Pillow Academy found itself in an early hole again for the second straight week.
But this time the Mustangs were able to overcome it, ending a three-game losing skid to Starkville Academy.
After quickly finding themselves down 10-0, the Mustangs reeled off 32 unanswered points en route to a 32-17 victory Friday night at PA’s Bill Davis Field.
“After we woke up and figured out Starkville was here to play, our kids got after it. It was a really nice team win,” Pillow coach Tripp McCarty said.
The Mustangs move to 5-3 and will host Jackson Academy this week for Senior Night before closing out the regular season at Magnolia Heights. McCarty expects a tough game from the Raiders, who fell to 5-4 with a 10-7 loss to Madison-Ridgeland Academy.
“It’s a big game for us. I can tell you they are pretty darn good defensively to hold MRA to 10 points,” said the PA coach.
Pillow turned the ball over on its first possession after gaining 57 yards and then went three-and-out on the next. But after that, the Mustang offense scored touchdowns on four of its next five possessions.
A big factor in that offensive explosion was the play of senior running back John Madison Brooks and the big boys up front.
Brooks ran for a season-high 151 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries — breaking the century yardage mark for the second straight week. He now has 12 TDs in the last four games.
“Our front did a great job against a tough Starkville defense, and John thanked them by breaking some tackles,” McCarty said. “I am glad we gave him a lot of receiver snaps early in the year because he looks fresh and fast out there.”
Brooks had touchdown runs of 19, 10, 4 and 15 yards.
Sophomore quarterback Lake Giachelli had PA’s other score — a 12-yard run that put his team up 32-10 with 4:35 to play.
Giachelli finished with 53 rushing yards on eight attempts. He completed 5-of-11 passes for 48 yards.
Defensively, junior linebacker Luke Fondren had a big night with 14 tackles, including eight solos. Senior linebacker Walt Pillow was next with six tackles.
