Sa vs. Bayou: Week 4

Photos by Mike Brown Sports Photography

Vols Corral Colts, 42-7

Starkville Academy’s defense has been really good this season. The same can be said about the special teams.

The Vols’ offense decided to join the party on homecoming Friday night here at J.E. Logan Field, and the result was a 42-7 blowout win over visiting Bayou Academy.

“We were loose and having fun,” SA wide receiver Owen Couvillion said. “There were a lot of smiles from everybody tonight. It was a lot of fun. We finally put it all together all in one night. That’s what we’ve been waiting on.”

After a slow start, offensive coordinator Wayde Barksdale’s bunch scored a season-high in points – with 29 unanswered coming in the decisive third quarter – and tallied season-highs in total yards (465), rushing yards (254), passing yards (211) and first downs (17).

A week ago in a win at East Rankin, SA completed only one pass for minus one yard. No doubt, Barksdale took notice. He made a more concerted effort to get the ball in the hands of his playmakers on the outside and let them go to work. And that they did.

The Vols’ two quarterbacks, Sam Wall and Jack Northcutt, completed only 12 passes combined in the first three games. They combined to complete 14 against Bayou, with each going 7-for-11 through the air. Wall threw for 134 yards and one touchdown, while Northcutt threw for 77 yards and one touchdown.

“The biggest thing was at halftime Coach B said to trust your gut and have confidence going out there and that’s what we did,” said Wall, who also had a 5-yard touchdown run. “We flipped the switch on. That’s been the problem the first few games, especially in the first half. We’ve been going out there timid and not playing with a lot of confidence. We definitely did much better this game with all that, especially in the second half.”

SA improved to 4-0 – already matching last year’s win total – entering this week’s game at undefeated Parklane. Bayou dropped to 2-3. The Vols exacted a measure of revenge for last year’s turnover-plagued 23-21 loss to the Colts on this very field, and restored normalcy back to the series. SA had won four of the last five in the series prior to last year’s two-point loss by a combined score of 119-19.

“Anytime you score 42 points it’s going to be a good night,” SA coach Chase Nicholson said. “It’s the first time you can look up and say the offense played well, the defense played well and special teams played well. We’ve had good defense, we’ve had good special teams, we just haven’t put it all together for the entirety of the game. It was a complete game from top down. We made big plays in all three phases, and that’s what you want to see.”

In last year’s loss to Bayou, SA turned the ball over four times and had two costly special teams blunders to go along with a multitude of penalties. The setback derailed the Vols’ season on many different levels. Win and then run the clock out in the regular season finale against Magnolia Heights and a district title and higher seed in the playoffs is forthcoming. Instead, SA finished 4-7, its first losing season in Nicholson’s 10-year tenure.

Year 11 is off to a much better start, although Nicholson couldn’t help but have some feelings of Bayou déjà vu’ in the early going Friday. SA turned the ball over on its first two possessions, including its first fumble of the year to start the game followed by a Pick 6 a few minutes later that staked the Colts’ to an early 7-0 lead.

No need to worry, however. Bayou wouldn’t score the rest of the night. In fact, the Colts’ offense, which came in averaging 26 points per game behind a strong running attack, managed zero points against the Vols’ aggressive, hard-hitting defense.

SA sacked Bayou quarterback Mitchell Jones in the end zone for a safety on the first play of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 7-2. The Vols then went ahead 10-7 midway through the quarter on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Northcutt to Couvillion followed by a two-point conversion pass from Northcutt to Blake Little. Placekicker Nathan Miller sent the Vols into the half on a high note by booting a 47-yard field as time expired for a 13-7 lead.

Miller’s bomb seemed to light a fire under SA in the second half. Or perhaps it was Barksdale’s fiery halftime speech. Either way, it worked as the Vols scored touchdowns on five straight second half possessions to put this one on ice.

Wall connected with Jackson Knight (5 catches, 91 yards) on a 45-yard scoring strike to start the scoring spree, which was capped by a 64-yard touchdown scamper from Lawson Mullins (8 carries, 107 yards) late in the third quarter. In between, Wall (5 yards) and Miller Shy (14 yards) added a pair of touchdown runs.

All this from an offense that came in averaging 19.6 points and less than 200 yards per game. Six different players had carries and four different receivers caught at least one pass, including sophomore Jackson Pounds, whose 32-yard reception set up Wall’s scoring run.

“The offense did a good job tonight of executing the game plan our offensive coaches put out there for them,” Nicholson said. “Anytime you can get the run game going like we did tonight, mix in some short stuff in the passing game and connect on a few over the top, you’re opening it up pretty good. We still have some things we need to clean up, but tonight was so much better than where we’ve been the first few weeks. So, I’m excited about the direction we’re headed.”

Same goes for Wall, who has split quarterback duties with Northcutt throughout the season. Wall, a junior, is the more experienced of the two, having played last year and even starting a couple of games. Meanwhile, this time last year, Northcutt was leading the junior high team to an undefeated season and district title as an 8th-grader. Both have had high and low moments this season in what is a true two-quarterback approach adopted and embraced by the Vols’ this season.

“The biggest thing is feeding off each other in practice and in games, talking to each other about what each of us sees, feeding off each other and growing together,” Wall said. “We split reps pretty much 50-50, so we’re learning from each other, it’s not like one growing more than the other. And we’ve got a great group of receivers to throw to. We couldn’t do it without them. The yards after catches were incredible tonight.”

As good as SA was on offense – at least in the second half – it was just as good defensively. That’s nothing new for this unit, which is allowing only 10 points per game four games into the season. The Vols forced three more turnovers – a fumble recovery by Bristo Santucci (who had the tackle on the safety) and interceptions from Brantley Berkery and Rhett Schilling – and held Bayou to under 100 yards (92) of total offense. The fact that one of the team’s best defensive players, linebacker Brody Burkley, went down with an injury less than three minutes into the game and didn’t return, makes those numbers even more impressive.

Defensive coordinator Jonathan Worrell’s bunch now has nine takeaways in four games (six interceptions, three fumble recoveries) and registered two Pick 6’s along with a pair of safeties. The Vols have held the opposition scoreless in 11 of 16 quarters and are allowing less than 150 yards (147) per game of total offense.

SA’s defense has allowed only 20 points in the first half this season, helping offset a well-documented slow-starting offense that has produced only 21 first half points. The second half, particularly the third quarter, has belonged to the Vols, however.

They have now outscored opponents 92-13 in the second half this season, 71-0 in the third quarter.

“That’s pretty good,” said Nicholson, with a grin. “I’ll take it.”

Parklane will be SA’s biggest test to date without question. The Pioneers are 4-0, including a season-opening 18-7 victory over tradition-rich Jackson Prep. They are 16-2 in their last 18 games dating back to last season and have won 12 straight, most

notably a 70-42 win over Leake Academy in last year’s Class 5A State Championship game.

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SA vs. Parklane: Week 5

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Sa vs. East Rankin: Week 3