Sa vs. chambers: Week 1

Photos by Mike Brown Sports Photography

Vols Rally, Escape With W

LAFAYETTE, Ala. – To say things didn’t go as planned for Starkville Academy in the first half of its season-opener here Friday night at jam-packed Torbert-Allen Field would be an understatement. The Vols’ offense sputtered, the defense gave up a pair of long scoring drives to open the game, and as a result Chambers Academy was up by a baker’s dozen at intermission.

The second half was a completely different story, however, as SA managed to flip the script. The offense found just enough life, the defense tightened and pitched a shutout, and the special teams were, well in a word, special.

As a result, the gritty Vols were able to rally for a hard-earned 14-13 come from behind road victory over the Rebels. While not always aesthetically pleasing – even by first game standards – it was a thing of beauty in the eyes of veteran SA head coach Chase Nicholson. Not on the same level as his new bride, Krista, but you get the picture.

“Wow! What a great night,” Nicholson yelled as his giddy players and staff gathered in celebration around him on the field afterward. “To be able to start off the season that way, with a win over a good football team on the road, is absolutely huge. It was definitely a tale of two halves. Fortunately, we were able to outlast them in the second half and come away with the win.”

Leading 14-13 late, SA, set up by a muffed punt recovered by Beau Cox, went for the dagger on 4th-and-9 at the Chambers’ 33-yard line. Quarterback Sam Wall’s pass fell incomplete in the end zone, opening the door for the Rebels. With no timeouts remaining, Chambers hurriedly worked its way down the field and eight plays later found itself at the SA 10-yard line with 12.3 seconds left. Following an incomplete pass, Chambers chose to go the field goal route. The 27-yarder failed miserably, coming up way short

in part due to a heavy push up front from the Vols.

Game over. Rally complete. Last second heroics denied. For those who follow the Vols closely it should come as no surprise the game was as close as it was. Seven of SA’s last 12 games dating back to last season have been decided by six points or less, four by three points or less. Whether Nicholson’s squad is playing about 30 minutes from the Auburn University campus as it was Friday, inside the friendly confines of J.E. Logan Field in Stark Vegas, or anywhere between it’s a safe bet the game is going to be a white-knuckler.

Chambers, the reigning Class 2A state champion in the Alabama Independent School Association, has only lost 17 of its last 129 games dating back to the 2015-’16 season. Two of those L’s came against SA over the course of the last two seasons. The Vols won last year’s game 35-31 in Starkville.

It looked as if Chambers, playing without its starting quarterback (tore ACL in practice two weeks ago), may waltz to a win in the early going. The Rebels marched 80 yards on 13 plays on their first possession to take a 7-0 lead. They followed that up with a 7-play, 80-yard drive to surge

ahead 13-0 with 8 minutes, 29 seconds left in the second quarter. Both touchdowns came on short runs.

As it turned out, Chambers didn’t score again the rest of the way, and the missed PAT would loom large in the outcome. SA’s defense stymied the Rebels’ ground-oriented offense in the second half, and the Vols’ offense managed to reach the end zone twice. While SA seemingly got stronger and gained momentum as the game went on, Chambers – the much bigger team – wilted.

“I thought our depth wore Chambers down in the second half,” Nicholson said. “We’re going to out-number some folks, and that’s what happened tonight. We’re very fortunate that we have good numbers. We’ve got some guys who play both ways, but we can rest them at times, especially defensively, and that’s a big advantage for us.”

SA’s offense went 3-and-out on its first two possessions of the second half. The Vols punted both times, with the second punt by Nathan Miller pinning Chambers inside its own 10-yard line. Three plays resulted in no yards, forcing the Rebels to punt. SA’s punt returner waved for a fair catch on the play but instead was hit by a Chambers’ defender. The 15-yard penalty moved the ball to the Rebels’ 19-yard line. It was just the tonic a strugglin offense needed. Three plays later Lawson Mullins scored on a 13-yard run up the middle with two minutes, 30 seconds left in the third quarter to cut the lead to six.

On the fifth play of SA’s next possession, quarterback Jack Northcutt connected with wideout Blake Little on a 51-yard pass down the middle of the field to move the ball down to the 5-yard line. Brantley Berkery scored on the next play to tie it 13-13 followed by a 35-yard PAT by Miller following an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Vols’ on the scoring play. Just like that, SA had its first lead of the game, a lead it wouldn’t relinquish thanks to a hard-hitting defense.

Northcutt’s deep pass was a little underthrown, but Little jumped high into the air and “Mossed” a Rebels’ defender to come away with the reception.

“The pass was a little behind me, I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get it or not,” Little said. “I went up for it and fortunately I was able to get it over two people. That was a big momentum play for us.”

Said Nicholson: “That was a big time play by Blake. But that’s Blake. He’s a big-time playmaker.”

As for Miller’s longer than normal clutch extra point?

“He’s got ice water in his veins,” Nicholson said. “He flipped the field on that punt, too, and that was big moment in the game. There were so many special teams plays in the game. Anytime you have a close game like that special teams are going to play a big role, and that was the case tonight. When you look at it, in the end, I feel like we won all three phases.”

SA finished with 147 yards of total offense (70 rushing, 77 passing) – 51 coming on the pass from Northcutt to Little. The Vols only turned the ball over once, an interception late in the second quarter. Chambers finished with 232 yards (158 rushing, 74 passing. The Rebels managed only 80 yards in the second half, 57 coming on their unsuccessful, late ditch drive.

Chambers rushed for 379 yards in last year’s loss at SA.

“I thought the defense played well for four quarters, minus the first drive when we had the (three offsides) penalties,” Nicholson said. “We learned from that, though, and it didn’t happen again. They pitched a shutout in the second half. We played faster as the game went along than Chambers did. It seemed like we were in position most of the time to make plays . . . we rarely got out of position.

“We woke up in the second half,” Nicholson continued. “Some of those guys had to grow up. We had some guys step into larger roles for the first time, and we had some sophomores who were getting their first real taste of high school football. It’s a lot different than junior high. It’s big boy football, especially the way they play here. So it took some of them a little time to adjust and figure out the speed of the game. It’s one thing to be a backup, it’s an entirely different thing being the man. They

had to figure out what that looked like. It’s a little different switch you have to flip. We’re depending on them, though, and they know that.”

SA defensive back Nate Fratesi credited the Vols’ depth and conditioning. Sixteen different Vols were credited with at least one tackle.

“It definitely helps having guys come in when we need them,” Fratesi said. “It’s good to be able to get some fresh legs in there to help us make tackles and get stops. I thought we played good defense in the first half, too, for the most part. But we came back with more fire in the second half. There was definitely a little bit of nerves early on, but nobody ever shied away from it and we were able to get the job done.”

Said SA linebacker Brody Burkley: “We made a couple of adjustments on the defensive line, and they didn’t have an answer for it. That and our conditioning. We figured they would be tired coming out in the second half, and we knew we wouldn’t be. That’s something we really work hard on, and it paid off for us tonight in the second half.”

In a scheduling rarity, SA has this upcoming week off. The Vols are set to host nearby Winston Academy in the home opener the following week. The Patriots lost 27-6 to Pillow in their season opener.