Volunteers face tough Colonels
Adversity is something the
Starkville Academy Volunteers don’t worry about during a football season.
When the tough times do come up, the Vols just deal with it and move on.
Starkville Academy coach Chase
Nicholson said his team has learned how to respond and overcome adversity.
“That’s what the game teaches and that’s life lessons for you,”
Nicholson said. “Adversity makes us better down the road and makes us better people.”
Like they did against Lamar School to open the season, the Vols face another state champion tonight with a road game against the Indianola Academy Colonels. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Starkville Academy quarterback and defensive end Noah Methvin said Indianola Academy will provide the type of test the team needs.
“It’s going to be a tough challenge this week against a tough team, but we’re ready for it,” Methvin said. “This is a good week to really see what we’ve got. It’s nice to get this week to really see against a high-quality opponent to see how good you are. We’ve had high energy in practice all week.” 7 p.m., WLZA-FM 96.1
Both teams come into the matchup with records of 2-0 and have the capability of scoring points.
The Vols have defeated Lamar School 43-21 and French Camp Academy 38-7, while the Colonels got wins over Pillow Academy 41-14 And St. Joseph Madison 40-28.
Starkville Academy has a balanced offensive attack with 133.50 yards per game through the air and 181.50 yards per game on the ground.
“Starkville looks like they’ve got a well-rounded football team,” Indianola Academy coach Tommy Nester said. “They throw it, they run it, they stop the run, defend the pass and are good on special teams. We’ve got our work cut out for us this week.”
The Vols use Methvin and Ben Owens at quarterback. Owens has completed 21 of 41 pass attempts for 227 yards with four touchdowns and adds 62 yards rushing on 14 attempts with two more scores.
Methvin has completed four passes out of six attempts for 40 yards and has two rushes for 23 yards with one touchdown.
The leading rusher for Starkville Academy is Taylor Arnold with 20 carries for 160 yards and one touchdown. Brady Richardson is the top receiver with nine catches for 104 yards and one score.
Defensively for the Vols, Campbell Spivey has 28 total tackles and one sack.
This will be Starkville Academy’s second-straight road game, but Nicholson said that’s not a problem.
“We like playing on the road and always have,” Nicholson said. “It doesn’t bother us and doesn’t scare us. We have a pretty good road record in my three years and even in coach (Jeff) Terrill’s days, our road record was pretty good.”