Sa vs. East Rankin: Week 3

Photos by Mike Brown Sports Photography

Big 2nd Half Vaults Vols

PELAHATCHIE – There’s a common adage that goes “It’s not always how you start, it’s how you finish.”

Well, Starkville Academy’s football team is certainly proof of that.

The Volunteers overcame yet another slow start here Friday night, rallying for a hard-earned 28-13 road victory over upstart East Rankin at Moody Davis Field in a battle of previously unbeaten teams. Trailing 7-0 at halftime, SA outscored the Patriots 28-6 in the second half, registering two offensive and two defensive touchdowns, to emerge victorious in its Class 4A, District 2 opener.

“Anytime you get that first district win, especially on the road, it’s big,” SA linebacker Brody Burkley said. “That was a good team we played tonight. They’ve got a few big boys.”

SA improved to 3-0 overall, 1-0 in district play. The Vols entertain Bayou for homecoming this week. East Rankin, off to its best start since 1999, dropped to 3-1 and 0-1.

Emotions ran high on both sides throughout the highly physical, low-possession game, with both teams delivering one hard hit after the other. One violent collision followed another. Yards were hard to come by, with each one well-earned. Same goes for points.

The two teams combined for 82 rushing plays (54 ERA, 28 SA). Little wonder, neither found much success through the air. The Vols completed just one of four pass attempts for minus 1 yards. That was one better than the run-dominant Patriots, who failed to complete a pass on four attempts. The quarterbacks actually completed more passes to the other team (4 INT’s, 2 apiece) than to their own guys.

“That was an old-fashioned, 1980s slobberknocker,” veteran SA coach Chase Nicholson said. “I was really proud of our effort, especially in the second half. We were able to overcome a slow start and get it done. So I’m happy about the win. But we have to figure out how to come out the gate better. We have to bring the fight from the first snap. That’s our challenge.”

Slow starts are nothing new for SA. In fact, they’ve become the norm. Over the past 14 games dating back to last season, the Vols have now been outscored 93-19 in the first quarter and 230-103 in the first half. And nine of those 19 first quarter points were produced by special teams and the defense. SA kicked a field goal in the first quarter of last year’s regular season finale against Magnolia Heights, and it scored a touchdown a week ago in a lopsided win over Winston Academy in the opening 12 minutes.

So, it came as no surprise SA found itself trailing once again at intermission. Seven plays after taking over at the Vols’ 28-yard line following a high snap back to the punter late in the second quarter, ERA took a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by burly running back Brandon Loper with 8 seconds to play before halftime. The big play on the drive was quarterback Aiden Carlisle’s 24-yard run on 4th and 11, giving ERA first and goal at the SA 6-yard line, eventually setting up Loper’s scoring run.

That’s the bad news. The good news? SA, like it has through the first three games this season, responded in a big way in the second half. The Vols allowed only six points in the second half, those coming on another Loper 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. By then, SA had surged ahead 14-7 thanks to a 8-yard touchdown run from freshman running back Lawson Mullins with 6:33 left in the third quarter and a 60-yard Pick 6 from defensive back Nate Fratesi.

“I was in my peddle, and I saw the ball go up,” Fratesi said. “It was a little underthrown, and I went under and got it. I caught it and I was off. At first, when I caught it, I thought I was going to be pushed out of bounds. Then I caught a block, the guy missed me, and I knew I was gone after that.”

Burkley came up with another big play, blocking the PAT after ERA’s second touchdown, preserving the one-point Vols’ lead. “I almost got to it the first time, so I had a good feeling I was going to get to the second one,” he said “It was a big play at the moment.”

Indeed. Facing a 4th and 10 from its own 32-yard line and time running low, ERA attempted a fake punt. SA snuffed it out, however, stopping the upback five yards short of the first down. Four plays later, Mullins (13 carries, 78 yards) recorded his

second touchdown of the night – a weaving, zig-zagging, 27-yard highlight-worthy gem in which he broke a slew of would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone – to push the SA lead to 21-13.

Defensive back Brantley Berkery put the final nail in ERA’s coffin and added the proverbial cherry on top of SA’s victory with his 40-yard interception return for a touchdown a little over a minute later. In all, after failing to score in the first half, the Vols scored 28 points in the final 18 minutes and change, the last two coming in the final two minutes.

“He overthrew it right to me,” Berkery said. “It was right there. I broke one tackle and got in the end zone. It was pretty sweet.”

SA has now outscored its first three opponents 63-13 in the second half this season, and 178-136 over the last 14 games dating back to last season. Seven of those came a week ago on an oh-by-the-way long touchdown pass in the fourth quarter with a 33-0 lead over Winston and mostly backups in the game.

“We fought all night,” Berkery said. “(ERA) was tired in the second half, and we weren’t. We’ve been working on our conditioning all summer. That made a big difference tonight.”

No doubt, there were sore bodies on both sides after this one, perhaps no one more so than the 6-foot-1, 230-pound Loper, who bullied his way for a game-high 115 yards on 32 carries and the two touchdowns. To the SA defenders, it must have felt like trying to stop the train that whistled through on a nearby track in the fourth quarter.

Loper’s second scoring run was set up by his own 31-yard run two plays earlier that moved the ball from the Vols’ 38-yard line down to the 7-yard line. He broke several tackles and ran over a few more along the way as he has been apt to do this season.

“He was a big back!” Fratesi said. “He was tough to bring down. I definitely thought our defense showed up, though, especially in the second half. We only allowed one more touchdown and blocking the extra point was real big.”

SA finished with 161 rushing yards and nine first downs. Meanwhile, ERA had 198 yards and 12 first downs, most all coming out of the single-wing formation. Each team had only three possessions in the first half as the Patriots milked the clock as much as possible in an effort to shorten the game.

“That’s what their offense is geared to do,” Nicholson said. “You saw we only had two or three possessions in the first half. Their time of possession is going to be ridiculous probably, especially on that one touchdown drive. That’s what they want to

do, though, and we knew that going in. They were able to get some big chunks along the way, but we didn’t give up the long play. That’s part of that offense, if you don’t fit right you can give up the long play. I thought overall our defense did a great job of slowing that offense down, forcing turnovers and putting them in some positions they didn’t want to be in.”

The defense finished with three takeaways, including a fumble recovery by defensive back Thomas Graves that set up a score.

“Anytime you can score on defense it’s a good night,” Nicholson continued. “That’s something that Coach Worrell preaches, and I think that’s the first time we’ve been able to pull that off this year. To do it twice is fantastic. I’m very proud of them.”

Worrell spent four seasons as head coach at East Rankin prior to his arrival in Starkville.

“There were a lot of emotions before the game and after the game, but during the game it was all about football and what was happening on the field,” said Worrell, whose unit is allowing an average of just 166.3 yards and 11 points per game through three games. “I was trying to do the best job I could to help my guys be in the best position possible to succeed and win the game, like always. East Rankin had a great game plan, and that allowed them to be competitive and keep the game close. Coach Dyess is doing a great job with those guys.”