Jackson Academy and Hartfield Academy are an even 3-3 against one another since September of 2017, but not for long. The Jackson Academy Raiders will welcome the Hartfield Academy Hawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Jackson Academy's defense heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They claimed a resounding 38-0 victory over Presbyterian Christian. Given the Raiders' advantage in MaxPreps' Mississippi football rankings (they are ranked 28th, while the Bobcats are ranked 106th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Omarean Ellis was his usual excellent self, rushing for 175 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.8 yards per carry. Pruet James was another key player, throwing for 182 yards and two touchdowns on only 16 passes.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Jackson Academy's defense and their six sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Dereon Albert and Tj White, who racked up five sacks between them. Albert is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last seven games he's played.
Jackson Academy was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 258 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 241 rushing yards in five consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Hartfield Academy was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past St. Joseph Catholic 62-20. With the Hawks ahead 55-14 at the half, the game was all but over already.
Hartfield Academy found their leader in sophomore Ethan Elliott, who rushed for 117 yards and four touchdowns on only 12 carries, and also threw for 104 yards on six of 12 attempts. The dominant performance gave Elliott a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Josh Wooten, who rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.
Jackson Academy's win bumped their record up to 8-2. As for Hartfield Academy, their victory bumped their record up to an identical 8-2.
Jackson Academy was dealt a bruising 35-7 loss at the hands of Hartfield Academy when the teams last played back in November of 2023. Thankfully for Jackson Academy, Reed Jesiolowski (who rushed for 220 yards and a touchdown while picking up 9.6 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
