STARKVILLE – Heritage Academy head coach Tobias Smith admitted when he first got to the school he didn’t quite understand just how real its rivalry with Starkville Academy was.
He started to understand back in 2018 when he coached the Patriots in a junior varsity game against the Volunteers.
“You could just tell there was tension in the air,” he recalled. … “Now I fully understand the rivalry. It runs deep.”
He took over the Patriots’ varsity football program in 2023 and suffered two straight defeats to those blasted Vols – but on Friday night it was finally Heritage’s turn to celebrate.
Quarterback Joshua Tate threw four touchdowns to four different players, and the Patriots’ defense bottled up the Vols’ running game as it claimed the 60th all-time meeting between the two rivals 34-14.
Patriots fans and their cheerleaders raced to team huddle after the game and popped open confetti and doused the players in silly string as they jumped around and cheered for their second Region 2-4A victory of the season – one that spoiled the Vols’ Senior Night.
“It’s really special getting a win being the varsity (head coach) for two years, so coming out here and getting this win was needed,” Smith said, flashing a smile. “It was big, it was good for our guys, so we have a chance to enjoy it.”
Struggling to deal with an offense full of weapons, SA (6-3, 2-1) couldn’t get Heritage off the field on its first drive of the contest, a symptom that bled into the rest of the game, as the Patriots mixed in runs and passes in driving 76 yards down the field on nine plays. Tate notched his first touchdown of the game when he connected with Isaiah Clark from 26 yards out to go up 7-0. SA punted on a 3-and-out on its following drive and managed to stifle the Patriots (7-2, 2-1) in the red zone and forced a turnover on downs, but found no breathing room after starting the drive on its own 5-yard-line and were forced to punt. Facing another fourth down, Heritage pulled out some trickery to keep the chains moving when Dawson elected to run the ball instead of punting and picked up four yards for a first down in Volunteer territory. The Patriots used the newfound momentum to punch in a 6-yard run by Brayden Shelton for the 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Then the teams traded blows just before the halftime break.
Starkville Academy went 60-yards in a clock-chewing seven plays for its first touchdown of the night, a 7-yard pass from quarterback Jack Northcutt to Owen Couvillion before Tate delivered his second touchdown pass of the night in just three plays, a 60-yard strike to Xzavier Webber in the middle of the field, who shook off a few Vols and used a boost of momentum from a hit from behind to plunge into the end zone for a 21-7 halftime lead.
“We have guys who can go score,” Smith said. “We have a really good offensive line. When we are playing well and doing what we are supposed to do we are a tough out for anybody. As long as we are doing that we can be a tough team to beat.”
Tate opened the third quarter with another scoring drive, finding Dallas Davis wide open in the end zone from 13 yards out, and added a 15-yard pass to Oliver Woodard for his fourth touchdown six minutes later. Starkville managed to respond early in the fourth on a 10-yard run from Brantley Berkery, who scampered up the left sideline untouched, for the final score of the game.
It’s not the way Starkville Academy head coach Chase Nicholson wanted his seniors to finish their final home game of their careers, but he’s not going to let the defeat define their season. There’s still much to play for next week in their final regular season game at Hartfield Academy.
“I love those guys. I hate for them to go out like this on our own field, but we’re not done yet,” Nicholson said. “We still have the playoffs, we’re looking down the road, we’ve got next week. I love the guys, I love everything that they’ve done for the program, but we’re not done yet.”
Heritage concludes its regular season next Friday at Lamar School.
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