By Robert Wilson
A tired Hartfield Academy defense gave up leads in the second half in back-to-back MAIS Class 6A conference losses to Jackson Prep and Madison-Ridgeland Academy earlier this season, but Friday night the Hawks held Jackson Academy out of the end zone for the win.
Defending 6A state champion Hartfield – which has seven players who start both on offense and defense – bent, but didn’t break this time, keeping JA from taking the lead late in the fourth quarter and came away with a 28-17 victory before an estimated 1,800 at JA’s Brickyard in Northeast Jackson.
Hartfield improved to 9-2 overall and 3-2 in conference play and clinched the No. 3 seed in next week’s state playoffs. The Hawks will play host to No. 6 seed Madison St. Joseph next Friday at Hartfield in Flowood. Hartfield defeated St. Joe 62-20 last week at Hartfield. If Hartfield wins next week, it will play No. 2 seed MRA in the semifinals. MRA defeated Hartfield 44-35 Oct. 11 at MRA in Madison.
JA dropped to 8-3 overall and 2-3 in conference play and is the No. 4 seed. The Raiders will play host to No. 5 Presbyterian Christian next Friday at JA. JA defeated PCS 38-0 last week at PCS in Hattiesburg. If JA wins next week, it will play No. 1 seed Prep in the semifinals. Prep defeated JA 35-10 Sept. 13 at Prep.
Hartfield saw its undefeated season and its 21-game winning streak – the longest in Mississippi – end three weeks ago when MRA ended the streak with a comeback victory. MRA jumped on Hartfield for a 21-0 lead after one quarter, Hartfield fought back to take a 28-24 lead in the third quarter before MRA went on a 20-7 run to end the game. Hartfield hadn’t lost a game since Prep defeated Hartfield 10-7 in the 2022 6A state championship game.
The next week, Prep did the same thing, jumping out to a 14-3 lead, Hartfield fought back to take a 45-31 lead after three quarters before Prep went on a 20-0 run in the fourth quarter for a 51-45 win.
It appeared Friday that JA was going to repeat what MRA and Prep did, pull out a come-from-behind win. But Hartfield’s defense stood tough and didn’t let it happen.
Hartfield looked in control after junior running back KD Catchings scored his second touchdown for a 21-10 lead with 7 minutes, 23 seconds to play in the third quarter. But JA closed the gap to 21-17 when sophomore running back Kingston Mays scored on a x-yard run with 2:18 to play in the third quarter.
JA took over at its own 16 with 7:54 to play and drove down the field – the biggest play when senior wide receiver John Thomas made an over the shoulder catch on the JA sideline from sophomore quarterback Pruett James to complete a 44-yard pass play for first and goal at the Hartfield 8. On second and goal from the 5, JA senior running back Omarean “Man Man” Ellis ran to the 1, but a holding penalty pushed JA back to the 15. James threw an incomplete pass, but Hartfield was called for a holding penalty to give JA third and goal at the 8. James threw two incomplete passes, both trying to go to Thomas in the left corner of the end zone. Hartfield took over with 4:20 to play.
JA almost got the ball back to another try but Hartfield senior wide receiver and Hinds Community College commitment Sam Sheffield made a jumping, 18-yard catch from senior quarterback Cayman Tapper on third down to keep the drive alive. Then Hartfield senior Kenzy West – who plays wide receiver, defensive back, and kick returner – ran for a 53-yard TD to clinch the win with 1:32 to play for a 28-17 lead.
Hartfield coach Craig Bowman – last year’s Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Coach of the Year who is in the seventh season overall, and fifth at Hartfield – was proud of the fight in his team.
“I am proud of the guts the team had to win last night,” said Bowman, who led Hartfield to a 14-0 season and the 6A state title last season, the first state football championship in school history. He has a 32-5 record over the past three seasons. “We don’t have the depth that the other schools in the league have, but last night I believe that we dug deep and found a way to win. They all played so hard, but most of all played together and trusted each other. We have a lot of critics, but we have the maturity to block those out and stick together. This team has been through a lot of hard things this year and I am so blessed by how they support and love one another.
The 6-foot, 180-pound West – the No. 15 rated player in Mississippi in the Class of 2025 by 247 Sports with 20 Division I offers, including Ole Miss, Arkansas, LSU and Texas A&M from the SEC – had seven carries for 69 yards and two TDs and caught four passes for 57 yards and played solid defense, covering Thomas, especially on the final two plays on JA’s potential go-ahead scoring in the fourth quarter. He also made a diving catch for a first down late in the game to help run time off the clock.
While some of Hartfield’s players were getting cramps – including junior defensive back-wide receiver-kick returner Bralan Womack (the No. 1 rated safety in the country in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports) – West kept making big plays.
“We were determined to leave with a W,” West said. “My teammates and coaches trust me, so I had to make some big plays when my number was called to help secure the win. We kept fighting and playing hard until the end. In the fourth quarter, we made multiple stops on defense, and we were able to control the ball during crunch time.”
