Heritage Academy football coach Brad Butler wants to see something different.
He and the Patriots already have felt the emotion from a huge victory and expected it to carry over to the next week only to see the energy evaporate at gametime.
Coming off a double-overtime victory in a history-making game against Caledonia last week, Butler hopes Heritage Academy (2-1) can produce the same kind of effort and intensity at 7 tonight when it travels to Madison-Ridgeland Academy (2-1).
“Playing in a game that is such an emotional game and that is such a dogfight you’re going to be a little bit drained and proud of what you accomplished, but you don’t get a whole lot of time to relish a win,” Butler said. “We have a conference game coming up and we have to get ready in a short amount of time. As good as it was it is one ballgame. We have to try to keep the momentum generated rather than taking a step backward.”
Heritage Academy rallied for a 37-36 victory against the Lamar School in week one. It failed to capitalize on that second-half explosion in a 33-7 home loss to Starkville Academy in a game Butler said his team didn’t have the same intensity as it did in the second half of the opener.
Despite allowing more than 500 yards total offense last week against Caledonia, Brandon Bell rushed for 172 yards and quarterback Cade Lott rushed for 155 yards on 14 carries to help the Patriots earn the 48-45 double-overtime victory, the school’s first in football against a public school.
This week, Butler knows his team will face a MRA team that will split four or five receivers out and try to beat you with its passing game. Lamar used a similar strategy with a lot of success in the opener, so Butler realizes his team will have to remain focused for 48 minutes — or more — if it wants to start division play the right way.
Even though he hopes the Patriots have put last week behind them, he wants them to play with the same “guts” he thought were crucial to helping pull out the win.
“I felt we controlled the offensive line of scrimmage pretty well all night,” Butler said. “Our offensive linemen were enjoying that and kind of got some momentum. That was big for us and good to see us be able to dominate the line of scrimmage. They made some big plays and we were just kind of punching at ’em and punching at ’em and punching at ’em. It was a great game by our offensive linemen and our tight end. They pretty much took the game over. We have to sustain that energy up front.”
Butler isn’t sure if going on the road will make it easier for Heritage Academy to deliver the same effort as last week. He said his players know MRA is a quality team that has defeated Heritage Academy the past two years. He said a key will be making sure everybody continues to go in the right direction to keep the Patriots in the game.
“Last week, we blocked the right folks and anytime you’re blocking the right folks you give yourself a chance,” Butler said. “That’s our goal. Let’s get a hat on a hat and keep battling and good things will happen.”
East Webster (2-1) at Caledonia (2-1)
As much as Ricky Kendrick enjoyed the energy and hype surrounding his team’s game last week against Heritage Academy, he wants to reiterate his program takes no solace in moral victories.
“We had so many opportunities to win and just didn’t do it,” Kendrick said. “We didn’t get it done. They played exceptionally well, and they won the plays when they needed to.”
Kendrick said a missed extra point on the first touchdown, an inability to get points on a first-and-5, a blocked kick, and 10-12 others would have given the Confederates a chance to win the game. But he also said Heritage Academy could say the same thing, so he has preached to his players this week about putting that game behind them and gearing up to deliver the same kind of effort at home against a tough East Webster team.
“I thought they outphysicalled us,” Kendrick said. “We hoped they would stay in the spread. He had a good game plan, and when they figured out they could run on us their offensive line blocked super good.”
Still, Caledonia had more than 500 yards in total offense, including the kicking game. Ben Marchbanks had 121 yards to lead a rushing attack that piled up 300 yards on 47 carries. Onterrio Lowery (72 yards) and Randy Randle (53) also contributed, as did Trey Lancaster, who had two catches for 75 yards.
The fireworks helped Caledonia score its most points since a 45-42 victory against Aberdeen on Oct. 6, 2006. The loss prevented the Confederates from starting the season 3-0 for the first time since the 2004 season.
Unfortunately, Kendrick said the Confederates have to shore up a defense that has allowed opponents to have a player rush for more than 150 yards each week. He said he knew that unit was a little behind the offense at the start of the season, and that it likely will be put to the test tonight against an East Webster team that also likes to run and run and run.
“At some point in time you know you have to stop the run, so if anything we learned from this situation and we tried to do a better job coaching, on defense, and tried to grow from it and get better,” Kendrick said. “Hopefully, it will wake our kids up and convince them we need to fix this.”
Ethel (2-1) at West Lowndes (1-2)
Anthony King hopes last week’s game against Class 4A Shannon has his team ready for its Class 1A, Region 3 opener against Ethel.
Despite being outmanned in a 50-14 loss last week, King hopes a second game in as many weeks against a Class 4A opponent helped prepare West Lowndes to be one of the top teams in its classification.
“They see the (silver) lining because I have been telling them from the beginning of the season that we were going to have a tough patch playing up in class,” King said. “It is a big leap from 4A to 1A, even though we have beaten Caledonia in the past it is a tough jump.”
King hopes the biggest difference — depth — will become less of an issue now that the Panthers are back among their peers. He attributed some of the mistakes his players made the past two weeks to fatigue, but he is careful not to make excuses because he knows his team has a lot to clean up to earn a place among the top teams in the region and in the classification.
“We’re going to try to go into it with something to prove and to be a team with something to be reckoned with,” King said.
Senior running back Antonio Wilson gives West Lowndes a go-to back all programs would love to have. Sophomore Justin Stephenson took over at quarterback last week and continues to learn the offense and how to be a leader.
“I think Justin did real well getting thrown into the fire and playing against a good team like Shannon,” King said. “I was very impressed he stayed in the game the whole time. I was disappointed in our offensive and defensive lines because we got beat up on both sides of ball.”
King said he would take his team’s bye week next week to install parts of the Wing-T offense he thinks will make the Panthers even more dangerous. He said the development of a go-to receiver from a stable of players with potential is one of the final pieces he feels the team needs to contend for a playoff spot.
“Our main thing is we just aren’t stopping anybody,” King said. ” We’re trying to get the defense right. We have a lot of young kids on defense who are first-year starters and we’re putting them in a different defense and it’s taking a while to jell.”
Tabernacle (2-0) at Victory Christian (2-0)
Chris Hamm doesn’t know if the Eagles can afford to start tonight like they did last week against a high-powered Tabernacle squad that has scored 132 points in its victories.
Tabernacle defeated defending Christian Football Association champion Tuscaloosa Christian 60-46 and Flint Hill 72-12 to get an early jump on the CFA race.
Victory Christian has scored 42 and 37 points in victories against Clinton Christian and New Life, but Hamm said the Eagles might
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 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.