STARKVILLE – Behind its aerial superiority directed by quarterback Brannan Overstreet, Magnolia Heights rolled into Starkville Friday night and threw the ball all over the yard for a 42-14 win over Starkville Academy that left the Volunteers’ secondary scratching their heads.
The Chiefs got 345 yards and four touchdown throws from Overstreet, including three in the first half, and he added a 1-yard plunge in the fourth quarter to give his team its second win over SA in two years.
The Chiefs (7-1) capitalized on their first possession with a 7-yard touchdown throw from Overstreet to Cayden Prestage after a 10-play 53-yard drive. The Vols (5-2) immediately responded by going 71 yards in six plays and tied the game on a 25-yard scoring toss from quarterback Jack Northcutt to Jackson Knight, but that was the only time SA could find the endzone until a late fourth-quarter pass of 34 yards from Sam Wall to Blake Little with 3:30 left to play. At times SA was able to put together a series of drives to move the chains, but struggled to sustain the momentum as the team picked up only eight first downs on the night.
“Overall, not looking at the scoreboard, there’s a lot of good things that happened,” head coach Chase Nicholson said. “Offensively we had some big plays. I don’t remember what happened in the first drive, but the second time we get it we go down and make a few big plays and score, and we made the score 7-7. So, there’s a lot of good things that happened on the offensive side of the football that we’ve not seen. … Defense gave us chances, then it just kind of got away from us once they stacked a turnover and immediately scored.”
The Chiefs forced three turnovers, including one fumble, one interception and one fourth-down stop and turned all three into points. Quarterback Sam Wall was intercepted early in the second quarter, and the Chiefs used the good field position to take a 14-7 lead on a 30-yard pass. They added another score, a pass from 15-yards out, to take a 21-7 lead to halftime. Overstreet connected with receiver Jack Price for a 65-yard strike to climb ahead 28-7, and found the endzone again on a scoop-and-score when Northcutt lost control of the ball when he was tackled during a run up the left sideline.
The Vols picked up two first downs on their next drive but stalled out on their next three tries. The team attempted to convert a 4th-and-3, but Northcutt was caught and tackled just shy of the first down for the turnover. Overstreet drove the Chiefs down the field and punched in a 1-yard run for Magnolia Heights’ final score of the night. SA finished with 247 yards of total offense; 102 rushing and 145 passing.
Nicholson said it was a tough loss, but his team showed heart against a really good opponent and made some improvements to their game that will be needed when District 2-4A play resumes next Friday when the Vols host Lamar School.
“We know we didn’t do that good, but we’re getting better every single week, and that’s the whole goal now,” he said. “Nobody likes to lose. I don’t want to lose, I hate losing, we all know that, but next week is back in district (play). This is a non-district game. Yes, it is important for power points or whatever you want to say, but our goal next week is now in front of us. We just have to keep getting better because once we get to November, that’s what it’s about. Get ourselves to November, put ourselves in the best situation possible to win some games.”
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