These new-look Pillow Academy Mustangs made believers out of Madison-Ridgeland Academy.
After breezing past three straight Class AA foes to open the season, there might have been some who doubted just how far the Mustangs have come under first-year head coach Tripp McCarty.
You can now check No. 4-ranked MRA off that possible list of doubters.
Led by a relentless, swarming defense, the Mustangs held on for a 17-7 win over the Patriots Friday night at PA’s Bill Davis Field in the North AAA conference opener for both teams. With the win, Pillow improves to 4-0 overall, matching last year’s win total.
Thanks to numerous defensive stops in clutch situations, the Mustangs snapped a three-game losing skid to MRA, a string in which the Patriots had dominated by an average margin of victory of 31 points.
“It’s an amazing victory for us,” PA senior running back/linebacker Bay Bennett said. “We now know we can stand up against and beat the big boys.”
McCarty’s message to his team afterward: “We’re just 1-0; they don’t give trophies for that. We’ve got to keep working to get better because we’re out for something much bigger than a 1-0 start in conference.”
MRA, playing without injured starting quarterback Hayden Davis, dropped its second straight game to fall to 2-2, 0-1.
The Mustang offense was held to a season-low 217 total yards and just seven first downs but was boosted by two big plays — a 39-yard touchdown run by John Madison Brooks and a 92-yard scoring jaunt by Bennett.
The defense picked up the slack by setting a physical tone early. The Mustangs forced a turnover on MRA’s second play of the game — a fumble recovery by Steve Pannell to set up Brooks’ TD run that made it 7-0 with 9:49 left in the first quarter.
MRA got inside the red zone on its next two possessions, but the defense turned the Patriots away both times.
The first stop came on a fourth-and-3 play from the 17-yard line, when Bennett tipped a pass that fell incomplete.
The next time the Patriots had it first-and-goal at the 5. Bennett and Carter Kimes had tackles for loss on the first two downs, and then Raines Cook had a tackle for a loss on a fourth-and-goal play from the 2.
“Our defense played their hearts out. They were all over the place and came up with a bunch of key stops,” McCarty said.
“I am really proud of how well the defense played when it mattered the most,” said Will Jennings, who was credited with a team-high 15 tackles, including eight solo stops.
Cook was second in tackles with 12, including seven solos. Caleb Giachelli had nine tackles, while Cole Whitfield and Kimes finished with seven each. Whitfield also had an interception to end the game.
After the fourth-and-goal stop by Cook, PA needed just three plays to make it 14-0. Bennett burst through a crack in the middle of the MRA defense, ran smack over a defender and then outran the rest of the Patriots to the end zone.
Later in the second quarter, William Dent Brock fell on a loose ball at the MRA 5 following a high snap that got away from the Patriot punter.
The Mustangs started with a holding penalty and wound up back at the 19 before Pannell booted a 36-yard field goal to push PA’s lead to 17-0 with 51/2 minutes left before halftime.
The PA defense thwarted one more potential scoring drive for MRA in the final minutes of the half when Cook and Dillon Ussery combined on a stop on a fourth-and-10 play from the Pillow 28.
The Mustang defense was right back at it to start the second half after MRA recovered a fumble on the PA 46 on the first play of the third quarter — stuffing the Patriots on fourth and 1.
Two possessions later, MRA got to the PA 11 before it was again stopped on a fourth-and-3 play.
The Patriots finally cracked the scoreboard with 7:49 to play when Clint Moses bolted into the end zone from 1 yard out.
MRA followed that with a surprise onside kick that was recovered by Pillow’s Collin Short. The Mustangs then churned out a few first downs to melt the clock down to less than two minutes to play before MRA got the ball back.
MRA finished with 367 total yards and 19 first downs but was only three of 14 on third-down conversions.
All 217 of PA’s total yards came on the ground, as quarterback Cooper Dunn attempted just one pass.
“With the early lead, we wanted to eliminate any chances of a turnover and challenged our guys up front to get it done,” McCarty said. “It was a great night for anyone for Pillow who played with their hands on the ground. They battled hard so we could come out on top in a game of inches.”
Bennett, who tied for the third-longest run from scrimmage in school history with the 92-yard TD, led the PA ground attack with 110 yards on 15 carries, while Brooks added 73 yards on 10 attempts. Dunn finished with 34 yards on 15 rushes.
Pillow plays at Kirk Academy this week in Grenada.
