Flowood, MS– On Thursday night, the junior high football team beat the Madison-Ridgeland Academy Patriots by a score of 15-13. The game was definitely the team’s hardest matchup of the season so far and was a defensive show by both teams. Ultimately, though, Prep head coach Zander Romano got his his sixth win of the season as the Jackson Prep Patriots advanced to 6-0.

Both teams had a slow start offensively as neither team scored in the first quarter. There were also many fumbles by each team throughout the game. In the second quarter, Jackson Prep did a trick play and gave the hand off to Garner Watkins, a wide-receiver, who threw a 29 yard pass to Luke Williams, who ran it in from 42 yards out. At the half, the score was 7-0, Jackson Prep.

The second half was very eventful and nerve-racking for both teams. Prep forced a safety, then MRA scored twice. The score was then 13-9 with MRA up and only 16 seconds left in the game. The Patriots offense returned to the field, and quarterback Cy Craig threw a hail mary that was caught by Luke Williams on the one yard line. Running back Sam McMullan then finished off the drive with a touchdown run with only 11 seconds left. The PAT that followed was blocked. The score was then 15-13. Prep’s defense then held out in the final seconds to secure a win.

Some players that stood out in the game were Garner Watkins with 71 passing yards and a touchdown pass, Sam McMullan who had 50 rushing yards and a touchdown, and Ford Smith who finished with seven tackles, two of which for a loss. The game’s MVP was Luke Williams with three catches, 39.3 yards per catch, his longest was 71 yards, 118 receiving yards, and one touchdown.

The Junior High Football team takes on the Jackson Academy Raiders next Thursday on October 4, 2018, at 7:00 pm. It will be the team’s final and most important week of the season.