For the first time in six years, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is playing playoff football this week. The Saints earned the fourth seed in Class 2A region 6 and travel to Mize this Friday night to take on the Bulldogs who are 7-3 overall and the top seed in 2A Region 8. It’s been a long road back to the postseason for St. Andrews. Since 2017, they missed the playoffs four times and played the last two years as an independent school in football due to low numbers on the roster.
“In the past we’ve been picking up equipment this week, now we’re getting ready for a playoff game. Our kids are super excited,” said St. Andrew’s Head Coach Johnny Nichols. “We’ve endured so much first year back in to make it to the playoffs, that was one of our goals and here we are. We have played pretty good on the road this year and I think this week it will help getting on the bus, traveling down south with fewer distractions if we were playing this game at home. Our team is a very close knit group and will be ultra-focused. We are going to go down there and give it our best shot.
Offensively, the Saints will go as far as quarterback Friend Walker can take them. As a senior, Walker comes into the game with 1,963 passing yards, 252 rushing yards and 22 total touchdowns. He’s averaging right around 200 total yards a game and he’ll need a perfect night this week.
“Friend Walker has been a great leader with a 2,000-yard season. He’s dangerous because he is not scared to pull the ball down and run. I’m not afraid to say we go as far as Friend can take us. He’ll jump in on defense too. We’re giving him some new wrinkles to throw at Mize and he is so excited about it. I told him ‘If you can pull this off, you’ll be the talk of the town’ and I can’t wait to see how he rises to the occasion,” said Coach Nichols.
Walker may be without his top target as leading receiver John William Walker is fighting to get back from an injury. He would be a key weapon this week as he has accounted for 620 yards on 47 catches and five touchdowns. If Walker can’t go, it’ll be up to senior Rolen Fanning, 18 catches for 468 yards and four touchdowns, to lead the way. Coach Nichols will also look to juniors Andrew Gordon and Austin Morgan who have combined for 600 yards and four scores. Coach Nichols plans to use sophomore defensive safety Jake Pratt quite a bit at slot receiver this week.
While rushing is not the Saints strength, they will need to have at least a threat of the run to keep the pressure off Friend Walker. Freshman Evan Arthur White has burst on the scene this year with 92 carries for 318 yards and three scores. Junior Connor Young can also contribute with 249 yards on 63 carries and a touchdown.
Defensively, Mize is stingy and opportunistic. The Bulldogs give up an average of 10 points per game, have 71 tackles for loss, 26 sacks, caused 14 fumbles and notched 11 interceptions. They are led by a pair of juniors in Brad Garner and Jesse Runnels. Garner leads the team in tackles with 77 tackles, nine of them for loss. Runnels has 75 tackles, 10 for loss. Senior defensive end Tyson Barnes is a force on the line leading the team in sacks with 5.5 and 12 total tackles for loss. Fellow senior defensive end Cameron Hart can get to the quarterback as well with 4.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss. In the secondary, Freshman Jamiyon Gray lurks as a true ball hawk. Gray has six interceptions for 92 return yards.
There is no real secret to the Bulldogs offense, they love to run. As a team they have rolled up 2,430 yards on the ground for 28 touchdowns and have seven backs that are in triple digits in yards. Jamiyon Gray plays both offense and defense and led the team in rushing with 736 yards and eight scores. Junior Warren Sage has 84 carries for 518 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Kadin Lott has 87 carries for 406 yards and six scores, along with senior quarterback Talan Warren who’s picked up seven touchdowns and 303 yards. Warren has the ability to throw as well with 811 yards and 11 touchdowns to just three interceptions, but Coach Nichols knows the ground game is their bread and butter.
“They (Mize) run a single and double wing attack led by Gray. Their quarterback Warren can roll out and make big plays. They are solid all around. The bottom line is we have to put our guys in position with what we can do well and slow that rushing attack,” said Nichols. “It’s definitely going to be hard to stop the run. We will try some different fronts and some odd-even stunts. Their offensive line is just huge with guys going 6’3 280 lbs., 6’4 290 lbs., and 6’4 300 lbs.”
The Saints defense will again be shorthanded with senior linebacker Carter Thompson out for the season with a knee injury. Thompson was the team’s leading tackler and the defensive leader. Coach Nichols will lean heavily on junior Austin Morgan, who is second on the team in tackles with 88, and two ninth graders in Evan White and Dylan Tobias.
Larry Johnson is a four-year starter at defensive tackle and may help clog the middle with his 5’11”, 259 pound frame along with another senior defensive tackle in Charlie Whittington. There is a chance the Saints could get senior linebacker Caleb Le and junior linebacker Holden Caraway back in the line-up from injuries, but they could be game time decisions.
The Saints and Bulldogs had one common opponent this year in the powerful Raleigh Lions, who are the favorite to win the 2A title. Mize played them tough losing 18-7, while St. Andrews got blown out 51-0.
“I guarantee you there is nobody picking us to win this week and that’s what I told our players,” said Coach Nichols. “I told them just go play, have fun and we will see what happens. We have nothing to lose.”
It would be a monumental upset if the Saints were to pull it off, but the fact that they are in the playoffs for the first time in six years is an amazing feat already.
ST. ANDREW'S KEYS TO VICTORY
On Offense: On offense, try to confuse Mize with different passing looks and splash in some runs.
On Defense: Try to keep the big runs to a minimum and keep the game played between the 20 yard lines.
SAINTS AT A GLANCE
Class/Division: MHSAA 2A Region 6
Record: 4-6 overall, 1-3 in region
Head Coach: Johnny Nichols
Assistant Coach: Dan Roach
MIZE AT A GLANCE
Class/Division: MHSAA 2A Region 8
Record: 7-3 overall, 4-0 in Region
Head Coach: Matt Maddox
Assistant Coaches: Joseph White, Justin Ainsworth, Kyle Magee, Lance Lyon, Sid Wheatley, Stanley Dixon
The Series: Mize leads 3-1
Last Match-Up: Mize won 28-21 in 2020
The Playoffs: Jackson Prep beat St. Joseph Catholic 31-20 on October 2. They will next face MRA. The winner of the JA game will face Hartfield.
