There is one football certainty to unfold this Saturday: the 2017 MAIS AAA Championship trophy will be headed to a town located on Highway 82.
And if the Indianola Academy Colonels have anything to do with it, it will be delivered to their school for the second consecutive year.
With 48 minutes of excellent football and the Starkville Academy Volunteers standing between them and that crown, the opportunity has now been earned for the Colonels to attempt to claim the championship again.
With kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m. this Saturday at Jackson Academy, the No. 1 ranked and 13-0 Colonels will do battle against the No. 2 ranked and 12-1 Volunteers.
While fresh off a 43-16 semifinal thumping of Columbia Academy last Friday night at Legion Field - the 40th consecutive home-field win for the Colonels - that same night Starkville Academy was busy demolishing now 11-2 Adams County Christian School of Natchez by a 31-0 score.
“I’m very proud of what the kids have accomplished”, said IA Head Coach Tommy Nester. “They have overcome some adversity to get where they’re at and hopefully we can finish the job.”
In earning their 27th straight victory, the Colonels used their punishing ground game to pick up 548 yards on 41 carries, an attack which featured Sebastian Harris as the primary weapon.
The senior running back would post his four-touchdown, 361-yard performance with only 27 carries; an effort which also broke his single-game rushing record set only four games ago.
While this Saturday will find the Colonels playing in their third consecutive state championship game, they will also be taking on the Starkville Academy squad for the second time this season.
In what seems like a long time ago, week three of this season found IA handing the Volunteers their only loss of the year, a 35-21 decision at Legion Field.
Since that loss, Starkville Academy has been more than impressive as they have run through their schedule and the playoffs by claiming 10 consecutive victories.
Perhaps the most startling statistic during their recent run?
The Volunteers have not allowed a point scored on them throughout their three playoff games played to date, and only five touchdowns in their last nine games.
“Starkville Academy is very well coached, are very physical, and will come into this game ready to play”, said Nester. “They are the kind of team you’d expect when playing for a state championship.”
In last Friday’s victory over Columbia Academy, the Colonels set the tone early on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
While the IA defense was bottling up the Cougars, the Colonels’ first offensive possession of the game resulted in a three play scoring drive. Harris ended the 64-yard drive with a 32-yard scoring run, and along with William Barrier’s PAT kick, gave IA a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
After a series of punts, the Colonels then moved the score to 14-0 with 1:16 remaining in the first period after Harris followed blockers around the left side en route to a 13-yard scoring run.
However, the Cougars stung the Colonels with a pair of deep passes to set up an eight-yard scoring toss in the early moments of the second quarter to cut IA’s lead to a 14-8 margin.
Two possessions later, the IA offense answered the Cougars’ challenge quickly; for with only 1:13 remaining in the first half of the game, the Colonels would cover 88 yards in less than a minute to score again.
Utilizing their two minute offense and eight running plays, Harris would sprint in from 15 yards to give the Colonels their newly expanded 21-8 lead.
After closing out the first half with a TD, forty seconds into the second half the Colonels posted more points onto the scoreboard.
Beginning at their own 46 yard line, the Colonels required only two plays for Harris to find the endzone.
His 38 yard sprint to the pylon was followed by Barrier’s fourth of five PAT kicks and IA owned a commanding 28-8 lead.
Scoring twice more in the fourth frame, IA finished off a 12-play, 80-yard drive when quarterback Will Davis connected with T.K. Bolden with a 31-yard scoring pass. Bolden’s high leap for the ball resulted in catching the tipped ball on his back while falling to the turf.
IA’s final touchdown of the game occurred following a Josh Hill pass interception which gave IA the ball on their own nine yard line.
Three plays later, excellent blocking enabled Davis to sweep the left side and outrun Columbia defenders 81 yards for a touchdown.
Offensively, in addition to Harris’ 361-yard performance, Davis and Wesley Lester carried the ball five times apiece and earned 95 and 57 yards respectively.
Through the air, Davis completed four of nine passes for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Bolden pulled in three of those for 45 yards and a touchdown while Randy Kimble pulled in one pass for 16 yards.
Defensively, although the Cougars completed 26-of-41 passes for 314 yards, their 23 rushes only generated 76 yards of offense.
Leading IA’s resistance was Jack Dodd with four solo tackles and eight assists.
Close behind was Lester with four solos, four assists, and a sack while Eli Lipsey completed his night’s play with four solos, three assists, and a pass interception.
While Barrier tallied three solos and five assists, Stefon Smith registered four solo tackles and a pair of assists.
