditioning and heart.”
Terrill credited his defense and seniors for coming back after the shock of the initial play. He singled out Mann, a senior who played on the winless 2009 team, and a leader on both sides of the ball as an anchor.
“What we do, it starts with the fullback, and he is a big reason we’re 9-1,” he said. “You start there and it opens the door for (Pellum) to make a long run like that.”
“To come from where we came from, I couldn’t be more proud of the kids. They bought in, they continue to work, they believe in themselves, and it’s just amazing.”
Starkville Academy will travel to Hattiesburg on Friday for its regular-season finale against Presbyterian Christian Academy before returning home to play host to the first round of the playoffs.
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