SA vs. Hartfield: Week 1O

Photos by Mike Brown Sports Photography

Vols Turn Page to Playoffs

FLOWOOD – Hartfield Academy isn’t as good as it has been the past two years when it won 26 games and claimed back-to-back MAIS Class 6A State championships. That said, the Hawks still have talent aplenty.

Starkville Academy found that out the hard way here Friday night at Community Bank Field.

The Vols hung tough for the better part of the first quarter only to see Hartfield explode for 42 points over a 13 minute, 30 second stretch bridging the first and second quarters en route to a 42-20 victory in the regular season finale for both teams.

SA dropped to 6-4 overall, 2-2 in District 4-2A with its third loss in the last four games. Hartfield improved to 5-5, 4-0 with its fourth straight win after a 1-5 start. The playoffs await both teams. The Vols will host Copiah Academy this Friday at J.E. Logan Field in the opening round of 4A-Division II. Meanwhile, the Hawks will host Jackson Prep the following week in the opening round of 4A-Division 1.

“Hartfield has a good team,” SA head coach Chase Nicholson said. “My guys played hard. I was proud of how they competed.”

SA opened the game with a 66-yard pass from freshman quarterback Jack Northcutt to wideout Julian Kraker. It was Kraker’s first catch of the season. That completion moved the ball to Hartfield’s 7-yard line. Three plays later, facing a 4th-and-1 at the 5-yard line, the Vols’ elected to go for it and were promptly denied, turning the ball over on downs.

Neither team did much on their next possessions prior to Hartfield’s impressive scoring spree. South Florida commit K.D. Catchings got it started with a 8-yard touchdown run with three minutes, one second remaining in the first quarter, and Auburn commit Bralan Womack hauled in a 47-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Elliott with 1:30 remaining in the first half to cap it. The Hawks also got scoring runs of 11 and 44 yards from running back Collin McIntyre, a 36-yard Pick 6 by Logan Drummond and a 26-yard scoring run from Catchings.

Just like that, a competitive, scoreless game turned into a 42-6 Hartfield lead and a running clock just prior to intermission. SA’s lone points during that stretch came on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Northcutt to wideout Jackson Knight midway through the second quarter. It was Knight’s team-leading eighth touchdown reception this season. The sophomore also leads the team in receptions (30) and receiving yards (438).

The Vols added a pair of touchdowns in the second half for the final 22-point deficit. Freshman running back Lawson Mullins scored on a 8-yard run three minutes into the third quarter, and two possessions later sophomore wideout Jackson Pounds reeled in a 17-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Wall. Mullins finished with 102 yards on 11 carries. He has a team-leading 653 yards on 127 carries and seven touchdowns this season.

Hartfield totaled 318 yards of total offense (165 rushing, 153 passing) – 303 coming in the first half when it built a commanding lead. McIntyre had 72 yards on eight carries, while Elliott completed 8 of his 11 passes. Womack, the No. 1 ranked safety in the country, No. 2 ranked player in Mississippi and No. 12 ranked player in the country in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports, had one carry for 29 yards and four catches for 116 yards.

SA totaled 305 yards (184 yards rushing, 121 yards passing). The Vols had 168 yards in the first half, 137 in the second half.

Now that the book is officially closed on the regular season, SA shifts its focus to postseason play. Sixteen teams qualified for the Class 4A playoffs. The first four teams in the convoluted MAIS Power Points system (MRA, Hartfield, Jackson Prep and JA) will play for the Division I championship; the next six teams (Parklane, Magnolia Heights, Heritage, SA, Copiah and Oak Forest) will vie for the Division II championship; and the next six teams (Silliman, Lamar, Cathedral, Simpson, Brookhaven and Pillow) will battle it out for the Division III state title.

SA (44.556) finished just ahead of Copiah (43.778) in power points, thus earning the right to host the playoff opener. The SA-Copiah winner must travel to McComb to face Parklane, the top-seeded team in Division II, on Nov. 14. The loser is done. Heritage hosts Oak Forest in the other half of the bracket. The winner of that game will travel to Senatobia to take on Magnolia Heights. The Division II championship game is slated for Nov. 21 at JA.

Friday’s 7 p.m. game in Stark Vegas is a rematch of last year’s playoff opener, won by Copiah 36-7 in Gallman. Two of the Colonels’ best players in that game – 6-foot-3, 240-pound running back Tre’ Ellis and quarterback Jackson Teasley – return. Ellis had 71 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries; Teasley completed all seven of his passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. The good news is speedy scatback Jamarius Grayer, who was lightning to Ellis’ thunder, graduated. He had a 27-yard touchdown in last year’s 29-point win over the Vols.

Copiah enters 8-2, coming off a 35-0 victory over Cathedral in its regular season finale. The Colonels are averaging 29.4 points per game and allowing 13.1 points per game. They have held five opponents to eight points or less, including three shutouts. SA is averaging 20.9 points per game while allowing 22.3 points per game.

SA is 3-2 at home this season. Copiah is 4-2 on the road, including a 30-29 setback against Heritage in Columbus.

“We’re looking forward to the playoffs,” Nicholson said. “This is the time of the year you play for. I’m looking forward to watching the guys prepare and compete. We have a good football team, and I believe we can make a run for it.”