STARKVILLE — While no coach is ready to lose a game, Starkville Academy football coach Jeff Terrill was ready to see how his team responded Friday night.
After seeing a season-opening six-game winning streak snapped and the state’s No. 1 ranking lost last week in a 17-10 loss at Madison-Ridgeland Academy, the Volunteers were eager to bounce back.
That’s exactly what Starkville Academy did in a 33-6 victory against French Camp Academy in a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools-Mississippi High School Activities Association matchup at J.E. Logan Field.
“You have to give credit to French Camp because they really played hard,” Terrill said. “It was good to see us be able to go out and do the things we needed to to win the game. We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be, but we will keep working to get better.”
Starkville Academy (7-1) has ridden a strong defense to its success. The Volunteers have only allowed 64 points this season. Defense played a big role again Friday night. Hunter Peeples intercepted a pass and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown to swing the momentum and help Starkville Academy build a 20-6 halftime lead.
“We made plays when we needed to on defense, but we didn’t play as well as we could have,” Peeples said. “We have a full week off to correct mistakes, though.”
Starkville Academy came up with three takeaways, including an interception by Ben Moorehead. Andrew Richardson also had a punt block for the Volunteers.
“Whatever it takes to win is what we are doing this year,” Richardson said. “You can tell this is really a team. We have guys all over the field trying to make the big play. Once we started winning some games early, everybody played with a little more confidence.”
Quarterback Houston Clark scored a 28-yard run after the punt block to make it 26-6. Clark also hit Richardson for a 16-yard touchdown, and Drew Harrell scored on a 1-yard run.
“We weren’t as sound as we wanted to be offensively, and we know we left some chances on the field,” Clark said. “It’s still good to come out with a win. We had a chance last week but just couldn’t do enough on offense to win the game, so it was good to be able to come out here and move the ball and score some points.
“Once we scored early, that set the tone and got everybody excited.”
With a 3-1 record in Class AAA, District 1, Division II, Starkville Academy will play host to Heritage Academy and Jackson Academy before traveling to Pillow Academy.
“We are looking forward to this week off and having some good practice,” Clark said. “Heritage is a big rivalry game, so it will be good to have two weeks to prepare. We both really need to win that game for the playoffs, so it will be fun to play them. The main thing is we keep working hard keep getting better.”
A year ago, the Volunteers missed the playoffs. With almost the entire starting lineup returning on defense, Terrill knew senior leadership would be the key.
“At the beginning of the year, we were hoping this could be a special team,” Terrill said. “When you have a lot of seniors, you always have a chance. The kids have really worked hard. You want to have something to play for at the end of the season, and we definitely have that.”
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