Prior to last Friday night’s Class AAAA semifinal clash with Adams County Christian School, Kirk Academy head football coach Mike Beagle spoke to his team about the battle between David and Goliath.
A glimpse at each roster confirmed that the game could in fact be a battle of Biblical proportions. It did not disappoint.
The Rebels (9-3) convincingly played the role of a modern day Goliath with several noteworthy players towering high and tipping the scales at more than 300 pounds, while the average-sized Raiders (8-5) entered the contest as David with speed, athleticism and grit on their side.
Despite the size disparity, Kirk made big plays at the right time and kept Adams County Christian’s offense off the field long enough – winning time of possession by six minutes – to keep the game tight until the last six minutes of play.
When the final buzzer sounded in Natchez, the underdogs had prevailed as Kirk Academy punched its ticket to the state title game with a 16-7 road victory after outscoring ACCS 10-0 in the second half.
“Success is generated by what you do and how you adjust to certain situations,” Beagle said after the game. “That’s what we did individually with a team concept as the output. I’m really, really proud of our kids.”
Tri-County Academy, the team that eliminated the Raiders in the first round of the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools playoffs last season, now stands in the Raiders’ way.
“They are a good football team, we’ll have to get very prepared,” Beagle said Friday night after learning that the No. 5-seeded Rebels (13-1) out of Flora had defeated top-seeded St. Joseph Catholic School (9-2) in Greenville 14-7 after also trailing at halftime 7-6. Kirk Academy entered postseason play as the 11th seeded Class AAAA team.
Despite losing to Tri-County in the 2020 postseason, Beagle said his team competed well against the Rebels, giving him confidence heading into the season’s final game.
“We had a chance to win the game – put it away – and we didn’t,” he recalled. “We had a penalty call a touchdown back and we then couldn’t stop them late in the game with about 1:40 left and they got ahead to win the game.”
A rematch is exactly what the Raiders desired.
“We’re going to go back to work like we normally do and just approach it like we have all year,” Beagle said. “It’s the next step, it’s the next obstacle and we’re getting a rematch with Tri-County.”
The championship game kicks off at 7 p.m. Friday at Jackson Academy.
Conquering Giants
At the end of the first quarter, the semifinal contest remained scoreless.
Kirk drew first blood when senior quarterback Colbert Hathcock connected with a leaping Chris Bradford in the back of the end zone for six points. Sophomore placekicker Gunner Vance’s extra-point kick sailed wide left as the Raiders led 6-0 with 9:23 left until halftime.
However, with 1:23 left in the first half, ACCS finally got on the scoreboard when freshman quarterback Coleman Carter dumped a pass off to senior Jamar Kaho for a 12-yard touchdown. Junior Samuel Marriett’s PAT gave the home team a 7-6 lead, which the Rebels maintained until halftime.
Beagle said his team was “unnerved” as they went into the locker room at halftime, but as with every good story, he told them that it was time for them to open up chapter three and then move onto chapter four and “see where it goes.”
“I knew when we came out of the dressing room, we had a good chance of winning the football game just by the way their demeanor was coming out for the second half,” Beagle said.
The story ended well for the visitors from Grenada.
“We decided that we were going to play and size doesn’t matter,” Beagle said. “They are a physical bunch. I told our team tonight, they’re bigger, but we’re a more physical football team than they are. Our opponents have helped us become more physical throughout the year. In a tight game, we probably have more experience with that now and are able to overcome those things and have a lot of confidence when it’s a tight game. Probably more so than them.”
Much like chapter one, the third quarter ended scoreless. However, the Raiders went on to outscore the Rebels 10-0 in the fourth quarter to escape with the victory.
Kirk’s first second-half score came with 5:49 left to play when Vance booted a 25-yard field goal. The Raiders’ defense stiffened on the Rebels’ next to last possession, pressuring Carter, forcing errant passes, an intentional grounding call and a pick-six by KA senior defensive back A.J. Wren, who picked the ball off at the Kirk 49-yard-line and raced his way dodging ACCS players into the end zone for the only second-half touchdown of the game. Vance capped off scoring with a successful PAT attempt.
“Defensively, we came up with an interception late in the game not really to ice it, but to get close to icing it,” Beagle said. “We struggled some offensively. We would move the ball down the field, but then when we got in the red zone, we had a hard time – for whatever reason, we had a hard time. Some of it was on me; a couple of formations we didn’t have set right and I was trying to get personnel. Our coaching staff – great job. More importantly, our players got this done, they got it done. They are fighters.”
The Rebels took their final possession with just under two minutes to play, but again were unable to gain ground. Passes fell incomplete and receivers were overthrown, while rushing attempts were met with hard hits in the backfield. Frustrations set in and two ACCS players were ejected following back-to-back unsportsmanlike penalties with less than a minute to play.
Needless to say, Beagle never counted ACCS out.
“When we picked the interception off and went in for the touchdown, they still had a chance, but if we get the extra point, it becomes a two possession game, so the PAT was really big,” he said. “But you never count them out because of their parameter players and their speed and what they do offensively. We did a good job defensively by stopping them when they were in three-back set, power stuff; we kind of shut that down for the most part and they had to throw the ball. We put some pretty good pressure at times on the quarterback and made him hurry it. Great effort by our team, but tonight defensively, we came to the lickin’ block.”
Despite shanking his first extra-point kick, Beagle said that he remained confident in Vance because he knew that he may need him in the end.
“We were struggling in the red zone; we got pushed back, lost some yardage and we had a penalty, then we gained some of that yardage back and it was fourth and about six, I think it was,” Beagle said. “Down there, I thought, we’re going to give him a shot because he’s pretty good at it and he has ice water in his veins as a sophomore kicker.”
By the Numbers
Offensively, the Raiders edged the Rebels 229 to 202 in total yards.
Leading the charge for Kirk was Hathcock, who finished the night 14 of 19 passing for 148 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
“Colbert Hathcock – he managed the game – he didn’t try to win the game at quarterback and that’s what he has to do,” Beagle said. “We moved the ball enough to keep them off the field some. They are a very talented group, they are really big up front; we fought and scratched up front on both sides tonight because of their size.”
Senior Chris Bradford was the team’s top receiver with three catches for 62 yards and a touchdown, while Wren was his favorite target with four receptions for 37 yards. Sophomore running back Theron Hubbard had 23 yards on a pair of catches, while senior Richard Flautt had three catches for 22 yards. Senior Garrett Benson rounded out the receiving corps production with two catches for four yards.
On the ground, Wren led the way with 14 carries for 54 yards. Hathcock had seven carries for 28 yards and Hubbard toted the pigskin six times for 11 yards.
Defensively, senior defender Jack Boone joined Wren with a diving interception on the Rebels’ sidelines late in the game. Senior Peyton Mitchell was the leading tackler with 9 stops, including two for a loss. He combined with Wren on a sack.
Senior Mason Byars was the Raiders’ second-leading tackler with 7.5, while classmates Montgomery Ferguson and Walker Staten chipped in with four apiece. Senior defensive lineman Trey Cashaw and Wren each recorded three tackles. Junior defensive end Lane Goss and Boone each had a fumble recovery.
“It was a great team effort; it was a great crowd for us,” Beagle concluded. “We travel well; a lot of people were here tonight. I told them that there was going to be a bunch of folks here. My hat’s off to our football team. They have understood the process, they put it into place and we’re off to Jackson.”
