There is but one football game remaining to play on Legion Field this season.
Along with tonight’s final home game, the Indianola Academy Colonels will also be participating in their last District 2-2A contest of the season.
With kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m., the 2-6, 0-2 Colonels will attempt to notch their first district win against the winless (0-7, 0-1) Saints of Greenville Christian School.
“Greenville Christian does not have a bad football team,” said IA Head Coach Tommy Nester. “They have had a tough schedule to play this year. They are quick and athletic, and we will have to cover them well and tackle them well.”
The Colonels, meanwhile, will also be attempting to rebound from the 49-27 Homecoming district loss suffered last Friday to Carroll Academy.
Using big plays to help accumulate their high point total, with the win the Rebels improved their record to a 4-4, 2-0 mark.
As for Greenville Christian School’s action last Friday, the Saints dropped a 66-26 decision to 3A member Adams County Christian School (5-3) of Natchez.
To date, the only common opponent to IA and the Saints has been Carroll Academy.
While the Colonels absorbed their recent 22-point loss to Carroll Academy, the Saints fell by 27 points (33-6) to the Rebels in the third week of the season.
Historically, the last time IA and Greenville Christian School have met on a football field was in 2020, when the Colonels dropped a hard-fought second round playoff 20-6 loss to the eventual state champion Saints.
However, IA does own a 21-3 won-loss advantage in its series with the Greenville Christian School football program.
In last Friday’s loss to Carroll Academy, the Colonels opened the game in strong fashion.
While the game was full of big scoring plays, it was the IA offense turning in the first long scoring play of the night.
Striking in the closing seconds of the first quarter, sophomore quarterback Patrick Davis and senior Graham Howard teamed up for the first of their two touchdown passes of the night.
This initial score of the game covered 72 yards and with Davis’s first of three PAT kicks, the Colonels owned a short-lived 7-0 lead.
For the Rebels responded in the second quarter with three touchdowns to take a 20-14 lead to the dressing room at halftime.
While Davis and Howard collaborated on their second TD pass of the night, on this occasion covering 55 yards, the Rebels used three long (47, 82, and 62 yards) runs to take the lead.
The Colonels opened the second half of the game by striking back on their first offensive possession. On this occasion, it was junior Ty Killebrew sprinting 52 yards for the touchdown.
Davis’s PAT kick then gave the Colonels a 21-20 lead, which unfortunately proved to be their final lead of the night.
The Rebels would then respond with four unanswered touchdowns before a fourth quarter 7-yard TD run by Davis completed the scoring in this game.
Offensively, the Colonels’ rushing attack was led by Killebrew’s 107 yards earned on his 16 carries.
Through the air, Davis completed 12 of his 25 passes for 225 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Howard’s seven receptions included the two touchdown passes and garnered 177 of those total passing yards.
Levi Williamson was also on the receiving end of five of those passes which accumulated 48 yards of offense.
Defensively, the Colonels’ efforts were led by senior Matthew Gary as the linebacker totaled 10 tackles.
While Carson Miller added another nine tackles to the IA resistance, Howard’s night on the defensive side of the football ended with eight tackles recorded.
