After a long, winding road, the MAIS 6A regular season comes to a close this week. Our C-Spire Game of the Week puts the spotlight on Madison Ridgeland Academy traveling to Hartfield Academy where these two teams have two different goals in mind. The Hawks are coming off a heartbreaking loss at home last week to Jackson Prep 28-19. Hartfield hoped to be playing for a district title this week, but instead needs a win to hold on to the third seed for the playoff bracket. Meanwhile the Patriots clinched the top seed for the playoffs in District 1 and a first round bye with a 45-21 over Parklane Academy last Friday night.
While there doesn’t appear to be much on the line for MRA this week as far as the seeding goes, there is an interesting storyline. The Patriots haven’t lost to a school in Mississippi since 2019. Their two losses this year came to out of state powerhouses in Oakland High School in Tennessee (56-33) and Pulaski Academy in Arkansas (48-40). According to MRA Head Coach Herbert Davis there is also a lot of work to do for the Pats as they make a run at fourth consecutive state title. Actually the last time these two teams saw one another was in the MAIS 6A State Championship game that saw the Patriots put down the Hawks 42-7.
“Our approach this week is on getting better to win the state championship. We have endured so many injuries and leaned on a lot of kids without a lot of experience to rise to the occasion,” said MRA Head Coach Herbert Davis. “We have done well to this point but we haven’t peaked yet quite honestly. We need the kids to stay hungry.”
When asked if he would rest players this week to avoid injuries going into the playoffs, Davis said absolutely not.
“I don’t believe in that. We are going to play as hard as we’ve played all season. We earned a bye week so we can’t afford to give kids basically two weeks off if I did that,” said Davis. “As I said we haven’t been hitting on all cylinders on offense and we need the reps. We are going to play a heck of a team in Hartfield this week and hopefully sharpen our skills.”
It’s scary to think how much better the Patriots can be. They are averaging close to 36 points a game on offense while giving up an average of just 13 points on defense.
Quarterback John White is having a tremendous season. The junior has thrown for nearly 2,500 yards with 22 touchdowns to just two interceptions. He’s averaging more than 220 yards per game in the spread offense. White’s favorite target has been Rivers Godwin. The senior wide receiver has more than 900 yards and 11 touchdowns. Junior Ben Horner has also been a big contributor with nearly 600 receiving yards and six touchdowns.
The thing that has really impressed Coach Davis is White’s ability to spread the ball around and mixing in the running game to complement the passing attack. The Patriots have run for just over 1,300 yards as a team with junior Charles Simpson and senior Jonathan Latham leading the way for nearly 1,200 yards and 21 touchdowns.
“Last week (against Parklane) we had 11 different guys catch the ball. That’s huge to keep the defense guessing,” said Davis. “I like to say we’re not a big run team but we are effective. Our yards per carry has been very impressive, not necessarily the totals on the stat sheet. We only rushed for about 120-140 yards against Parklane but we hit the six yards a carry average, which we are very happy with. What we really need to work on offensively is too many penalties, more crisp route running. Really tightening our execution as we are sometimes our own worst enemy.”
Hartfield will present a formidable defensive challenge. While they gave up 28 points to Jackson Prep in last week’s loss, the Hawks have won five of their last six and the defense is stingy giving up just about 10 points per game. The key to the Hawks hanging with MRA will be on the secondary led senior Blake Condon, who always seems to find his way to the football. Pressure on quarterback John White and stuffing the running game will also be critical. For that Coach Craig Bowman will look to his big defensive linemen Reid Gaston, London Simmons and Banks Speed.
The Hawks offense is no slouch either. Senior quarterback Tripp Maxwell has thrown for more than 1,500 yards, 15 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Hartfield also has a strong running back in junior running back Reed Jesiolowski who averages nearly 10 yards a carry and has found the endzone eight times. He’s also a talented receiver with 30 catches for 419 yards and seven touchdowns. Jesiolowski will certainly get a lot of attention from the MRA defense led by senior linebacker Bennett Cloud. Cloud leads the team in tackles with 102 and nine for loss. Fellow seniors Alex Hillhouse (71 tackles, 23 for loss) and Brent McCalop (79 tackles) will also be forces to be reckoned with for Patriots. In the secondary, look for sophomore Matthew Perkins and senior Jonathan Latham to be around the football as they both have four interceptions on the season.
“We’ve seen some really good throwing teams so far and our strength has really shown in our secondary,” said Coach Davis. “Our kids have been so resilient through injuries and playing so many young folks. They are really getting great experience against tough competition and this week will be no different with Hartfield. I’m super excited to see how we finish this thing (the regular season) out Friday night.
While MRA works to tweak the offense for another championship run, Hartfield is working hard to secure a high seed for the playoffs, prove it can hang with the elite in MAIS and make a deep run to another championship game. It’s the last game of the regular season with plenty to play for.
Keys to Victory for MRA:
On offense: Keep spreading the ball around. The Hawks defense is good but doesn’t have a lot of depth. The more weapons you get involved, the harder it will be for them to key on any one threat.
On defense: Do your best to smother Reed Jesiolowski. He’s a dual threat out of the backfield and as a receiver. Also lots of pressure on quarterback Tripp Maxwell could force mistakes.
Keys to Victory for Hartfield:
On offense: Get the ball out quick and don’t be afraid to take chances. Look for big plays down the field when the Patriots blitz.
On defense: Bend but don’t break. MRA is going to move the ball, but try to shut them down in the red zone vs. allowing long scores. The more snaps you force them to take the better chance you have at forcing a turnover.
The Series: MRA the all-time series 6-0.
Last Meeting: MRA won 42-7 in the 2021 MAIS 6A Championship Game
AT A GLANCE
MRA:
Class/Division: Class: 6A District 1 (MAIS)
Record: 9-2 overall, 4-0 in District
Head Coach: Herbert Davis
Assistant Coaches: Danny White, Hayden Davis, Jacob Land, Matt Walker, John Weaver, Kenny Williams
Hartfield Academy:
Class/Division: Class 6A, District 1 (MAIS)
Record: 7-2 overall, 2-2 in District
Head Coach: Craig Bowman
Assistant Coaches: Cody Saxton, Pack Toler, Stuardt Saxton.
