Zach Beasley impressed NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders and Trinity (Texas) Christian in his debut as Madison-Ridgeland Academy’s starting quarterback as he led the Patriots to a victory in the season opener featuring two state championship teams.
Beasley impressed folks in North Mississippi Friday night.
The Northwest Rankin transfer completed 12 of 23 passes for a career-high 315 yards and four touchdowns and ran for a score in a 51-17 victory at defending MHSAA Class 4A champion Corinth, one of the longest football road trips in school history.
For his outstanding performance, Beasley has been named the Junction Deli/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Football Player of the Week.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Beasley threw TD passes of 58 yards and 39 yards to Davis Dalton, 80 yards to Street Toler and 44 yards to Trey Zito and ran for an 8-yard TD. Corinth coach Todd Lowery was very complimentary of Beasley in the Corinth newspaper. The Warriors had won 16 of their last 18 games, with the only losses to MHSAA Class 6A schools, about four times the size of MRA.
Beasley is nearing the 1,000-yard mark for the season already. He has completed 52 of 105 passes for 959 yards and 11 TDs with only three interceptions and ran 19 times for 81 yards and two TDs. He has led defending MAIS Class 6A state champion MRA to a 5-0 record and a No. 1 ranking in Mississippi by MaxPreps. The Patriots have won 12 games in a row.
Beasley made a big splash in his debut for MRA. He completed a 10-yard TD pass to Dalton on fourth-and-8 with 7 seconds to go to give MRA the 27-26 win over Trinity, which came into the game ranked No. 12 in Texas. Beasley completed 14 of 28 passes for 196 yards and three TDs. Sanders, who is Trinity’s offensive coordinator, talked about how well Beasley played.
Beasley started half of the season for Northwest Rankin and passed for 1,038 yards and eight TDs last season as a junior.
“Zach has improved since the start of the season,” MRA coach Herbert Davis said. “He is getting a better understanding of what needs to be done to be successful. Zach’s timing has improved and he and the receivers are getting on the same page. He is also learning to throw the ball with more air under it instead of a laser. Zach is getting more touch with his passes.”