West has scored 19 TDs (nine receiving, six rushing, two punt returns and one each on kickoff return and fumble return) this season.
“Kenzy has been big in the past two big games,” Bowman said. “Five touchdowns against Jackson Prep and then his two touchdowns last night, including the big third down catch late in the fourth. We also ask him to guard our opponents’ top receivers each week. He is playing at a really high level right now. Offensively, he wants the ball in the big moments, and he answers the call.”
“We know we tend to lose gas late in the past couple of games (against MRA and Prep) and that’s what cost us big games, so we knew we had to make the fourth quarter our best quarter,” said Womack, who is visiting Washington this weekend, one of four scheduled visits this month. The others are LSU (Nov. 9), Texas (Nov. 23) and Ohio State (Nov. 30). He has been offered by most of the teams in the Top 25 and by all 16 SEC teams.
Womack didn’t score any TDs Friday but has been a huge part of Hartfield’s success with 17 TDs this season (11 receiving, four on interception returns, and one each on kickoff return and punt return).
The 6-2, 215-pound Catchings – who is one of six Hartfield players with Division I offers – had 144 yards on 22 carries and two TDs despite getting cramps in the second half. Catchings is one of the seven Hartfield players who start on both offense and defense (linebacker).
Catchings and West ran behind 6-3, 270-pound senior and Arkansas commitment Reginald Vaughn (rated No. 13 player and No. 3 defensive tackle in Mississippi in the Class of 2025) and 6-3, 290-pound senior and Alabama commitment London Simmons (rated No. 16 player and No. 4 defensive tackle in Mississippi in the Class of 2025). Vaughn and Simmons play on the offensive and defensive lines.
Hartfield produced 363 total yards (211 rushing and 152 passing) against JA’s defense, led by 6-3, 295-pound junior defensive lineman Dereon Albert – who has 12 Division I offers, including SEC offers from Auburn, LSU, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas A&M and the No. 12 player in Mississippi in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports – and 6-3, 215-pound junior defensive end-linebacker TJ White – the team leaders in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks and rated No. 24 in Mississippi in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports with Division I offers from Ole Miss, MSU, Jackson State, Auburn, Wisconsin, Baylor, Louisiana Tech, Toledo, and Akron.
Albert and White and others put constant pressure on Tapper, who completed 15 of 29 passes for 152 yards.
JA – which had lost the last three games to Hartfield by big margins (38-6 in 2022 and 40-13 in the regular season and 35-7 in the state semifinals last season) – came close this time, but first-year JA coach David Duggan wasn’t satisfied. He knows his team came close but didn’t make key plays late in the game to win.
“We couldn’t get over the hump,” said Duggan, who has been a college defensive coordinator and assistant coach for three decades, including two stints at Southern Miss from 2008-2011 and 2013-2016 and was an assistant at JA for one season two years ago. “We had key penalties and not making key plays killed us. You can’t do that against a good football team like Hartfield and win. We shot ourselves in the foot. It was learning experience and gets us ready for the playoffs. I told our guys that this isn’t a failure. It can help us in the next three games. We are getting better and better. We need to focus on those key situations and make good plays. Hartfield made them, and we didn’t. They deserved to win. We had a good week of practice and were ready. We have some good young players, and we have good some experienced players. When we put it all together, we are a dangerous team. We take pride in playing physical football and I think we showed that tonight. But we made too many little mistakes that championship teams don’t make. We can’t allow explosive plays and Hartfield had several of them. And we had too many drives that we came away with no points.”
Ellis – who has two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons – had 106 yards on 12 carries and Mays had 104 yards on 10 carries and one TD. JA had 397 total yards, 215 rushing and 182 passing.
“Omarean and Kingston ran the ball really well and we struggled to tackle them,” Bowman said. “JA is a great football team and is going to make big plays. We wanted to minimize them and live to play another down. Our defense played great all night. I am so proud of their heart and their fight. When the game was on the line, we came up big.”
JA’s offensive line was led by 6-4, 290-pound sophomore offensive lineman Caden Moss is rated the No. 9 player in the country and the No. 1 offensive tackle in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports and has Division I offers from Ole Miss, MSU, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Akron, and New Mexico State. He has been out most of the season with an injury but returned two weeks ago and made a huge difference in JA’s offensive line push and pass protection.
JA sophomore quarterback Pruett James – who took over as the starting quarterback earlier this season – passed for 182 yards. He is theson of former JA star receiver Chesley James, who helped the Raiders win their first two state championships in 1995 and 1996.
Thomas had three catches for 126 yards and one TD.
JA is still missing one key player, who Duggan hopes to get him back for the playoffs. Junior defensive back and Wesson High transfer O’Mari Johnson – rated the No. 11 player in Mississippi in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports and has nine Division I offers, including seven from the SEC – is recovering from an ACL injury.
