Sa vs. Chambers: Week 2

Vols Escape With First Win, 35-31

There wasn’t a lot of drama or intrigue in Starkville Academy’s season opening loss at Lamar School a week ago.

Apparently, the Vols were saving it all for Friday night’s home opener against Chambers (AL.) Academy.

In a back-and-forth, seesaw affair that featured seemingly a little bit of everything, the Vols were able to stave off the visiting Rebels 35-31 at J.E. Logan Field to capture their first victory of the young season.

Starkville Academy (1-1) pulled away from a 21-21 halftime score with a pair of big plays on offense – a 50-yard touchdown run by quarterback Luke McKenzie late in the third quarter, followed by a 52-yard scoring run by Luke Johnson early in the fourth quarter – then had to hold on in the frantic final minutes to preserve the win.

“It was a great football game,” said SA head coach Chase Nicholson. “If you didn’t have fun watching that one, playing and coaching in that one something is wrong with you. That’s what you play the game for, games like that. What a great, fun night. What a great football game against a great football team. That game won’t do anything but make us better moving forward.”

Chambers Academy, the reigning Class 2A state champion in the Alabama Independent School Association, came in with a solid reputation. After all, the Rebels were 12-1 a year ago and have won 100 games (15 losses) dating back to the 2015-’16 season. It appeared, at times, Friday night that Chambers may be able to notch No. 101 on this night.

However, SA, desperate for a win after last week’s 20-point loss at Lamar, was having none of it despite the fact Chambers rushed for 379 yards – 213 coming in the topsy-turvy first half. As effective as the Rebels were on the ground, they were just as dismal through the air. In fact, they completed more passes to SA – the Vols had three interceptions, including a game-sealing pick by Blake Little near midfield on a desperation heave on the final play of the game – than they did to their own team. The Rebels were just 1 of 6 passing for 11 yards.

“I thought the week went really good . . . our guys came in Sunday locked in and ready to go,” Nicholson said. “It was a great week. They were so focused on trying to get better on all the little things we worked on, and it showed out here tonight. So many that we went back and worked on, and they were so good at those things. We’re going to continue to work hard and get better.”

The offense certainly showed signs of progress, piling up nearly 300 yards of total offense and five touchdowns despite Chambers’ ability to play keep away and eat up the clock with run-heavy, long drives. Luke Johnson, who ran for over 1,100 yards a year ago as a junior, finished with 122 yards on 19 carries and had scoring runs of 6, 2 and the aforementioned 52-yarder that gave SA the cushion it needed at 35-21.

Luke McKenzie accounted for nearly 150 yards of total offense, including a 33-yard touchdown pass to wideout Joseph Portera with :56 seconds remaining before halftime, to knot the score at 21-21. The scoring pass, set up by a terrific kickoff return from Little, came just two plays after McKenzie threw an interception that was returned 90 yards for a touchdown.

“We had a big comeback from last week,” Johnson said. “We worked hard this week in practice . . . so we just wanted to come out here and prove ourselves as an offense. Our defense was good last week, but the offense struggled a little bit. But tonight we were able to come out and perform.”

As it turned out, SA would need nearly all of those points. Trailing by two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, Chambers drove 80 yards on 11 plays, capped by a 19-yard touchdown run by Luke Tarver who also added the two-point conversion run, to pull to within six points, 35-29, with 1:07 left.

After recovering the onside kick, all SA needed to do was run out the clock. The Vols took a knee on first down and did the same on second down, only to see McKenzie get taken down hard to the ground by a Rebels’ defensive lineman as McKenzie’s knee was touching the ground. There was no penalty on the play, however. McKenzie injured his throwing shoulder on the play and was forced to come out of the game. He was replaced by backup Sam Wall, who was also hit hard as he took a knee on the third down. Still no penalty.

Nicholson had seen enough, so with the clock winding down and his team clinging to a precarious six-point lead, he elected to take a safety. Johnson took the snap and sprinted toward his own end zone as instructed, making it 35-31. At the end of the play, near the back of end zone, Johnson was hit and his helmet came off. This time, a penalty flag was thrown.

SA kicked off with only 10 seconds remaining, leaving Chambers time for only one last play. It proved futile.

“We had to do some smart stuff at the end coaching wise, but it’s a good thing we work on those things . . . we work on taking a safety like that,” Nicholson said. “Our guys were locked into the calls and what was going on.”

Chambers scored on its opening drive to jump to a 7-0 lead. SA answered with a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter to make it 7-7 then forged ahead 14-7 on the second of Johnson’s three touchdowns. The Rebels pulled to within 14-13 one drive later, then took a 21-14 lead on the long interception return only to see the Vols answer in the final minute of the first half.

SA hits the road for the second time in three weeks next Friday as it travels to Madden to take on Leake Academy. The Vols could possibly be without their starting quarterback.

“We just don’t know right now,” Nicholson said. “It’s way too early to tell. Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious . . . he may come in Monday and be good to go. You never know. We’ll see.”