After a grueling summer of workouts, 12 weeks of regular season games and two weeks of playoffs, it all comes down to this for Jackson Prep and Hartfield Academy. The two will meet in the MAIS 6A Championship Game on Saturday night at 6 p.m. at Mississippi College. The Patriots come into the game with a perfect 12-0 record seeking its 27th football title after dispatching Jackson Academy in a 37-0 shutout in the semifinals. The Hawks are 11-2 after a surprising defensive 17-14 win over Madison Ridgeland Academy last week. Hartfield is looking to win back-to-back championship trophies after nabbing the first title in school history last year in a 21-0 shutout of Prep.
“What we’ve done up to this point doesn’t really matter now. It’s all about this last game. This is the last high school game ever that I’ll play and a lot of my teammates this is their last ever to play football,” said Jackson Prep quarterback Billy Puckett. “It just means the world to us. If we can win, it’s something that we will remember for the rest of our lives. We are going to leave it all on the field and give it everything we’ve got. Leave no regrets out there and no doubts is the mindset we’ve got to have.”
The feeling is mutual across the way at Hartfield.
“It’s what you live to play for if you’re in this profession or playing this sport. When you get to be a senior you want your last game to be THE last game,” said Hartfield Head Coach Craig Bowman. “We’ll pull out all the stops and I know they will too. There is no telling what kind of firepower you’ll see or it may be a 7-6 game. I don’t know how it’s going to go.”
These two met during the regular season back on October 13 in a wild game at Hartfield. The Hawks took a 45-31 lead into the fourth quarter, but saw Jackson Prep come storming back with 20 unanswered points to win it 51-45. Both sides are still a little shocked at how it played out.
“I don’t think we played very well in that first half. It took us about a half to settle down. Defensively we gave up some big plays, big pass plays that we are not accustomed to giving up. That’s credit to them because they have some really talented receivers. It was a war but our kids just kept playing, no matter what the score was. We tell them that all the time to keep playing and just win more plays than you lose,” said Jackson Prep Head Coach Doug Goodwin.
Prep senior wide receiver and defensive back Major Quin believes his Patriots just wore the Hawks down.
“We were able to run it on them finally and we spread it out. I was able to get the game tying touchdown and then we punched it in to go ahead. We got a key interception by junior corner Peter Primos which was awesome. It was a great comeback and a great team effort,” said Quin.
The Prep comeback overshadowed what was an offensive show for the Hartfield offense. Senior quarterback Cayman Tapper completed 27 of 49 passes for 439 yards and four touchdowns. His only regret are the two interceptions he threw in the second half.
“We’ve got to limit the turnovers this time for sure and put the defense in better positions to keep them out of the endzone,” said Tapper.
The Hawks receivers caught just about everything thrown their way. Senior Kenzy West had 12 catches for 186 yards and scored three touchdowns. Junior Braylan Womack had 11 receptions for 157 yards as well. Prep knows they can’t allow that dynamic duo to have another performance like that.
“West and Womack definitely have that afterburner speed so you want to try and keep them in front of you and allow them to take a five yard hitch but not give up the 80 yard touchdown,” said Quin.
“We need to slow them down by running to the football and hitting when we get there. One person is not going to tackle them, you’ve got to stop them with a group of people,” said Coach Goodwin.
Coach Bowman said his two receivers wore tracking devices that night and covered a total of eight and a half miles. It was also the first time, up to that point tin the season, that Hartfield had played all of it’s starters for an entire game.
“I would say, as a team, we ran out of gas in that 4th quarter. We’ve got a lot of people playing both ways and you get to a point where you get tired. I feel like right now we’re in better shape than we were then. As long as we don’t run out of gas we should get the win,” said West.
“No doubt we ran out of gas and they took full advantage and took it from us right there at the end. We’ve got to be ready to play four quarters,” said Coach Bowman.
The Prep offense revolves around the arm and legs of their dual threat quarterback Billy Puckett who never seems to get tired. Puckett scored two rushing and one passing touchdown in the first meeting. For the season, the scintillating senior has thrown for 2,203 yards with 26 touchdowns to just three interceptions. He’s also run for 600 yards and scored 12 times.
“I have the utmost respect for Billy. We’ve coached against him for two years, he is tough, he is accurate, he can run the ball, there is nothing he can’t do. Billy is going to be a major factor for us, he’s in our conversation every day. I walked into the office today and said to our defensive coordinator: stop 12. Just stop him. I don’t know if we can but that is going to be part of the plan,” said Bowman.
Puckett understands and accepts the challenge that Hartfield will do everything it can to try and slow him down.
“There is pressure on me sometimes to make the right pass, make the right read, escape the pocket and lead my team but pressure is a privilege, and it is something I am grateful to have. It gives me confidence that people are relying on me but I’m relying on my offensive line and my running backs and everyone else on the offense. As long as we all play together then really, I think we are unstoppable,” said Puckett.
It's been a long 12 months since Jackson Prep lost this championship game to Hartfield, something the Patriots are out to avenge.
“They got it last year so nothing better than a revenge game this year and I’ve got all the confidence in the world in us. Now it’s time to go out there and show everybody what we’ve got,” said Puckett.
One thing is for sure, neither of these teams will leave anything on the field this Saturday night, no matter how long this season has been.
PATRIOTS
KEYS TO VICTORY
On Offense: Let Puckett be Puckett. No team has been able to figure out how to stop him this season. It’ll be pick your poison for the Hawks defense. If you shut down the run, he can pick you apart. If you drop seven in coverage, then the running game has big holes. Puckett’s reads will be key to know which play to check to.
On Defense: Bend but don’t break. Prep’s defense isn’t the biggest or fastest but they really rally to the football. Look for them to keep the receivers in front of them for short gains. Also expect more blitzing in the early going to set the tone.
PREP AT A GLANCE
Class/Division: Class: 6A. #1 Seed
Head Coach: Doug Goodwin
Assistant Coaches: Marcus Canoy, Jake Pickett, Zach Miller, Matt Bryant, Nick Brewer, Matt Butts, Keith Giordano, Rusty Burke.
Record: 12-0 overall
HAWKS AT A GLANCE
Class/Division: Class: 6A #2 Seed
Head Coach: Craig Bowman
Assistant Coaches: Cody Saxton, Shane Schurb, Stuardt Saxton, Pack Toler, Bryan Pittman, Ricky Clark, Ryan Lindsey, Will Davis, Lee Dawkins, Collin Owens.
Record: 11-2 overall, 1-0 in district
The Series: Hartfield leads 4-3.
Last Match-Up: Prep 51-45 at Hartfield in the regular season.
