SA vs. Magnolia Heights: Week 7

Photos by Mike Brown Sports Photography

Chiefs Scalp Vols, 42-14

Brannan Overstreet grew up here in Starkville and even attended Starkville Academy as a young kid.

Too bad he left midway through his elementary years.

Overstreet, now at Magnolia Heights, returned home Friday night and turned Starkville Academy’s J.E. Logan Field into his own personal playground. The junior quarterback threw for 314 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for another as the Chiefs cruised past the Volunteers 42-14.

The game was tied 7-7 late in the first quarter before Magnolia Heights reeled off 35 unanswered points to take a commanding 42-7 lead. Overstreet, a distant relative to the SA Overstreet’s, completed 20 of 30 passes, including touchdown passes of 7, 30, 14, and 65 yards, without an interception to go along with his 3-yard scoring run midway through the fourth quarter to put a bow on his brilliant performance.

The 6-foot-3, 210 pound Overstreet spread the wealth, completing passes to eight different receivers. Every time his team needed a big play, he seemingly came through, many times on third downs to keep scoring drives alive. This against a SA defense that came in allowing only 14.3 points and 87.3 yards passing per game. The Vols had allowed only four touchdowns through the air through the first six games. They had no answer for Overstreet and Co. on this night, though.

“He’s a really good football player, really good quarterback no doubt,” SA coach Chase Nicholson said. “He’s got good vision, good touch, throws a good deep ball, big body . . . if you bring too many he’ll make you pay, if you drop eight in coverage he’ll make you pay with his legs. He does a really good job. We got to him several times and made him make a few bad throws, but we missed on those opportunities.”

Magnolia Heights improved to 7-1. The Chiefs’ lone loss came a week ago against talent-laden Jackson Academy. SA dropped to 6-2 with its second loss in the past three weeks. The Vols host Lamar School (6-2) Friday on the second leg of a current three-game homestand before wrapping up the regular season at Hartfield Academy.

Power points are at a premium over the course of the next few weeks as teams position themselves for MAIS postseason play. In the fresh newfangled format, the top six teams in Class 4A will compete for the Division I championship at season’s end. The next six teams in the points pecking order will vie for the Division II championship, while the next six will play for the Division III title. Sixteen of the 20 Class 4A teams qualify for the postseason, only four don’t.

Just exactly where SA falls into that postseason mix remains to be seen. The Vols’ fate will be determined, in large part, to what transpires these last three weeks of the regular season.

“It was a 7-7 game in the first quarter, and we were still in a battle coming out of halftime against a very good football team,” Nicholson said. “Then we had a turnover or two and it kind of got away from us in the second half. But I’m really proud of the way my guys played. We got better this week . . . we’re getting better every single week . . . and that’s the whole goal. Nobody likes to lose, everybody hates to lose. I hate to lose. We all know that. But we’re working towards November, and putting ourselves in the best position possible. Our goals are still in front of us.”

SA won eight straight over Magnolia Heights starting in 2014-’15 season. The Chiefs have now won three of the last four in the series, however, including two straight in Stark Vegas in back-to-back years. The Chiefs won 23-21 a year ago on a field goal in the waning seconds to clinch the District title, a year after the Vols did the same with a 12-10 victory in Senatobia.

While both of those games were decided by a combined four points, the latest installment wasn’t nearly as competitive thanks in large part to Overstreet, who this time a year ago was the starting quarterback at Hernando High. Interestingly enough, he informed Magnolia Heights head coach Russ Whiteside of his decision to transfer just one day after last year’s star quarterback Cole Prosek told Whiteside he wouldn’t be playing football this his senior season because he wanted to focus on baseball. Talk about a topsy-turvy 48 hours or so for the Chiefs’ head chief.

Prosek, who has been committed to Ole Miss in baseball since the 8th grade, threw for 344 yards and three touchdowns in Magnolia Height’s two-point win over SA a year ago. Coincidentally, Overstreet, like Prosek, is also a stellar baseball player and Division I prospect.

“Brannan played baseball with a lot of our guys, so they knew him,” Whiteside. “He came to me in late May, early June and said he wanted to make the move. It has worked out pretty well.”

No doubt. Most schools don’t have one signal-caller the caliber of Overstreet on campus, much less two. Overstreet has now thrown for nearly 1,400 yards and 15 touchdowns against just three interceptions. While SA was able to shut down the Chiefs’ running game – 31 yards on 23 carries – they fell victim to the aerial exploits of No 15. Those started early with a 7-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter and ended with a 65-yarder with just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Magnolia Heights’ defense also got into the act with a 25-yard scoop and score a few minutes later. All in all it was a dominant performance for the Chiefs, who totaled 18 first downs on offense and forced a pair of turnovers defensively.

SA, rotating quarterbacks Sam Wall and Jack Northcutt as it has throughout the season, finished with 247 total yards. The Vols had 102 rushing yards on 28 carries to go along with 145 passing yards. Freshman running back Lawson Mullins once again led the way on the ground with 73 yards on 14 carries. Northcutt, also a freshman, completed 9 of 10 passes for 79 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Knight on the Vols’ second possession.

Knight has a team-leading five touchdown receptions this season. The Vols’ other touchdown came on a 34-yard pass from Wall to Blake Little with just over three minutes remaining in the game. It was Little’s first TD of this season.

“Not looking at the scoreboard, but there were a lot of good things that happened for us, especially offensively,” Nicholson said. “We had some big plays . . . there were a lot of good things on the offensive side of the football that we’ve not seen much of. That was good. Like I said earlier, we got better this week. We’ve got a lot of young guys learning on the fly. We’re due for a win. We know it’s not going to be easy. These guys have to find a way to come into a game of this caliber, battle, take it over and take it into the fourth quarter and find a way to get it done.”