BY CALEB GARNER
Special to The Dispatch
Whenever Heritage Academy and Starkville Academy meet in just about any sport, it is expected that the game will go right down to the wire.
That was no different on a chilly and drizzly Thursday night at C.L. Mitchell Field. It took two overtime periods to settle the score between the two rivals, with Heritage Academy coming out on top 2-1.
Heritage scored first on a goal by Noel Fisher in the 24th minute assisted by Lex Rogers. The Patriots would hold the 1-0 advantage for the rest of the first half. Heritage looked to have scored a second goal in the first half that would have given them a 2-0 lead at the break, but an offsides call negated the score.
“It was just a cross in the middle and it deflected off of a player and I just had to tap it in,” Fisher said.
The Volunteers evened it up at 1-1 in the 52nd minute on a free kick goal by Taylor Ray, with Torin Hamilton getting credit for the assist. SA head coach Matt Sykes said the score by Ray shows progress from his team.
Multiple times in the second half, both teams had opportunities to take the lead, but a battle of two goal keepers kept both the Volunteers and Patriots at bay. Rogers had a chance to score the go-ahead goal in regulation in the 67th minute, but the shot sailed wide-left.
Heritage took the lead for good in the second overtime period with a goal on a header by Rogers off of a corner kick in the 94th minute, and the Patriots held on for the 2-1 victory.
“It was just a good cross by (Peyton Allen),” Rogers said. “He set me up perfectly (for the header).”
Heritage Academy head coach Joe Asadi said his team emphasized its strength on the go-ahead score.
“We go with the strengths we have for the corner kicks,” Asadi said. “We are not a really tall team, but we have some good kickers. Our captain (Rogers) who scored the header on the corner kick did a good job for us and that is all you need.”
As with any rivalry, the game was chippy throughout, with both teams having players yellow-carded. Asadi just told his team to score a goal to put the Volunteers away.
“Half of my defense and half of my midfield was hurt in this game,” Asadi said. “It was not easy and it was an emotional game. I told our team that all we had to do was score a goal. I am happy.”
It was a homecoming of sorts for Starkville Academy head coach Matt Sykes, who starred at goalkeeper for Asadi at Heritage before going on to become an all-state performer in the Mississippi junior college ranks at East Central Community College in Decatur.
“It was neat because I got to coach against the guy that taught me to love the game,” Sykes said. “Obviously, he is the veteran and you could see it in the way we coach. I think our philosophies are the same, though. We fight until the end. It is surreal and I never thought that I would be (coaching against Asadi). I think it just meant a little bit more because it was against one of his kids that he coached.”
With the win, Heritage are in the driver’s seat for the number one seed in Mississippi Association of Independents Division III District 2 play and hope to build on last season’s North State championship.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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