Our C-Spire Game of the Week features an early season heavyweight bout in the MAIS, as Madison Ridgeland Academy (MRA) travels to Hartfield Academy on Friday night. MRA comes into the game with a 1-1 record after losing a nailbiter to Ravenwood, Tenn. 28-24 in the season opener, but bouncing back in a big way by beating Jefferson Davis County 47-6. Hartfield (0-1) opened the year with a tough physical loss to Columbia High School 22-21 last week. While a big match-up like this is historically unusual for the first week in September, both coaches don’t seem to mind the game’s place on the schedule.
“I like having it early. In the past playing them late and then playing them again a week or so later in the playoffs can really be draining at the end of the year. While this matters, the most important thing is playing our best at the end. Win or lose, keep climbing the stairs and be the best entering the playoffs. When you play your rival you want to win, but we haven’t peaked in the end in the last couple of years,” said MRA Head Coach Herbert Davis.
“In this structure, I like playing them early. We can be two completely different teams. Let’s roll it with some early season excitement,” said Hartfield Head Coach Craig Bowman. “It’s huge in the new playoff system. There’s a good chance we may play them twice. The question is always ‘do we save stuff, or do we go at them. It will be of great importance for seeding. You definitely want to win.”
The Patriots bring an experienced roster into 2025 with very high expectations. The offense has explosive weapons in Coach Davis’ spread ‘em out scheme and the defense is stout. Senior quarterback Samuel Stockett has played well in the first two games by completing 30-44 passes for 509 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Stockett has two terrific senior targets in Case Thomas and Will Bizot. This trio has played together a long time and know each other well. Both receivers are averaging 17 yards a catch and a touchdown to start the year. They can undoubtedly cause the Hawks fits.
This could be one of the best defenses in recent memory for MRA. Senior defensive end Cade Gentry can be dominant on the line, along with seniors Jack Ridgway, James Downer, Parker Durham, Jack Poole and juniors Ty Childress and Boston Sims.
“We have the potential to be special, but we have got to pay attention to detail,” said Coach Davis. “We had so many penalties and missed assignments week one, that we cleaned those up last week, It’s all about alignment, assignment and effort. We take pride in those. We run a high-tech system and it gives us a chance when we do things right. We need to focus on getting better every game. It honestly comes down to how bad do we want it.”
The Hawks are the defending champs with back-to-back 6A state titles and are seeking an unprecedented three in a row. They are led by five-star safety/wide receiver Bralan Womack, who committed to Auburn over the summer.
Womack’s recruitment was hotly contested among some of the biggest programs in the country and according to Bowman, Bralan is relieved to have made his decision before the season to focus on the task at hand.
“He's just a special player and handled his recruitment so well. He has such an incredible support system in his mom, dad, sister and a very close family at Hartfield. Last fall he was travelling so much, a different level of fatigue set in. Now he’s playing with a sense of relief, like he did in 9th grade and played very well last Friday,” said Bowman.
Against Columbia, Womack had five catches for 126 yards, recorded four solo tackles and forced a fumble. Entering this senior season, he has 1,658 career receiving yards, 23 touchdowns, 116 tackles, and 15 interceptions.
“With opposing defenses focusing on him, we have to be creative in play calling. If they overload him, we’ll look elsewhere. It’s fun designing plays around a five-star. When he moves, he takes 2-3 guys with him. He’s so selfless and wants everyone around him to succeed,” said Bowman.
Womack certainly has the respect of MRA. “If he returns a kick this week and takes it back for a score, I certainly didn’t call it. We do everything we can to limit him. He is a great player and has killed is in the past. He can take a nothing play and turn it into something,” said Davis.
Womack is joined on the outside by fellow receiver Teryn Green, a South Alabama commit, who can benefit from the double teams across the way. The young man entrusted to get the receivers the ball this year is new starting quarterback Ethan Elliott. As a junior, Elliott was the back-up and played in mostly clean-up situations throwing just 36 times for 379 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. The Hawks will lean heavily on their backfield running back Kaden “KD” Catchings to keep the MRA defense honest. Catchings is coming off a 1,000-yard junior year with 15 touchdowns. Senior halfback Coleman Yoder is a bruising runner, who also plays linebacker, that can help take some pressure off the passing game.
This has become an intense rivalry. While MRA won the first six match-ups from 2017-2021, it’s Hartfield that has won three of the last four meetings and they’ve all been classics:
• 17-14 Hartfield, State Semi-Final, November 15, 2024.
• 44-35 MRA, October 11, 2024
• 63-56 (OT) Hartfield, October 6, 2023
• 31-28 Hartfield, October 28, 2022.
“Herbert and his staff get their kids to play super hard. Since 2022 these games are a razors edge. We’ve won last second field goals, shootouts. These are tight games,” said Bowman.
“It’s been a war, every game is very close,” said Davis.
This Friday night has the makings of another great chapter. It’s a heavyweight bout that will serve as the undercard for a potential championship match in November.
MRA AT A GLANCE
Class/Division: Class 4A, District 3 (MAIS)
Record: 1-1
Head Coach: Herbert Davis
Assistant Coaches: Danny White, Matt Walker, John Weaver, Kenny Williams
The Series: MRA leads 7-3
Last Match-Up: Hartfield won 17-14 in 2024 playoffs (Semi-final)
HARTFIELD AT A GLANCE
Class/Division: Class 4A, District 2 (MAIS)
Record: 0-1
Head Coach: Craig Bowman
Assistant Coaches: Cody Saxton, Shane Schurb, Stuardt Saxton, Pack Toler, William Davis, Bryan Pittman, Ryan Lindsey, Will Davis.
MRA'S KEYS TO VICTORY
On Offense: Score early. Score late. Score often. A shootout favors the Patriots. Look for quarterback Samuel Stockett to really spread the ball around to his many weapons to keep the Hawks off balance.
On Defense: Wrap Bralan in a blanket. MRA defensive coordinator Danny White has tried just about everything the last two years to neutralize Bralan Womack and this will be no exception. Getting pressure on the new starting quarterback Elliott may force mistakes and not let him sit back and find Womack.
