Just when Pillow Academy was feeling good about itself again, here comes the top-ranked team in the state.
The Mustangs ended a three-game losing skid last week with a convincing 43-18 victory over Kirk Academy and will get three players back from suspension — giving them 21 dressed out — for Jackson Academy, which is ranked No. 1 in the statewide academy AAA poll.
The Raiders are 3-2 after forfeiting their first two wins of the season for using an ineligible player. The student had transferred from another MAIS school this summer. The family had purchased a home closer to JA than the original school, but the family had been unable to complete the move before those first two games.
“I know officially they are 3-2, but when a coach looks at it, JA is 5-0. They are by far the best 3-2 team I’ve ever seen,” PA coach Michael Fair said with a laugh. “I’ve been here for six years. The more film I watch, the more I think this is the best JA team I’ve seen.
“They are loaded. They have great team speed and depth. They are loaded for bear.”
JA is coming off a hard-fought 28-24 victory over Memphis Briarcrest. It was the first time in five games the first-team Raider defense had allowed a point.
After vacating a 35-7 win over Northeast Lauderdale and a 28-7 victory over St. George’s, the Raiders blanked North AAA foes Magnolia Heights and Heritage by a combined score of 72-0.
Offensively, JA is led by senior running back Duncan Maxwell, a 5-foot-8, 160-pounder, who has 640 yards and eight touchdowns on 73 carries, giving him an average of 8.7 yards per attempt. Quarterback Nick Conley, a 6-1, 165-pound junior, has completed 29 of 57 passes for 482 yards and four touchdowns and one interception.
Sparked by Bay Bennett’s career-high 254 yards on 23 carries, the Mustangs are coming off their best rushing output of the season, but things will be much tougher against a stingy Raider defense.
“They are not big on defense, but they are fast and aggressive,” Fair said. “They just really get after you on defense.”
Bennett, a 6-0, 185-pound junior, leads PA with 543 yards and nine touchdowns on 96 rushes. Junior quarterback Cooper Dunn has thrown for 560 yards and three touchdowns.
Pillow is 0-1 in the North AAA, Division II standings, while JA is 2-0 in the North AAA, Division I standings.
Fair knows his team is a decided underdog this week, but he still believes the Mustangs can make the playoffs in Division II.
“The way our schedule sets up is that we have our most important games in the second half of the season. We start division play next week with Magnolia Heights,” Fair said.
“I tell our guys each day (at the end of practice) that I am looking at a playoff team. And I believe that.”
PA, Magnolia Heights, Starkville, Heritage and Hillcrest all make up Division II in the North AAA. Those five teams are competing for two playoff spots, while the three teams in Division I (JA, MRA and Washington) are battling for two playoffs spots.
Contact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com. Follow on Twitter:@Bill_Burrus.
