Oak Forest Academy enters Thursday's showdown with Pillow Academy looking for its first state championship in its second season in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools AAA Division II ranks.
Oak Forest, located in Amite, La. (population 4,344), the parish seat of Tangipahoa Parish, moved up from AA to AAA prior to the 2009 football season. The Yellow Jackets missed the playoffs last year but punched their ticket to the 2010 state championship contest with a 42-7 rout of Magnolia Heights last Friday.
"We played about as well as we could have in shutting down Magnolia Heights. We hope we can build on that this week as we face an even tougher team," said Oak Forest head coach Jason Brabham, whose team plays Pillow Academy at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in the State AAA Division II title game at Jackson Prep in Flowood.
Oak Forest won its only state championship in football while competing in the AA ranks with a 17-14 victory over North Delta in 2001. The Yellow Jackets lost 39-7 to Magnolia Heights in the AA title game the year before - Brabham's first season as head coach.
Oak Forest, which joined the MAIS in 1987 after playing in the Louisiana Christian School Association, has developed into one of the top tier programs under its 11th-year head coach. The Yellow Jackets are 9-3 and ranked No. 5 in the statewide academy AAA poll.
Pillow is 9-2 and up two spots at No. 2. That jump resulted from PA's 28-17 playoff win over East Rankin, coupled with an upset loss to MRA by then-No. 1 Jackson Prep.
Brabham expects a tough, hard-nosed matchup with Pillow.
"Both teams like to run the ball with a physical style and play tough defense. It will be our strength verses their strength," said the Oak Forest coach. "It should be worth the price of admission and then some."
The Yellow Jackets have played one of the toughest schedules in the MAIS, facing all four AAA Division I playoff teams. They went 1-3 in those games, beating MRA 20-10 and losing 24-14 to Prep and 36-20 to JA.
"I think our regular-season schedule has prepared us for a good postseason run. We feel like we're playing our best ball at the right time of the year," Brabham said.
Oak Forest and Pillow have four common opponents in MRA, East Rankin, JA and Magnolia Heights. Both teams beat MRA in similar fashion (PA by 11 and OF by 10) and did the same vs. East Rankin (PA by 11 and OF by 7). Both teams lost to top-ranked JA after leading in the first half, with the Mustangs falling by eight and the Yellow Jackets by 16.
The only difference is Pillow lost 20-17 to Magnolia Heights as the Mustangs gave up a controversial touchdown in the final seconds.
Pillow is playing in its sixth state title game, with its last win coming in 1999 in a 34-13 rout of Jackson Prep. Since then, PA lost 30-21 to Prep in 2000 and 34-7 to Washington last year.
• Contact Bill Burrus at bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
