Starkville Academy is 9-1 against Magnolia Heights since September of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Starkville Academy Volunteers will head out on the road to face off against the Magnolia Heights Chiefs at 7:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
You can't lose the matchup if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Starkville Academy's strategy against Heritage Academy on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Starkville Academy blew Heritage Academy out of the water with a 42-0 final score. The victory was just what Starkville Academy needed coming off of a 29-7 loss in their prior match.
Starkville Academy can attribute much of their success to Luke Johnson, who rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries. Briggs Bennett was another key contributor, throwing for 129 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 passes.
Starkville Academy's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB three times. Leading the way was Jackson Easton and his two sacks.
Meanwhile, Magnolia Heights had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 25.5 points), and they went ahead and made it three on Friday. They walked away with a 42-34 win over Pillow Academy. 42 seems to be a good number for Magnolia Heights as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of points in their previous game.
Cole Prosek was on fire: he rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns, and also threw for 132 yards and three touchdowns. Jackson Price was in the mix too, providing Magnolia Heights with two touchdowns.
Their wins bumped Starkville Academy to 7-2 and Magnolia Heights to 6-3.
Starkville Academy came up short against Magnolia Heights in their previous matchup back in September of 2022, falling 24-14. Can Starkville Academy avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
