STEENS — Coaches typically don’t answer all of the questions they have about their team in the first game of the season.
Friday night was no different for Sean Harrison and Greg Watkins. In fact, the Heritage Academy and Columbus Christian Academy football coaches were left with plenty of unanswered questions following the Patriots’ 50-6 victory in a showdown of Lowndes County members of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS).
Tyler Anderson rushed for a score and threw two touchdown passes to help Heritage Academy beat Columbus Christian for the second-straight season. Last year, Heritage Academy won 48-0 in Columbus.
The rematch was more of the same, as the Patriots used their size and depth advantages to overwhelm the Rams. Brandon Jones and Toby Young had touchdown catches, while Wilder Strickland, Dylan Hughes, Zach Oswalt, and Lukas Bryant rushed for scores.
Junior running back Dontae Gray (four carries, 43 yards) didn’t break into the scoring column, but that was only because Heritage Academy built a 37-0 lead after one quarter and had built a big enough lead in the second quarter to start a running clock.
“We came out and we started fast,” said Harrison, whose team rushed for 190 yards on 30 carries. “I wanted to see that. We played hard and we started fast. I thought we kind of slacked off in the second quarter, and that is not what I wanted to see. I thought the young ones came in in the second half and played hard and competed.”
The game wasn’t without a what-if moment in the first quarter. With Heritage Academy driving on the opening possession, Columbus Christian’s Kimarri Whitfield tried to run before he caught the ball and dropped an interception that could have gone for a touchdown.
“When you have plays early that we call gifts, and that was a gift, nobody hated it more than Kimarri,” Watkins said. “That is a 14-point swing right there.”
Faced with a fourth-and-16 from the Rams’ 23-yard line, Anderson dumped the ball off to Gray near the sideline. Gray danced in between tacklers for a 20-yard gain that set up Anderson’s 3-yard run.
Columbus Christian failed to convert a fourth-and-1 from its 44 and gave the ball right back to Heritage Academy. The Patriots capitalized thanks to a nifty run by Gray, who kept his balance at the 35 and kept going for a 19-yard gain. Anderson then hit Jones with a quick-hitter to the left for the second score.
From there, the Patriots capitalized on errant snaps by the Rams that led to a safety, made two interceptions, and caused a fumble that they recovered to keep the momentum.
Harrison felt his senior offensive line dominated the game even if he thought the Patriots didn’t have the tempo he wants them to have.
“I thought they were slow. We have to play faster,” Harrison said. “There was too much standing around. We have got to get on the ball. Something is definitely going to have to be fixed.”
If that is a question Harrison still has to answer, he also has several positions that are up for grabs. He said he was pleased to be able to go deep into his roster to give players a chance to earn their spots. He said the competition for playing time remains at five or six positions.
“We have competition very much alive at outside backer,” Harrison said. “Those running backs are competing for carries. We have defensive ends who are competing for playing time. That helps that we do have competition at spots to keep things fresh.”
With only 17 players listed on its roster, Columbus Christian didn’t have that luxury after falling behind quickly in the first quarter. An apparent knee injury to quarterback Dawson Shaw complicated matters. The senior was injured returning a kick following the Patriots’ second score.
Shaw returned to the sideline on crutches with a full leg brace on his right leg.
Watkins didn’t know the severity of the injury, but he said he feared it was to Shaw’s knee.
On their first possession without Shaw, the Rams had two center-quarterback exchanges not handled. The second led to the safety.
In the second half, Columbus Christian went to an outside read veer attack that showcased the athleticism of Whitfield and RJ Deloach. Watkins said that was the first time since he has been the head coach at the school that the Rams have run the inside read. He said the Rams have run the outside option a lot.
Watkins was pleased how the Rams executed in that offense, but he was left wondering what his team was going to run and how it would make up for the loss of Shaw, the team’s emotional leader, who plays a variety of positions on offense.
“He is going to give it 110 percent no matter the score, no matter what the time is on the clock,” Watkins said. “When he went down, that hurt us offensively and defensively for that spark.”
Watkins said he wasn’t pleased with his team’s lack of execution. He said the Rams hurt themselves with turnovers and mistakes that sometimes get worked out in a preseason jamboree. But the Rams didn’t play a jamboree in part because Watkins has limited depth and he wants to try to keep all of his players healthy for the marathon.
“We had too many miscues with people going the wrong way, linebackers taking the wrong gap or stepping to the wrong coverage,” Watkins said. “We didn’t communicate real well.”
The biggest question for both teams is how they will bounce back. Harrison told his players they couldn’t bask in the glory of a 50-point effort because Lamar School was going to offer a tough test next week.
On the other sideline, Watkins said his team will have to be ready to move on without Shaw. To accomplish that, Watkins said he has to do a better job of getting the team more mentally prepared.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.