The bottom line is there now remains only four AAA teams still playing football; and the Indianola Academy Colonels are one of those squads.
The now 12-0 Colonels earned their berth in the State AAA semifinals after claiming a second round 28-0 playoff victory over Leake Academy last Friday night on a very wet Legion Field.
Keying the victory for IA was the ability to couple a punishing four-touchdown ground game with a defense which only allowed 33 yards of rushing to the competition.
That 26th consecutive IA victory also means that for the fifth consecutive season, the Colonels are now a final four participant in the State AAA playoffs.
“I thought the kids handled the weather well and we were able to win the turnover battle”, said IA Head Coach Tommy Nester.
In regard to IA’s ground game which primarily pounded the Rebels between the tackles, Coach Nester noted, “The offensive line did a good job creating running room and we ran the ball hard behind them.”
However, there is a very challenging game to win this Friday night if the Colonels want the opportunity to play for a second consecutive state championship.
That challenge is physically large and comes in the form of Columbia Academy.
Kickoff for this AAA semifinal game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
“Columbia Academy has a very big offensive line and they mix it up well on the ground and through the air”, said Nester. “They are a really good ball club and are very well-coached.”
While the 7-5 Cougars are also coming to town to play for the right to advance to the state championship game, a Columbia Academy victory would also put an end to the Colonels’ 39 straight home-field win streak.
The Cougars, the District 4AAA champions, are currently enjoying a five-game win streak of their own and are no strangers to Legion Field. Avenging the 41-20 loss suffered to IA in the 2016 AAA quarterfinal game also serves as an added incentive to hand IA a season-ending loss.
The Colonels will be taking on a Cougars squad which last Friday night traveled to Rayville, La. and upset the now 10-2 Riverfield Academy squad by a 38-26 margin.
Columbia Academy opened their 2017 playoffs with a 60-14 thumping of Wayne Academy of Waynesboro.
Upon reaching Legion Field, Columbia Academy will bring a high-scoring offense to the game, one that is averaging 35.75 points per outing.
Defensively, the Cougars have jelled recently as they have allowed only a 12 point per game average over the course of the last five games.
The resulting winner of this Friday’s game will advance on to the State AAA Championship game to be held Saturday, Nov. 18 at Jackson Academy.
That championship game’s other competition will come from this week’s remaining semifinal game between Starkville Academy and Adams County Christian School of Natchez.
As expected, in their latest effort last Friday night it rained at Legion Field during the Colonels’ quarterfinal playoff victory; and it rained a lot.
Also as expected, the now 7-5 Leake Academy Rebels were a tenacious and worthy opponent.
When all was said and done, however, the Colonels used their suffocating defense in addition to an offensive effort which generated a 291-yard ground attack to earn the victory.
During their victory over Leake Academy, the Colonels’ inside running game helped produce four multiple-play scoring drives covering 72, 69, 52 and 48 yards.
While the IA defense was busy handing the potent Leake Academy offense their first shutout of the season, the Colonels’ offensive line led the charge enabling IA to record a touchdown in every quarter of the game.
The Colonels’ initial points of the game were earned on their first possession of the game as a five play, 72-yard drive ended with Sebastian Harris running in from nine yards out.
William Barrier then kicked the first of four PAT kicks to give IA an early 7-0 lead.
With the rain intensity increasing as the game wore on, the Colonels did not score again until only 3:15 remained in the first half of play.
On this occasion, an 11-play, 69-yard drive down the field ended when Wesley Lester bulled his way four yards into the end zone.
The Colonels would then post a touchdown in each of the final two quarters when Harris ran his TD total to three in this contest with scoring runs of 11 and two yards.
Offensively, the Colonels rushed 41 times for 291 yards with Harris’ 19 carries picking up 143 yards and three touchdowns while Will Davis stung the Rebels for 110 yards with his 13 rushes.
Defensively, the Colonels limited Leake Academy to 101 total yards in the game. Helping to lead this resistance were Jack Dodd and Stefon Smith with three solos and seven assists apiece.
Also posting strong numbers were Josh Hill (2 solos, 5 assists) and Lester (1 solo, 4 assists, 1 sack).
Rounding out IA’s defensive leaders were Eli Lipsey and John Abbott Smith, both of whom recorded one solo and four assists apiece.
