Sa vs. Hartfield: Week 6

Hawks Soar Past Vols

FLOWOOD - Three consecutive plays early in the second quarter told pretty much all one needed to know about Friday’s Starkville Academy-Hartfield Academy game here at pristine Community Bank Field.

Starting a drive at their own 20-yard line, the Vols were stopped for a six-yard loss on first and second down then on third down quarterback Luke McKenzie was sacked in the end zone for a safety. Three plays, minus -20 yards and two more points for the Hawks.

Reigning MAIS Class 6A state champion Hartfield was simply too big, too fast, too physical, too good, too everything for 5A Starkville Academy, which lost 58-7. The talent-laden Hawks led 21-0 at the end of the first quarter, 44-7 at halftime and 51-7 through three quarters en route to their 20th straight win dating back to last season.

Hartfield improved to 6-0. SA suffered its second straight loss to drop to 2-4 entering next week’s District 1-5A game at Pillow Academy. The Mustangs, also 2-4 and losers of four straight, are coming off a 41-16 road loss at Bayou Friday.

“We’re 0-0 next week playing at Pillow . . . we’ll go back to work like we always do and get ready for that game,” SA coach Chase Nicholson said. “As for this game, a very talented football team just beat a really good football team. We got to grow up tonight. That’s what matters. We’re not looking at who we play, we’re not looking at how they play, we’re not looking at the scoreboard. We’re looking at what we did to get here, how we prepared all week. We got ready to play a championship team. We were playing the No. 1 team in the state and we practiced like that all week long.

“What we take from that is if we prepare like that and be ready for No. 1, let’s practice like that next week and the week after that,” Nicholson continued. “That’s what we take away from this. The effort the guys showed for four quarters despite the odds . . . they continued to play, they never let their heads get down. That’s the stuff we take away from a game like this. This game, and the score of this game doesn’t really matter. This game matters because our guys went to work Monday-Friday and it paid off because they played their butts off. They fought for four quarters, that’s all you can ask for.”

Hartfield has outscored its first six opponents 339-21 this season. Five of those six have been Class 5A schools. The other game was against 6A PCS, who the Hawks walloped 71-0, delivering the Bobcats a not-so-pleasant parting gift. PCS, of course, is leaving the MAIS to join the MHSAA following this school year. The two main reasons? Travel (expenses) and the fact that they can’t regularly compete in football with the Jackson area schools in 6A. More specifically, Hartfield, Jackson Academy, Jackson Prep and Madison-Ridgeland Academy.

PCS’ exodus leaves Class 6A with five football playing schools – Hartfield, JA, Prep, MRA and Madison St. Joe. As of now. Realignment is in the works for next year, and it’s anybody’s guess at this point what that’s going to look like exactly when unveiled by the MAIS in the coming months. Five teams aren’t necessarily enough to form one classification and/or crown a true state champion. Most are in agreement that the number of 6A teams needs to grow to a larger number. But, how does one arrive at a desirable number and who all is included in that number?

Those are the biggest questions facing the decision makers, who are tasked with making the playing field somewhat level – particularly in football – while satisfying everyone involved. None of the 5A schools want to move up to 6A. And who can blame them? There’s been 20 football games this season pitting the four aforementioned 6A Jackson area

schools vs various 5A schools across the state. The combined score of those games has been an eye-popping 758-126. That’s an average margin pushing five touchdowns per game.

Only three of those games have been somewhat competitive. JA beat Leake 31-23 earlier in the season, and this past week beat Lamar 24-13. Prep beat Copiah 30-14 in a game that was a one score game at one stage in the fourth quarter. Parklane stayed within three touchdowns of MRA, but MRA led 35-0 one play into the second quarter. Most of those games, like the one here between SA and Hartfield featured a running clock in the second half.

The gap between JA, Prep and MRA – and now Hartfield – and the 5A schools has always been a considerable one in most years. That talent gap is seemingly wider now than it has ever been. Need proof? MRA just beat defending MHSAA Class 7A Oak Grove 51-13. It marked the most points allowed by the Warriors since 2009. And by the way, Oak Grove has nearly 1,800 students 9th-12th grade

while MRA has around 400.

All four of those 6A teams have Division I talent aplenty, many of which are transfers from other schools. That’s not the case at most 5A schools. Hartfield, for example, has a pair of defensive tackles heading to Alabama and Arkansas, respectfully. The Hawks also have the No. 1 ranked safety in the country in the Class of 2026. And they have a receiver who has offers from at least three SEC schools.

All four of those players played a significant role in Friday’s game. London Simmons (Alabama) sacked McKenzie leading to the safety and was dominant on the defensive front alongside Arkansas signee Reggie Vaughn. Bralan Womack had a 47-yard touchdown reception.

And Kenzy West contributed touchdown catches of 1 and 77 yards and also added a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown following SA’s lone touchdown on the evening – a 83-yard scoring strike from McKenzie to Blake Little.

Not to mention powerful running back K.D. Catchings, who had 163 yards on eight carries, including touchdown runs of 41 and 73 yards. The Hawks out-gained the Vols 471-181. Two pass plays from McKenzie to Little accounted for 124 of those yards. SA’s other 39 plays netted 57 yards. Meanwhile, the Hawks averaged 14 yards per play.

Best case scenario on most nights for the 5A schools who have to play one of those four 6A teams is compete the best you can and escape with no injuries. The Vols weren’t so fortunate. Not only did they get beat soundly, they also left bruised and battered. Two players left in slings.

The flip side is the 6A schools need games to fill out their respective schedules. If not other 5A MAIS schools, who else is left to play out there? That means trying to find a MHSAA team or a team from a neighboring state willing to play. That’s easier said than done a lot of times.

So what’s the solution? That’s the million dollar question these days in MAIS circles. There have been several different ideas floated and discussed. Yet no final decision has been made at this point. That will come later. Most 5A schools are already playing at least one 6A school. Some, like Pillow and SA for example, drew two when the MAIS doled out schedules. Pillow has already played JA (24-0) and Prep (63-0). SA is scheduled to play JA in a couple of weeks.

To his credit, Nicholson doesn’t back down from anybody. He certainly didn’t enter Friday’s game with a defeatist attitude. In fact, prior to leaving Starkville he told his players not to get on the bus if they didn’t think they could win.

“We’ll line up and play whoever they tell us to play,” Nicholson said.

Reality set in quickly, though, as Hartfield scored touchdowns on its opening three possessions to jump out to a 21-0 lead. SA has now been outscored 50-0 in the first quarter and 129-48 in the first half through six games. Interestingly enough, the Vols have outscored their opponents 67-66 in the second half.