STARKVILLE — Despite a strong start from its defense, the Starkville Academy football team couldn’t keep the momentum going Friday night.
Knowing it had a smaller margin for error against a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AAAA opponent, Class AAA Starkville Academy surrendered three big touchdown plays and committed six turnovers in a 40-0 loss to Lamar School.
The Volunteers rushed for 107 yards rushing and held their own against the Raiders (4-0) aside from the touchdowns of 85, 75, and 70 yards. Although disappointed with the outcome, Starkville Academy senior running back Dalton Dempsey was still pleased with the way his team played.
“We thought we could come out and beat them,” Dempsey said. “We were driving on them but every time we got a drive going we would turn the ball over. We made a lot of mistakes, and we have to get better from that. Our offensive line showed a lot of improvement tonight, so we just need to keep on improving and make sure this never happens again.”
Brady Richardson, a junior wide receiver/defensive back, led the team defensively, making numerous big plays, including a forced fumble that gave his team great field position. He knows the team can learn from the loss and use those lessons the rest of the season.
“We knew how good Lamar was going to be,” Richardson said. “Our offensive line played pretty good against them, but there is definitely room to improve. We are going into Washington next week, and that is going to be a big game. We are going to use this motivation to get better. We need to work harder every week and get better and just win football games.”
Starkville Academy coach Chase Nicholson said he learned what his team was really about in the loss. He knew the Volunteers needed to be in a battle to help prepare it for Class AAA, District 2 games. Going forward, he wants to focus on the eliminating the turnovers.
“This game made us better because they are such a top-notch team,” Nicholson said. “This game did nothing but make us a better football team. We need to improve on ball security, continue to run the ball effectively, and get some more big plays. We had big plays the last two weeks, but we were missing that tonight. The turnovers were what really hurt us tonight. We just have to keep getting better. At the end of the day, that’s what we are going to do.”
In the first quarter, neither team seemed to be doing anything offensively. In the second quarter, Davis Harrington scored on a 3-yard run that made it 6-0.
After that, Lamar seemed to click on every aspect. They forced Starkville Academy (3-1) into a quick turnover on downs and then used a 70-yard touchdown pass to make it 12-0. The Volunteers fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, which led to another rushing touchdown by Harrison to made it 19-0.
An 85-yard touchdown pass, a 75-yard punt return, and a 30-yard touchdown run by JT McClelland accounted for the final margin.
Nicholson knows his team’s goals are still ahead of him, so he will make sure his players understand they have to learn from the loss and put it behind them.
“Get better,” Coach Nicholson said. “Get better, get better, keep getting better. This game is a stepping stone along the way. It is not going to make or break us. This game is a non-district game, and our goals are still in front of us. All the goals we want to achieve are still right there in front of us. We have to take this and get better from it, learn from it, and we will get better from it.”
Dempsey believes the Volunteers will come out next week with the intensity and people will see how they improved from their first loss of the season.
“We will go out Sunday and start to improve from there,” Dempsey said. “We have to learn where we messed up by watching film and just fix our problems. Not many guys quit on our team. That was big. That is going to come down to when we have a tight game at the end of the season, and I know our team will not quit on us.”
Nicholson wasn’t surprised the Volunteers didn’t quit. He knows his players will give him the same kind of effort next week because that mind-set makes up the backbone of his team.
“That is all I expect from them,” Nicholson said. “That’s all I ever ask from them is to continue to fight. Our motto is to never quit. It is longer than that. It is hard to be a team that won’t quit, and we will not quit. I’m proud of that, and I saw that and that is all I wanted from them is to not quit. That means we can do what I expect them to do and that is not quit.”
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