STARKVILLE — Chase Nicholson doesn’t want his Starkville Academy football team to be satisfied.
Nicholson could care less about the score. The second-year head coach prefers to focus on what his players need to do to get better every play, every game, and every week.
Nicholson stressed that notion to the Volunteers on Friday night following a 39-7 victory against Magnolia Heights at Logan Field.
“I was very pleased with the first half,” Nicholson said. “We have to work on finishing games and not becoming complacent.”
Even his quarterback, Noah Methvin, wasn’t satisfied with a big lead.
“I asked (coach Nicholson) if it was bad to be upset winning 31-7 in the fourth quarter and he said, ‘Not at all,’ ” Methvin said. “We need to finish games.”
The Volunteers (3-0) scored on their opening drive on a 57-yard scamper by senior running back Dalton Dempsey. The score was part of a 31-point first half.
“I love to score on the first drive of the game,” Nicholson said. “It helps set the tempo of the game.”
Starkville Academy’s defense allowed just 85 yards, forced three turnovers, and blocked a punt to help the Volunteer win the field position battle. Senior defensive back Codie Futral’s interception in the third quarter was one of several big plays.
“(The interception) was a huge play,” Futral said. “I was dropping back and saw that (quarterback Easton Van Every) threw it short, so I just got right under it.”
Nicholson said the defense’s performance against the Chiefs resembled the efforts it delivered against Marshall Academy and West Lowndes.
“Three weeks in a row, our defense is where it’s at,” Nicholson said. “We believe in great defense. Every time your offense is struggling, your defense is there, and vice versa. Our defense is the backbone of our team. We will play great defense, and they played well tonight.”
The blocked punt gave the Volunteers a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line and led to a touchdown two plays later. A 69-yard dash by running back Eli Wilson gave Magnolia Heights life, but Starkville Academy scored 25 unanswered points, including 21 off turnovers.
Methvin said having short fields helped the offense.
“When you get the ball inside the 15-yard line, you have to score,” Methvin said. “We got the ball three times off turnovers. We scored all three times, and that was the game.”
Methvin rushed for two scored and had an 8-yard touchdown pass to Futral in the second quarter. Methvin found Futral in the back left corner of the end zone to make it 31-7 with 5 minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the first half.
Magnolia Heights coach Jim Patterson said the early turnovers played a significant factor in the game, but he was proud of how his team performed.
“The blocked punt and two fumbles gave (Starkville) good field position early inside our 20 and led to three scores off turnovers and was a turning point in the game,” said Patterson, whose team slipped to 2-1. “I told our players we could not let that affect our standards of play. I thought we came out and continued to play hard in the second half.”
Starkville Academy will play host to Lamar School (3-1) next week. Nicholson said his team won’t change anything prior to facing the Class AAAA Raiders.
“(Lamar) has a good team with a good quarterback and good skill players,” Nicholson said. “We are going to continue to work and get better. That’s our goal.”
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