By Robert Wilson
MADISON – Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s homecoming court had hardly a chance to get comfortable in their designated seats when the high-powered Patriot offense got rolling.
MRA scored two touchdowns in the first five and a half minutes of the first quarter and continued to score throughout the game for a 49-24 victory over previously undefeated Parklane Academy Friday night before an estimated 3,000 at MRA’s BankPlus Stadium.
MRA – ranked No. 3 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – improved 7-1 and won its seventh consecutive game since a 28-24 loss to Ravenwood High, one of the top teams in Tennessee, in the season opener.
MRA scored nine more points in the first half (35) than Parklane had allowed all season (26).
MRA defeated Parklane for the 10th consecutive time and for the ninth time of those 10 games scored more than 40 points.
Parklane – which won the MAIS Class 5A state championship last season – dropped to 7-1 and broke its 15-game winning streak. Parklane had not lost since a 48-12 decision to Jackson Prep midway through last season. Parklane – which is ranked No. 21 in Mississippi by MaxPreps – had won 27 of its last 32 games coming into Friday night. Parklane last defeated MRA 47-28 in 2017.
MRA – which came in averaging 41.8 points and 448.7 yards per game and with one of the best offensive lines in Mississippi, led by 6-foot-3, 295-pound junior Caleb Unger – was dominant on offense from the start. The Patriots scored 14 points in the first quarter, 21 in the second quarter and seven in the third quarter and seven in the fourth quarter.
MRA produced 444 yards of total offense in the first half, led by senior quarterback Samuel Stockett, who completed 18 of 26 passes for 357 yards and two TDs and ran for a 10-yard score in the first two quarters for a 35-14 lead.
MRA finished with 594 yards of total offense. Stockett – who came in leading Mississippi in passing yards, according to MaxPreps – completed 21 of 30 passes for 411 yards and three TDs. Sophomore running back Colson O’Cain gained 111 yards on 10 carries and scored one TD. MRA has three receivers – seniors Will Bizot, Case Thomas and Will Jones – have at least 100 receiving yards and catch one TD each. Bizot had nine catches for 163 yards, Thomas eight catches for 128 yards and Jones two catches for 107 yards.
Parklane already defeated one of the MAIS Big 4 – Jackson Prep – by knocking down 40 years of frustration with a 18-7 victory at Parklane earlier this year. The last win in that series was 1995.
Parklane was hoping to get some payback on MRA Friday night, but got off to a slow start.
After spotting MRA a 28-0 lead, Parklane scored two TDs (Brennan Ellison had a 12-yard run and Kardez Copeland had a 2-yard pass from Braxton Hughes). MRA was driving to go ahead 35-7 but fumbled at the Parklane 15 and Forest returned the fumble to the MRA 5. Two plays later, Parklane had cut MRA’s lead to 28-14 with 2 minutes, 2 seconds to play before halftime.
Stockett connected with Jones – the grandson of former Mississippi College athletic director and head men’s basketball coach and Mississippi Hall of Fame member Mike Jones – for an 89-yard TD pass to push MRA ahead 35-14 at halftime.
Parklane got the ball first in the third quarter, but fumble on the first play of its drive at the Parklane 27. Colson ran twice, the second run a 14-yard score, for a 42-14 lead.
Parklane – which has two players with Division I commitments on its offensive line (Army commitment Roc Baskin and South Florida commitment Kyle Rushing) – finished with 333 yards of total offense.
Senior Braxton Hughes completed 14 of 24 passes for 184 yards and one TD. Copeland had five catches for 99 yards. Junior wide receiver Davis Carruth – nephew of former Parklane, Alabama and NFL running back Paul Ott Carruth who came in with 33 catches for 734 yards and six TDs this season – had four catches for 44 yards.
Parklane senior running back Tanner Kyzar – who came into the game with 718 yards and 12 TDs – did not play Friday. He broke his collarbone against Starkville Academy and had surgery Tuesday, but is expected back later this season. Kyzar had 217 yards and two TDs on 31 carries in the win over Prep earlier this season.
“Our offense got off to a good start,” said MRA coach Herbert Davis, who won his 253rd game to go along with six state championships in 29 seasons, including 119 wins and three state titles in 12 years at MRA. “We had some explosive plays and helped us get going in the first half. Stockett’s big play with Will Jones was big right before halftime after Parklane had cut our lead to 28-14, then we had the fumble recovery early in the second half and scored to go up 35-14. That gave us some good momentum early in the third quarter.”
Stockett – making his first career start replacing John White (Mississippi’s all-time career passing leader who signed with Southern Miss) – completed 12 of 14 passes (85.7 percent) for 238 yards and five touchdowns in first half in MRA’s 42-20 victory over Parklane in the last year’s season opener.
Stockett passed for 3,239 yards and 33 TDs last season and has continued to excel this season. He had passed for 1,942 yards – best in Mississippi according to MaxPreps – and 15 TDs going into Friday night despite playing one of the toughest schedules in MAIS history.
“We definitely got off to a good start and our defense was playing great and offense was clicking,” Stockett said. “We didn’t play up to our standard last night but a win is always good. I just distributed the ball to our playmakers and our wide outs made great plays.”
Unger – who has 20 Division I offers, including Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley, and is a member of the Performance Therapy/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Elite 11 Team – helped control the line of scrimmage against Parklane. He was one of four sophomores on the 25-player first team on the All Metro team last season and is rated the No. 11 player in Mississippi and No. 23 inside offensive lineman in the country by 247 Sports.
Said Unger: “The game was great and helped us boost our confidence and when they started scoring we knew we had to respond. That’s our mindset.”
“One of our goals was to make it a four quarter game,” said Parklane coach Ron Rushing, who has won two state titles ( last year with Parklane and 2014 with Natchez Cathedral) and is in his fifth season in McComb. “We did that. We had some momentum when we cut it to 17 in the fourth quarter but just couldn’t get another stop. After the first few series, I thought we moved the ball well offensively. When we cut it to 28-14 with under 2 minutes in the first half, I thought we were in the game since we got the ball in the second half. But letting them score before the half and fumbling the ball on the first play of the second half was too much to overcome. We come out of halftime wanting to win the second half. I believe it was 14-10 them from halftime on.”
The reminder of MRA’s regular season schedule – Brookhaven Academy (No. 139 in Mississippi by MaxPreps) and Simpson Academy (ranked No. 120 in Mississippi by MaxPreps) – doesn’t compare to the grind of the first half when MRA played the toughest stretch in possibly MAIS history with games that included Ravenwood High and Collierville High – two of the best teams in Tennessee – and Baton Rouge Catholic – one of the best teams in Louisiana – so the Patriots must maintain their focus to get ready for the MAIS Class 4A, Division I playoffs against either Jackson Academy, Jackson Prep or Hartfield Academy.
MRA hasn’t won a state title since a three-peat from 2019 to 2021. The Patriots went 12-2 in 2019, 12-0 in 2020 and 11-3 in 2021.
“It’s all about getting better every day,” Davis said. “We need to prepare for the rest of the season like we did earlier in the season. It’s important to do that so we can be ready when its playoff time.”
“We need to stay focused and keep grinding,” Stockett said. “We’ve had a lot of success, but none of that matters when you line up for a playoff game. We have to be ready to play our best in the playoffs.”
Said Unger: “We need to continue to execute and get better this week to have a good run the rest of the season.”
