By Robert Wilson
Jackson Academy football team’s motto is train for championships and the Raiders took their training and put it into practice in their biggest test of the season Friday night.
JA used big plays in the first half to the take the lead, then controlled the second half on its way to a 41-22 victory over two-time defending MAIS state champion Hartfield Academy in a non-district game before an estimated 3,000 at Hartfield’s Community Bank Field in Flowood.
JA – ranked No. 24 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – won its fourth game without a loss this season and for the fourth straight game scored at least 40 points. Hartfield – ranked No. 17 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – dropped to 1-3.
Second-year JA coach David Duggan – trying to lead the Raiders to their first state championship since the three-peat in 2009-2011 – said in his pregame interview with Raider Network’s Bryan Eubank that his team is continuing to improve from their mistakes in the past and working hard for the future.
“We train to win championships – that’s our motto,” said Duggan, who has 38 years of experience being a college assistant coach. “The emphasis is what are the littles (little mistakes) that affect winning and losing and killing drives. It’s the missed assignments that led to the one to five plays that could affect that game. You can’t turn back the hands of time, but you can learn from those mistakes moving forward and apply them, and know we have to focus a little harder. I like to think that we are growing and we are learning the system. They understand what is really important. We suffered a loss to Hartfield last year on a few couple of plays. When you play good football teams it comes down to three or four plays. Those are the lessons we have hopefully learned from and grow from and we can apply to this game and moving forward.”
JA used big plays to rebound from a slow start against Hartfield, who took a 7-0 lead on a 22-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Ethan Elliott to senior Coleman Yoder with 3 minutes, 35 seconds to play in the third quarter.
After Jackson Academy junior Rett Robinson kicked a 24-yard field goal, senior quarterback and Clinton High transfer Josef Walker completed a 60-yard pass to senior wide receiver and Clinton High transfer Jaydann Hollins to take a 10-7 lead with 5:38 to play in the second quarter. Then, Hollins returned a punt for an 83-yard TD for a 17-7 lead with 2:31 to play before halftime.
Walker completed an 80-yard pass and run to senior wide receiver and North Carolina commitment O’Mari Johnson for a 24-7 lead on the first play of the third quarter.
Hartfield junior running back Collin McIntyre scored on a 4-yard run to close the gap to 24-14 with 9:54 to play in the third quarter.
JA senior running back Kingston Mays scored on a 15-yard run for a 31-14 JA lead with 4:47 to play in the third quarter.
McIntyre added his second TD with a 3-yard run to close the gap to 31-21 on the last play of the third quarter.
Walker scored on a 15-yard run for a 38-21 JA lead with 4:48 to play in the fourth quarter and Robinson kicked a 30-yard field goal for the final margin.
Walker – rated as the No. 7 dual threat quarterback in Mississippi in the Class of 2026 by qbhitlist.com – completed 6 of 11 passes for 197 yards and two TDs and ran 7 times for 35 yards and one TD. He came into the game completing an amazing 86.2 percent of his passes for 413 yards and four TDs and 85 rushing yards with one TD this season.
Elliott completed 16 of 22 passes for 190 yards and one TD. McIntyre had 20 carries for 83 yards and two TDs.
Senior wide receiver and Auburn commitment Bralan Womack – rated as the No. 1 safety in the country and No. 12 player in the country in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports – had eight catches for 106 yards, including a brilliant 44-yard catch and run in the first quarter when he broke about five tackles along the way.
“We made too many mistakes,” said Hartfield coach Craig Bowman, who led the Hawks to 26 wins and the first two state football championships in 2023 and 2024. “We can’t have four fumbles against a team like that and expect to win. I am proud of the fight we showed. We will have to execute better next week to put ourselves in a better position.”
Junior defensive lineman Jaiden Hulbert led JA with 11 tackles and senior linebacker and Tennessee commitment TJ White – one of three JA players on the Performance Therapy/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Elite 11 Team – had nine tackles.
Senior defensive end Peyton Trigg led Hartfield with eight tackles. Senior linebacker Coleman Williams and senior defensive back and South Alabama commitment Teryn Green had five tackles each.
