Sa vs. JA: Week 8

Raiders Invade Homecoming

Abby Winston was crowned Starkville Academy’s homecoming queen here Friday night at J.E. Logan Field.

Jackson Academy’s Omarean Ellis proved to be the king.

Ellis, a senior running back, rushed for a game-high 220 yards on 30 carries and a couple of touchdowns as the Raiders defeated the Vols 38-13.

“He’s a really talented running back, we knew that coming in,” SA coach Chase Nicholson said. “You can stop him a few times, but you’re not going to keep him hemmed in for too long. He’s going to pop one on you here and there. He’s got great vision, and he gets downhill fast.”

JA improved to 7-1 heading into next week’s game against Madison-Ridgeland Academy. The Raiders now own a win over SA in each of the past six seasons. The closest game during that stretch came two years ago when the Raiders edged the Vols 17-14 in overtime.

SA dropped to 3-5, suffering its second loss to a MAIS Class 6A opponent this season. The Vols return to 5A district play next week when they make the short drive to Columbus to take on rival Heritage Academy.

SA snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Patriots a year ago with a 42-0 victory. Heritage is a much-improved team this season after suffering through their first winless season in program history a year ago. The Patriots, despite losses the last two weeks to Lamar and Magnolia Heights, are 5-3 – with all five of those wins coming during an extended winning streak. They are led by senior quarterback Thompson Regimbal, running back Adyn Westmoreland and wideout Xzavier Webber. The defense is anchored by noseguard Radarron Leech.

SA couldn’t have asked for a better start than it got against JA as Graham Hancock returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. He may or may not have been aided by a huge cloud of smoke that still lingered over the field from pre-game festivities. Either way, Hancock produced the first points scored by the Vols in the first quarter all season, staking his team to an early 7-0 lead.

The speedy sophomore caught the ball at his own 10-yard line, found an open seam up the middle and then veered to his right near the home sideline and raced all the way to the house.

“Graham did a great job tonight across the board . . . offense, defense, special teams,” Nicholson said. “He’s a talented player. He’s a guy capable of making big plays when he gets the ball in his hands.”

SA managed only a pair of field goals from Nathan Miller (23, 34 yards) the rest of the night, however, and that wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with Ellis and Co. The Vols trailed 24-10 at halftime and were still within striking distance midway through the third quarter, trailing by 11 points, 24-13. JA responded, though, with back-to-back long scoring drives to surge ahead 38-13 early in the fourth quarter and never looked back.

The Raiders, in complete control, kept the ball the final 8:58 of the game before taking a knee on the final two plays around the Vols’ 10-yard line as time ticked off the clock.

“We put some good drives together against a very talented defense,” Nicholson said. “We just didn’t finish those drives (with touchdowns) the way we needed to. We shot ourselves in the foot too many times with a fumbled snap here and there and some penalties on a few of the drives. We did some good things, we’ve just got to be more consistent along the way.”

Ellis, a senior who now has 846 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns this season despite missing a couple of games due to injury, was a model of consistency Friday. He had 118 yards in the first half, and 101 more in the second half. He wasn’t a one-man show. Far from it. Quarterback Pruett James completed 16 of 19 passes for 249 yards and two touchdown passes, and backfield mate Ashton Blackmon had 93 yards on 21 carries, including a 16-yard touchdown run.

JA finished with 570 yards of total offense on 73 plays. The Raiders ran the ball 54 times for 321 yards. Meanwhile, SA totaled 183 yards on just 32 plays.

James, a sophomore, has given the JA offense a spark ever since being inserted into the starting lineup during the first half of the Jackson Prep game a couple of weeks ago. He replaced Carter Mathison, who threw for a school record 1,911 yards a year ago as a sophomore. James made big plays with his legs and arm against SA.

“I was very impressed with him,” Nicholson said. “He was a difference maker. He made some big plays.”

SA had its moments on offense. Quarterback Luke McKenzie had runs of 20 and 39 yards. Luke Johnson had a 38-yard run. And Hancock had a 34-yard run. It just wasn’t nearly enough to beat a superior JA team, however.

“JA has a great program,” Nicholson said. “Our guys battled and they played hard, that’s all you can ask for. I hate losing, but we’re getting better every week and we can build on that.”