A resolute stare can wear down even the most steadfast coach.
Toby Young couldn’t duplicate that look Friday night. He didn’t need to. He already had proven his point. But the Heritage Academy junior running back acknowledged the fixed gazes he gave coach Sean Harrison were akin to the constant tugging a 3-year-old might use to get the attention of a parent.
Trying? Possibly. Wearing? Definitely.
The Leake Academy football team likely would use the same words to describe the running of Young, Lukas Bryant, Dontae Gray, and Wilder Strickland and the play of Heritage Academy’s offensive line.
Gray rushed for a team-high 110 yards and three touchdowns, while Young rushed for 66 yards and Bryant and Strickland ran for scores in Heritage Academy’s 38-10 victory in the regular-season finale at C.L. Mitchell Field.
“It just makes us a lot more dangerous anywhere, on defense, offense, anywhere you need us,” Bryant said when he and Young are factored into the mix. “Toby and I add a lot of power. We also add good speed.”
The victory helped Heritage Academy (8-2, 3-0 district) wrap up its first district championship since 2003. With the win, Heritage Academy wrapped up the No. 4 seed for the MAIS Class AAA playoffs. It will play host to St. Aloysius, the No. 13 seed from District 3, at 7 p.m. Friday at C.L. Mitchell Field.
A win would give Heritage Academy a second-straight home playoff game against the winner of the game between No. 5 seed Manchester Academy and No, 12 seed Cathedral Unit School.
Harrison laughed when asked if Young and Bryant used toddler-like methods to get him to give them a chance to run the football. Unfortunately, an injury to senior Dylan Hughes opened the door for Young, a 6-foot, 190-pounder, and Bryant, a 6-foot, 215-pounder, to get more touches. While not as quick as Gray, Strickland (54 yards against Leake Academy), or Hughes, Young (66 yards) and Bryant (57 yards) add a physical dimension to the running game. You can call it the “3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust” aspect, which is particularly appealing at this time of the year when the temperatures finally point to a turn of the seasons.
“At the beginning of the year, those two got the mop-up duty,” Harrison said. “I put them in and let them run because they were strictly H-backs and they deserved carries.”
Harrison admitted the carries Young and Bryant received often weren’t against first-team defenses, but he said his thinking evolved as he learned to trust both players.
Against Leake Academy, Bryant set the tone by ripping a 39-yard run up the middle on the game’s first play. Harrison made sure the Patriots understood the plan from that point forward by shouting, “heavy, heavy” as he hustled down his team’s sideline. Gray delivered the back end of the one-two punch with a 26-yard touchdown on the next play. Lex Rogers’ kick made it 7-0 26 seconds in.
Bryant heard Harrison’s shouts and knew the Patriots were going to try to “run the ball down the Rebels’ throats.” A 42-carry night that piled up 282 yards showed Heritage Academy accomplished that goal.
“That is the best part of the game, running all over everybody,” Bryant said. “Our offensive line has been doing great. They have put in a lot of hard work in the weight room and in practice to get us where we are now.”
Leake Academy forced Heritage Academy to go three plays and out on the next series. The Rebels answered with a Cameron Brown 28-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.
But Heritage Academy continued to pound behind the work of offensive linemen Jack Hannon, William Yingst, Dalton Hocutt, Logan Sneed, Jones Ray, and Chase Brooks. Bryant scored on a 4-yard run, Gray added two 10-yard touchdown runs, and Strickland scored on a 9-yard run to give send the Patriots on their way.
“Lukas played pretty much strictly fullback tonight, but he can play tailback, too,” Harrison said. “Toby, gosh almighty, I haven’t seen him run the ball like that before, but I knew he was a heck of a running back.”
Harrison said Young and Bryant aren’t game-breakers, but he said they are going to “get you the yards you need” with hard runs that often will come between the tackles. Those runs are a perfect balance to Gray and Strickland, who have the speed to get to the corners and break long runs.
The running game is only part of the story. Senior quarterback Tyler Anderson, who also is a threat to run, has led a passing game that looks to pick its spots. Freshman tight end Eli Acker has emerged as a trusted receiver to stretch defenses. He showed how valuable he can be in the second quarter when he appeared to steal the ball from cornerback Jarrett Allen for a 24-yard gain that helped set up Gray’s second 10-yard touchdown.
Young and Bryant credited Harrison and first-year coach Russ Whiteside for making it easy to buy into their way of doing things. Young smiled when asked about his pestering ways. He said he tried to “bug” Harrison to see if he could get a few touches. He said he kept asking Harrison “to give him a chance, to give him a chance.” Young said he was pleased to get an opportunity to run the ball last week against Indianola Academy so he could earn Harrison’s trust.
“We have quickness everywhere and unbelievable hands,” Young said. “With me and Lukas in the backfield, I feel like we have a Power-I and we can dominate teams.”
Young feels the Patriots are “built” for that style of football. He said it was “heartbreaking” to lose Hughes to an injury, but he believes in Gray and Strickland and is willing to do whatever he has to do to help the team.
Getting a few carries is extra incentive and a fitting reward.
“I guess that is the prize for it,” Young said. “I guess (coach Harrison) sees we’re working hard blocking for them and he gives us a chance to run.
“The offensive line is phenomenal. I have never had a better line. We are powerful. We are big. I think we can get it.”
Top-seeded Indianola Academy, which beat Heritage Academy 35-13 on Oct. 14 in Indianola, is on the same side of the playoff bracket. If both teams win, they would meet in the third round of the playoffs.
Next week’s game against St. Aloysius (3-7) is believed to be the program’s first home playoff game dating all the way back through the 2003 season, when Heritage Academy won at North Delta and at Manchester Academy before losing to Simpson Academy 21-14 in the state title game at Mississippi College in Clinton to cap a 9-5 season.
The variety of weapons on this year’s team gives Harrison confidence the Patriots can get back to that level if they continue to run hard and strike a balance between the ground game and the passing attack.
A few long stares from Young and Bryant helped achieve that balance.
“They took an opportunity and jumped on it,” Harrison said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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