Coaches always take pride in seeing their players deliver when it counts the most.
The Heritage Academy football team showed Friday night in an ultimate win-or-go-home moment it didn’t want to see its season end.
Faced with the prospect of having to beat Leake Academy in Madden for a chance to make the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAA playoffs, Heritage Academy responded with one of its most consistent efforts in a 25-13 victory. The win helped Heritage Academy earn the No. 13 seed and secure a game against Silliman Institute at 7 p.m. Friday in the first round.
To get there, senior quarterback Dylan Barker spearheaded a performance coach Barrett Donahoe called the team’s “most solid performance we have had.” Barker had 24 carries for 106 yards and two touchdowns and was 8 of 14 for 89 yards to help the Patriots keep their season alive and get back to .500.
For his efforts, Barker is The Dispatch’s Prep Player of the Week.
“Every time there was a situation where we had to convert he wanted the ball in his hands and he converted,” Donahoe said. “He did a good job of what we are asking him to do. When he got the opportunity to run the football, he ran the hard and was able to get first downs.”
Two plays epitomized the tenacity Barker and the Patriots showcased. Trailing 7-0 and faced with a fourth-and-2 from the 4-yard line, the Patriots went to the sidelines and Donahoe said Barker wanted the football. Donahoe granted Barker’s wish and called a running play for him. Barker was able to elude a defender that came in off the edge and “forced himself to get the first down,” according to Donahoe.
“I just tried to be the best I could be and give it my all on every play,” Barker said. “My goal was to give it my all and leave it all on the field not make it our last game. I wanted to try to be the best leader as possible set the bar high for everybody else. I think everybody did a good job.”
Barker’s first down helped the Patriots get on the scoreboard. He delivered again on another fourth-down play later in the game when he avoided pressure and pulled through the grasp of a defender. Barker was able to scramble and find classmate Caleb Gurley in the middle of the field to secure a first down. The Patriots also scored on that drive.
Donahoe said Barker wouldn’t have been able to make the initial first-down play because he “wasn’t as solid of a runner and wasn’t as mature of a player” last season when he started the first six games at quarterback. This season, Barker was slated to play tight end with junior Tyler Anderson at quarterback. But Anderson went down with an injury in a 35-14 loss to Starkville Academy on Sept. 25. Donahoe said Barker has continued to evolve as a quarterback in all facets of the game.
“He’s a difference-maker,” Donahoe said. “He has become confident in his position. He is a football player who is enjoying playing right now. He is going to be able to look back on his senior year and say he had a really good senior year.”
Barker said he used the do-or-die nature of the game against Leake Academy as motivation. He agreed with Donahoe that he and his classmates weren’t prepared to see their season end and wanted to do anything possible to secure an opportunity to play at least one more game. He said that is part of what he was thinking when he asked Donahoe to give him the football on the fourth-down play.
“I wanted him to give me the chance and let me run it,” Barker said. “I was pretty pumped up at the time and felt I could get it if I had the ball. I wanted him to give me the shot and it worked out for us and we got the first down.”
Barker credited Gurley for making a great play on the fourth-down pass to get open and to catch the football. He said he knew he needed to get the ball out of his hand as quickly as possible after a Leake defender grabbed his left arm as he was looking to throw.
Three days after the victory, Barker said he felt a huge sense of accomplishment knowing he had played a key role in extending the team’s season. He said a new week brings a new challenge, so the Patriots will have to re-focus and bring the same kind of focus and energy on their long trip to Louisiana.
“I wanted to set the bar high with my attitude and my vibe toward the game and play a leader role being that I am the quarterback,” Barker said. “I tried to set that bar high and show everybody I was willing to give my all and they did as well. We all came together and played great.”
Donahoe attributes Barker’s growth as a team leader to confidence. While Donahoe said Gurley’s interception late in the game helped seal the victory, he again praised the efforts of Barker and the rest of his classmates for doing what they had to do to push the season at least to the final week of October.
“The skill set was there last year,” Donahoe said. “Like we said in the past, we had plans for Dylan. We saw the skills set in him and really felt like he had the ability. For Heritage Academy at the time with all of the pieces of the puzzle, that is the reason he started the first six games last year. The maturity level just wasn’t quite there. He couldn’t get over that hump. This year, when he got the opportunity when Tyler got hurt, we were going to go back to the guy who has experience and ask him to do it. It has been fun to watch him. It has been fun to coach him. He has been very coachable, dependable, and mature. He has done a lot of good things for us.
“He always has been a confident individual. I think it is about confidence on the football field. He is doing things the right way and knowing how to conduct himself on and off the field. He understands what we are asking him to do. He isn’t doing more than we are asking him to do. But, at the same time, he is giving us every bit of effort and energy.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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