A dynasty is defined as “a succession of rulers of the same line of descent.” When it comes to MAIS 6A High School football, there are two teams that have dominated the titles over the last decade, Madison Ridgeland Academy and Jackson Prep. We will see them both on display this Saturday night in the MAIS 6A Championship Game at Mississippi College.
Madison Ridgeland Academy and Head Coach Herbert Davis are looking to extend their dynasty with an MAIS four-peat. The Madison County Patriots can bring home a fourth straight state championship and sixth in program history. Jackson Prep has the opportunity to win its 26th football championship after a four-year drought. Prep last won the title in 2018 with a win over MRA and last appeared in this game in 2019, also against MRA.
The MPats are coming off a hard fought 21-6 win in the semi-finals against Jackson Academy. MRA was extremely balanced on offense, throwing 33 passes and running the ball 36 times. Quarterback John White led the attack with 215 passing yards and a touchdown, while also leading the team in rushing with 74 yards and another touchdown. All told, MRA was able to roll up 372 yards of offense against a very stingy Raiders defense, while the Patriots held JA to just 235 total yards.
Jackson Prep was locked into a tough, defensive battle of its own against Hartfield in the other semi-final, as the Patriots prevailed 10-7. Junior defensive back Matthew Mehrle preserved the win with a late 4th quarter interception of Hawks quarterback Tripp Maxwell on a potential game winning drive. Senior running back Owen Ishee led a pounding running game, rushing for 119 of the Patriots 316 total yards.
Jackson Prep has seen a resurrection of sorts under first year head coach Doug Goodwin. A year ago this Patriots team lost five games for the first time in school history, but now sits at 11-1 on the cusp of a championship. The only blemish on the record 26-14 loss to Madison Ridgeland Academy back on September 30.
In that first match-up MRA did a terrific job of making Jackson Prep one dimensional. The MPats shut down the run holding the opposing Patriots to just 42 yards on the ground, sacking quarterback Paxton Thompson seven times and intercepting him twice. On the offensive end, MRA was as balanced as you get. Quarterback John White threw for 143 yards and one touchdown, while junior Charles Simpson led a strong run game with 93 of the team’s 167 yards and scored one of the three rushing touchdowns.
Fast forward six weeks and these two teams are extremely evenly matched as they get ready for a rematch. Here’s a look at where they stand statistically:
- Offense Points Per Game: MRA, 35; Prep 39
- Defense Points Per Game: MRA ,19; Prep 13
- Passing Yards Per Game: MRA ,223; Prep 225
- Rushing Yards Per Game: MRA ,120; Prep 132
- Total Yards Per Game: MRA ,343; Prep 430
Source: Maxpreps
Defensively, MRA will continue to look to senior Bennett Cloud to lead the way. Cloud has an astronomical 132 tackles this season. Fellow senior Alex Hillhouse causes absolute mayhem in the backfield with, 92 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. Senior Breck McCalop is second on the team in tackles with 94. Junior Matt Latham, Sophomore Matt Perkins, senior Noah Short, junior Brady Biggers, senior JJ Latham and junior Ford Clark will also cause Prep problems.
The Prep defense is led by senior Duncan Mathews, who seems to be everywhere with a team leading 101 tackles, with an eye-popping 24 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Junior Thomas Cross is second on the team with 50 tackles and 12 for loss, along with senior Sam Watts has racked up 10 tackles for losses and junior Andy Brown with 14 tackles for loss, senior Luke Harrigill with five sacks.
Offensively, Prep quarterback Paxton Thompson has really settled in to Coach Doug Goodwin’s system. The senior signal caller has now thrown for more than 2,300 yards and 29 touchdowns to just nine interceptions. Thompson’s top target is senior Will Upton who has more than 1,000 receiving yards, averaging nearly 100 a game with 16 touchdowns. Fellow senior receiver William Laird is a dangerous red zone target with 10 touchdowns of his own. Prep will mix in the run game effectively as well with senior Owen Ishee, who is a strong back that has more than 600 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns.
MRA’s offense is perhaps more balanced than it has ever been, but it all starts with the quarterback in this spread it out, up-tempo style. Senior John White is closing in on a 3,000-yard season with 26 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Senior receiver Rivers Godwin has been a nightmare for defensive backs as he seems uncoverable at times. Godwin has 1,100 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. Junior Charles Simpson has emerged as a dual threat both running and catching the ball out of the backfield. Simpson has more than 1,000 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns, to go along with three receiving scores. Senior JJ Latham has rushed for 600 yards and 11 touchdowns as well.
The storyline for this championship game is about dynasties. MRA is hoping to continue its reign as the ruler of MAIS football for the fourth straight year. Jackson Prep is hoping to continue on its journey back to glory road. A dynasty will either continue or the birth of a new will take place Saturday at Mississippi College. This is going to be good.
Keys to Victory for Jackson Prep:
On offense: Quarterback Paxton Thompson needs to be smart with the football. He’s done a great job not throwing picks down the stretch and has shown the patience to take off and run when necessary. MRA has a very aggressive defense so Thompson needs to keep his cool and take what’s there.
On defense: The key is to honestly bend but don’t break. MRA opponents say this all the time but it’s true. Make MRA run as many plays as possible and look for the opportunity to force a mistake. Getting pressure on the quarterback has not been a problem for Prep so far this year, so look for them to press the issue on John White.
Keys to Victory for MRA:
On offense: Patience. Don’t try to force big plays. The running game has been phenomenal so far this year by making defenses guess what is coming. Coach Davis does a great job or reading what a defense is giving him and has a deep playbook to adjust, whether it’s with screens, runs or deep shots.
On defense: The defensive front looks strong enough to really shut down the run, so focusing on the passing game could be key. Smother Will Upton, he is the heart of the Prep passing game and the key to slowing down the offense.
The Series: Prep leads the all-time series 24-8.
Last Meeting: MRA won 26-14 on Sept. 30 in the regular season.
AT A GLANCE
Jackson Prep:
Class/Division: Class 6A, District 1 (MAIS)
Record: 11-1 overall, 4-1 in District
Head Coach: Doug Goodwin (First Season)
Assistant Coaches: Nick Brewer, Rusty Burke, Matt Butts, Graham Eklund, Derek Rang, Zander Romano, Marcus Thompson, Marcus Canoy, Brent Heavener, Les Triplett.
MRA:
Class/Division: Class: 6A District 1 (MAIS)
Record: 10-3 overall, 4-1 in District
Head Coach: Herbert Davis
Assistant Coaches: Danny White, Hayden Davis, Jacob Land, Matt Walker, John Weaver, Kenny Williams
MHSAA 6A Second Round
Madison Central (8-3) at Tupelo (12-0)
The defending MHSAA 6A Champion Madison Central Jaguars (8-3) face a tough test in the second round of the playoffs as they travel to meet the undefeated Tupelo Golden Wave (12-0). Madison Central pulled off an impressive upset last week, going into South Panola and knocking off the Tigers 30-21. Tupelo had no problem in beating Lewisburg 35-0 in the first round.
