By Robert Wilson
Jackson Academy’s Baird Kennedy has now joined his older brother Adams and father Foster with football victories over rival Jackson Prep.
Baird Kennedy played a big part in JA’s 16-7 victory over Prep Friday night before an estimated 3,500 at JA’s Brickyard in Northeast Jackson.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior strong safety had 9 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass break up, 1 quarterback hurry and made an interception in the fourth quarter for the Raiders, who defeated the Patriots for the first time since 2020 and for only the second time in 18 meetings.
JA – searching for its first state championship since David Sykes led the Raiders to a three-peat from 2009-2011 – improved to 6-1. JA’s last win over Prep was a 28-21 decision in the MAIS Class 6A semifinals when the Raiders, under coach Lance Pogue, scored 21 points in the fourth quarter.
Prep – which lost 36 seniors to graduation and had only three returning starters from last season’s state runner-up team – dropped to 4-4. It is the third time in the past five seasons that Prep – which has won a MAIS record 22 state titles – has lost at least four games in a season. Prep was 8-5 in 2021 when Coach Tyler Turner replaced Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame member and former National High School Football Coach of the Year Ricky Black and 10-4 in 2023 in Coach Doug Goodwin’s second season.
Before Black’s last season in 2020, Prep had not lost four games in a season since 9-4 in 2004. Black – who ranks second in Mississippi history with 401 victories in 40 seasons – won 263 games and 13 state titles in 24 seasons at Prep.
Baird Kennedy had lost to Prep as a sophomore and junior, but can now say he was a part of a JA victory over Prep like his brother and father.
Kennedy’s brother Adams – who had a school record 170 tackles as a senior – was a sophomore when JA last beat Prep in 2020, but lost to Prep as a junior and senior.
Kennedy’s father Foster was a sophomore in the historic first JA win over Prep in 1995 when the Raiders won over the Patriots for the first time in school history a week after head coach Sherad Shaw passed away. JA finished the season by winning its first state football championship. As a junior, Foster also defeated Prep for JA’s second straight state title.
Baird’s interception at the Prep 46 with 6 minutes, 41 seconds to play in the fourth quarter stopped a potential scoring drive by Prep and keep the Patriots two scores away from tying the game. It was Kennedy’s fourth interception this season and sixth of his career. The school record for most interceptions in a season is nine by John Bussey in 2005.
“The coaches worked extremely hard to get us prepared for the game and that played a huge role,” Baird Kennedy said. “I have to give all credit to the defensive line and coaches. It makes the job way easier when the d-line is getting constant pressure especially on pass plays.”
JA’s defensive line and linebackers – led by senior defensive lineman and Tennessee commitment Dereon Albert and senior linebacker and Tennessee commitment TJ White – did a superb job, holding Prep to only one score. White led JA with 12 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 4 quarterback hurries and 1 pass break up.
“Our guys play hard together,” said JA defensive coordinator Michael Turner, who played at Pillow Academy, Mississippi Delta Community College, Delta State and Mississippi State and was on the coaching staff when East Mississippi CC won a national title and Delta State had a national runner-up finish. “All night they never let adversity get them down. Communication was the key for our guys because of Prep’s offense.”
“It meant something different with Prep not only being rivals but also never having beat them,” said White, who is rated the No. 3 player in Mississippi and No. 5 linebacker in the country in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports. “I came in with the mindset of ‘nobody can stop me’ and I wanted to leave a legacy.”
It is the first time since a 10-7 win in 2009 that JA had limited Prep to only seven points or less. Prep scored its only touchdown – a 5-yard pass from junior Luke Essary to junior running back Owen Brown with 49 seconds to play before halftime – but didn’t score in the second half. JA limited Prep to only 39 total yards (negative nine rushing and 48 passing) in the second half. Essary completed 14 of 25 passes for 206 yards, but was unable to score in the last two quarters.
JA senior Gabe Barrett kicked a 27-yard field goal and junior running back Aaric Beasley scored on a 57-yard run to give JA a 10-0 lead after one quarrteer. Beasley had a career-high 245 yards on 22 carries and one TD.
JA senior quarterback Josef Walker put JA ahead 16-7 when he scored on a 12-yard run with 1:20 to play in the third quarter. Walker had 104 rushing yards on 14 carries and one TD and passed for 104 yards. He has not thrown an interception all season in 95 passes. Walker – rated as the No. 7 dual threat quarterback in Mississippi in the Class of 2026 by qbhitlist.com – is the cousin of two NFL players, former Heisman Trophy winner, No. 1 overall draft pick and current Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and Devin Duvernay, who is a two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“It is the ultimate focus game, especially defensively they challenge you with so many formations,” said second-year JA coach David Duggan in a pregame interview with Bryan Eubank of the Raider Network. “Are you going to be alert? Are you going to be on point? Are you going to get the adjustments made? It’s going to be a challenge for our offensive line to recognize what they are going to bring at you. We have to have great communication. Our brain has to be on fire and get us to play with great effort.
“Prep is very well coached. Defensively they cause you problems because they are so aggressive. They are going to get up in your face. They are going to play man and they are going to challenge you to throw it. You better get the football off in time. That has caused our offense in the past problems. We have to solutions for that. Offensively, they are extremely multiple and extremely well coached. Doug knows what he is doing. He’s really a good football coach. His teams are really well prepared to play us. Every opportunity I’ve had to play against him, he’s doing a really good job. I tried to do a little extra work and prepare our guys a little bit better. I remember listening to one of Doug’s interviews and he said he enjoys this type of challenge. He lost so many really good players. It is a coaching opportunity to impact younger players. He has done an outstanding job and they are getting better and better.”
Prep’s Goodwin – who lost first game to JA after four wins – has won 272 games in his 31-year coaching career, including a 38-10 record in four years at Prep (appeared in three consecutive championship games with a state title in 2022) and is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.
Prep lost outstanding players to graduation like quarterback Billy Puckett, wide receiver-defensive back Major Quin, and offensive linemen Cole Allen and Matthew Parker are playing football at Mississippi State, Air Force Academy, Duke, and Vanderbilt respectively. In addition, star linebacker Tre Bryant is playing baseball at the University of California.
“Defensively, we gave up too many explosive players but played well in the red zone,” Goodwin said. “Offensively, we did not play well. Too many missed blocks, missed reads and dropped passes. Special teams were not as good as we’ve played this year. They have a good team. They have a lot of talent.”
In addition to White and Albert, JA has two more nationally rated players – junior offensive lineman Caden Moss (No. 1 rated player in Mississippi and No. 4 rated offensive lineman in the country in the Class of 2027 by 247 Sports), senior wide receiver and North Carolina commitment O’Mari Johnson (rated No. 17 player in Mississippi and No. 35 athlete in the country).
Junior left tackle Moss (6-5, 300 pounds), senior left guard Morris Griner (5-10, 190), sophomore center PJ Evans (6-4, 310), sophomore right guard Reggie Harper (6-3, 300) and sophomore tackle Reid Miller (6-3, 205) opened holes for the Raiders and produced 349 rushing yards and 453 total yards. JA is playing without returning starter, senior center and Mississippi Gulf Coast CC commitment Luke New (6-2, 275), who had ACL surgery after an injury earlier this season.
