STARKVILLE – Starkville Academy and Heritage Academy will meet again on Monday with a trip to the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools Class 5A state championship game on the line.
The Vols and Patriots will meet at the Starkville Sportsplex at 5:30 p.m. Monday.
The Volunteers, 10-4, won 4-1 at the Starkville Sportsplex against St. Aloysius Academy on Thursday. They came out of the gates into a fast, high-tempo game with the ball flying up and down the pitch. There were chances for both teams, and while it was far from a clean and controlled performance the Vols still found a way to score.
“I told them we didn’t really play well, we were sloppy in the air, but we did what we were supposed to do and put the ball in the back of the net,” head coach William Wells said. “I’ll take that anytime we can do that.”
Hayden Parrish, assisted by Nathan Miller, opened the scoring for the Vols, and two more goals from B.Z. Fratesi and Conner Bastow put the Vols up 3-0 going into halftime. The visitors pulled one back, but Parrish put the result beyond any doubt with an expert free kick shot into the bottom right corner, sealing the 4-1 victory.
“That was a relief to see go in,” Wells said of the fourth goal, fighting off some nerves about a potential comeback. “They’re a good team, probably the best we’ve seen that had two strikers up top who could move the ball, they were very fast. Somehow we shut them down, the defense did great.”
The Patriots, 11-4, had a high-scoring affair of their own on the road at Pillow Academy, a team that normally has the edge at home. The Patriots beat the Mustangs 5-1 in November, and Jacob Hunt’s team proved the better side again in a 4-2 win.
“It’s like we talked about in previous games, we can beat anybody if we play that hard,” Hunt said. “That’s pretty much it.”
Patriots forward Max Ledbetter scored all four goals, assisted by Alex Luccasen on one and Arthur Dawson with a hat trick of assists for the other three.
Ledbetter has been the guy for Heritage all season and now has 18 goals in the campaign. Hunt said it was another remarkable performance from his team as well as “game changer” Ledbetter’s prolific outing, one in which everyone contributed.
“It can look like he’s the one pulling all the strings,” Hunt said, “but if it wasn’t for our keeper making great saves, creating combination play and moving the ball forward with Max running through, we wouldn’t be in these games. Everybody does their part, Max is just the one who no one can catch. He’s able to find space and finish, but it wouldn’t happen without the other 10 guys on the field.”
Neither Wells nor Hunt were surprised to see their teams would be meeting for a third time this season on Monday. They split the regular season meetings, SA taking a 1-0 win at home and Heritage taking a 2-1 comeback win in the return fixture.
“Of course, it had to be them,” Hunt said. “We’re confident but we know they can beat us, so we’re not going in with a big head. It’s going to be physical, it’ll be loud, and the better team that day is going to win. We’re not overlooking them.”
“It ought to be exciting, it’s two good teams going to battle,” Wells said. “Heritage is a good team and I look forward to it if that’s the case. We can come out and get after it, hopefully, put the ball in the back of the net like we did tonight.”
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