WEST POINT — It’s difficult to tell if someone is in better condition.
Short of having them run gassers or do bear crawls, coaches have to trust their players are giving their best effort in practice so they are in the best physical shape to play in games.
Six games into the season, it’s a safe bet Dylan Barker and the rest of the Heritage Academy football team are in better shape than when they opened the season against Caledonia in August.
It’s also easy to tell Barker and the Patriots are a much more confident team.
Barker epitomized that effort Friday night, going 7 of 15 for 176 yards and a touchdown to lead Heritage Academy to a 31-0 victory against Oak Hill Academy.
Barker completed a 32-yard touchdown pass to junior running back Michael Ledbetter, who also rushed for a score. Senior running back Cayden Upton also had touchdown runs of 19 and 6 yards to help the Patriots improve to 4-2.
“I think we have a lot more endurance. I think we can make it the whole time,” Barker said. “I think everybody is a lot stronger and a lot more focused. I think we have improved as a football team.”
Barker laughed when asked if he felt like he had matured 20 years in the course of six games. His play mirrored that of the Patriots, who played “the most complete game” of the season, according to coach Barrett Donahoe. The balance was there on offense, as Ledbetter paced the ground game with 64 yards. Upton added 45. The “big” plays came through the air, as sophomore quarterback Tyler Anderson connected with William Hardy on a 57-yard pass off a fake punt. Barker also showcased his accuracy and his mobility by finding Ledbetter with a dart to the right sideline. They also teamed on a 47-yard pass. Upton also was on the receiving end of a 37-yard pass from Barker.
“I think we all have improved a good bit,” Barker said. “Everybody did a great job. We still have some room for improvement, but over the last couple of weeks we have improved a lot as a football team.”
Barker said he has to improve on his reads. He believes he is doing a better job stepping up in the pocket instead of trying to run around the pressure. He did that when he rolled to his left (he is a right-hander) and found Upton. He also showed a high comfort level in the read option, picking his spots to hold or to flip to one of his running backs.
Upton said Barker’s comfort level has helped bring the offense together.
“We are really young this year and the experience has helped our young guys a lot,” Upton said. “They have matured a lot the past couple of weeks and gotten better. They have gotten in better shape and are learning how to play hard football for 48 minutes.”
Upton is part of a potent one-two-three punch out of the backfield that includes Ledbetter, the speed option who can get to the edge, and Mattox Heredia, a versatile player who can use his speed and his power. Upton said the key has been the play of the offensive line, which he said has played well. He also credited Barker for his play behind that line.
“He was real timid in the first couple of games,” Upton said. “He wanted to run around the pressure and not step up and make plays and do things he couldn’t do. Now he has settled into the pocket and has learned to step up into the pocket and to extend plays and make big plays when we need them.
“We have always known he has had a good arm, but he just hadn’t been playing with it because he is young and hadn’t played a lot. Now he is playing more and he is letting his arm do the work for him. He is throwing the ball really good and making good read and good choices with the ball.”
Donahoe said this year’s team has bought into working hard and doing things the right way more than any other team he has had at the school. He started the season thinking Barker and Anderson were going to be on the field a lot at the same time. While that still might happen, Barker’s maturation has made it tougher for Donahoe to take him out or to shift him to a different position because he looks so much more comfortable doing so many things compared to earlier in the season, particularly throwing the football. Donahoe said the ball out of Barker’s hand seems to have more command and he is doing a better job placing the ball in a place the receiver — not the defender — can catch it.
“He is becoming more comfortable because he is getting more reps and the reps are starting to pile up on him,” Donahoe said. “I think this is the first game we played this year that he took all of the snaps at the quarterback position. The more reps he is going to take, the more comfortable he is going to be and the better off we’re going to be.”
Oak Hill Academy coach Tony Stanford, who is in his first season at the school, said his team was outmanned against an opponent that has more options. The Raiders, who gained only 108 yards, played with running back Drew Riley, who missed the game with a leg injury. Senior running back Drake Riley paced the offense with 63 rushing yards.
“I thought the kids played hard,” said Stanford, whose team slipped to 3-3. “The score did not surprise me. Watching them on film, they’re a good ballclub. In our league, we have a good ballclub.”
Heritage Academy will play next week at Washington School, while Oak Hill Academy will play host to Manchester Academy in a key Mississippi Association of Independent School Class AA, District 2 game. The Raiders are 1-1 in the district.
Softball
n Heritage Academy loses twice: At Brandon, the Lady Patriots had their season end Saturday with two losses at the MAIS Class AAA State tournament.
Heritage Academy (16-18) lost to Columbia Academy 10-0 and to Jackson Prep 9-1.
Kaitlyn Oswalt, Blair Madison, Hayley Martin, and McKenzie Bumgarner had hits in the first game for Heritage Academy. Oswalt took the loss, but she was victimized by four errors that led to six unearned runs.
Statistics from the second game weren’t available.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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