Make a stop.
The challenge sounded simple enough for the New Hope High School football team, especially after clawing back from a 21-0 deficit to within three points of Jackson Prep on Friday night.
The Trojans’ defense had just forced and recovered a fumble to set up a 12-play, 96-yard scoring drive buoyed by Kyree Fields’ signature sandlot throws.
But leading 31-28, Jackson Prep leaned on standout running back Jerrion Ealy to put the game out of reach.
Ealy racked up 85 rushing yards on four carries on back-to-back scoring drives to lead Jackson Prep to a 45-28 victory.
Ealy had 19 carries for 176 yards and three total touchdowns to help Jackson Prep, the No. 1 team in The Associated Press’ Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) rankings, improve to 10-0.
Both of Jackson Prep’s late scores came on eight plays, a crushing turn aided by a personal foul called on Kobi Chandler and an interception by Fields, his second of the game.
“Anytime you can take the ball 96 yards, it’s exciting,” New Hope coach Kris Pickle said. “It’s a credit to the offense as a whole, to be able to go out there and execute for that many plays. I could feel the excitement on our sideline start to build back, but Prep answered. It would have been interesting to see what could have happened if we could have gotten a stop.”
Chasing Ealy, a top-ranked player nationally in the Class of 2019, was a chore for the Trojans. Ealy had runs of 27, 28, 33, and 38 yards and a 28-yard catch. He capped the final play with an acrobatic dive into the end zone from nearly 5 yards out.
Jackson Prep’s game plan with Ealy was simple: the toss sweep. It simplified the Trojans’ approach to stopping him, too.
“Just try to run to No. 2 and hold on for dear life,” Pickle said. “It’s no scheme. They’re going to overload a side and toss it out there, and you know what they’re going to run. When you toss it to a really good Division I player … he’s got some jets to make some guys miss. I thought we were there a couple of times but just didn’t make the tackle.”
Jackson Prep built a 21-0 lead in the first 18 minutes. Quarterback Chance Lovertich and Clark Beard set the tone with two scoring passes, including a 47-yarder on the second play. Beard had 110 yards receiving and three touchdowns.
“Busted coverages, not being on the same page, wrong coverages, wrong calls,” New Hope safety Ben Lowe said. “It took us a minute to figure out 85 was their go-to target. They stopped throwing to him after a while once we got it figured out.”
Mental mistakes and four turnovers hurt New Hope’s comeback. The two issues snowballed on one drive near the start of the fourth quarter with the Trojans trailing 45-28. After three pre-snap penalties, the Trojans tried to lateral the ball back to Fields, but the play developed slowly, Fields was knocked down and Jackson Prep recovered the fumble and raced 20 yards the other way.
Fields left the game on the next drive after injuring his ankle. Backup Ryan Burt moved the team into the red zone, but he threw an interception on third-and-2.
“We work on correcting all that in practice,” Lowe said. “We have ‘LTM’ — little things that matter — to try and get better. We know what we need to work on.”
Fields was 15-for-30 for 327 yards. He had scoring passes of 51 and 69 yards to Jeremy Tate, who had a season-high 215 yards on seven catches. The running game continued to struggle without senior back Tyran Reed, as backup Braylen Miller had 9 yards on 11 carries.
“They put so many guys in the box,” Pickle said. “They match you for every guy you put in there. I don’t think we did a real good job blocking up front in the run game, but we were able to make plays in the passing game to offset some of it.”
Chandler and Aaron Brooks were
New Hope High School football players Kobi Chandler and Aaron Brooks were sent to the sidelines, according to Pickle, which means they will be eligible tonight in the team’s regular-season finale against Noxubee County. The availability of Fields and Reed is unclear, but the matchup carries little weight as the Trojans already have qualified for the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) playoffs as the No. 4 seed in Class 4A, Region 4.
“From just a psychological standpoint, it’s hard to overcome a 21-point hole,” Pickle said. “I was just proud they didn’t quit. Down 21 to nothing, it could have easily been a 49 to nothing game.”
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