Barrett Donahoe likes where his team stands nearly halfway through a marathon of a regular season.
The Heritage Academy football coach would like to have another victory or two, but he feels the Patriots (2-2) have positioned themselves to accomplish all of their goals.
The next important step will come at 7 p.m. Friday when Heritage Academy will play host to Hillcrest Christian in a pivotal Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA, Division II game. Coming off a 35-13 loss to Division I power Jackson Academy, Donahoe would like his team to secure its first win in the division ahead of games at Oak Hill Academy and Washington School the next two weeks.
“Pillow, Magnolia Heights, and Starkville are all playing very good undefeated football,” Donahoe said. “But, and I am telling my guys this, we have to worry about ourselves. We can’t worry about Hilllcrest. We can’t worry about the players at Pillow, or Starkville or at Magnolia Heights. We have to worry about what are we doing to become a better football team. I feel like our schedule is in our favor this year with way it falls in getting two Division II games at home before we have to go to Starkville and Magnolia Heights.
“Getting ourself to an opportunity to get to Week 10 against Starkville with a chance to continue to play for the playoffs is our main focus. The only way we’re going to do that is to take care of business this week.”
Following the game against Washington School, Heritage Academy will play host to Division II rival Pillow Academy, which last week defeated Division I Madison-Ridgeland Academy. With Division II Magnolia Heights owning a victory against Jackson Academy and Division II Starkville Academy having defeated Washington School, Donahoe knows the road ahead is fraught with obstacles and challenges. Still, he said he likes his team’s chances if it can stay healthy and continue to work players in to give starters rest, even if for a short amount of time.
Donahoe praised the efforts of Michael Ledbetter, who had a 65-yard fumble return for a touchdown, for helping the Patriots to regain the momentum. Unfortunately, he said Heritage Academy couldn’t capitalize on its chances — particularly when it trailed 28-13 — and it couldn’t get enough stops on third down to get Jackson Academy off the field. He hopes the Patriots can correct those issues this week and moving forward if they want to be have something to play for later in the season when they face Starkville Academy in Week 10 and Magnolia Heights in Week 11.
“We had a lot of negative plays, and that is something we haven’t faced this year,” Donahoe said. “We haven’t had many negative plays at all offensively. The other night we did. The defensive line for Jackson Academy controlled us up front. That was a little disheartening from our standpoint. We knew they were good. We knew they were fast. We really wanted to see a little better effort out of our guys up front. We didn’t get what we were looking for.
“That is the second time in th last three years we have gone down there and played and when we left we really felt like we had a chance to win the game and we let it get away from us.”
To realize its postseason goal, Donahoe said Heritage Academy needs to get better up front and to stay healthy. He said depth will be crucial with only 28 players on the roster.
“If we can continue to improve and get the work ethic and the intensity level we have gotten the last two weeks, we will be OK,” Donahoe said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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