By Robert Wilson
Thanks to senior quarterback Josef Walker’s three touchdown passes and a defense that created six turnovers (four interceptions and two fumble recoveries), Jackson Academy is within one win of its first state football championship since 2011.
Walker completed 15 of 23 passes for 266 yards and three TD passes and gained 60 yards on 11 carries and ran for another TD and JA’s defense didn’t allow a score as JA defeated Madison-Ridgeland Academy 35-0 in the MAIS Class 4A, Division I semifinals Friday night before an estimated 3,000 at MRA’s Patriot Field in Madison.
JA – the No. 4 seed – improved to 10-1 and won its sixth straight game since a 35-26 loss to MRA in regard season. The Raiders also defeated the Patriots for the first time in 11 meetings. JA’ s last win was a 30-7 decision in 2017.
JA will play No. 2 seed Hartfield, a 48-21 winner over No. 3 seed Jackson Prep, for the state championship next Saturday at 7 p.m. at Mississippi College’s Robinson Hale Stadium in Clinton. JA defeated Hartfield 41-22 at Hartfield in the regular season. JA also has not been in a championship game since 2020. The Raiders haven’t won a state title since Coach David Sykes led them to a three-peat from 2009-2011.
MRA – the No. 1 seed – finished 9-2 and broke a nine-game winning streak. The Patriots’ last loss was a 28-24 decision to Ravenwood, Tenn., which is undefeated and ranked No. 8. in Tennessee. MRA hasn’t won a state title since a three-peat from 2019-2021 and not been in a state title game since 2022.
MRA – which came averaging 41.4 points per game this season – had not been shutout since 2013 when MHSAA Class 1A Taylorsville won 26-0 and had not been shutout by an MAIS team since Washington School won 24-0 in 2009.
JA dominated from the start.
After holding MRA without a first down on its first possession (two incomplete passes and a sack), Walker – rated as the No. 7 dual threat quarterback in Mississippi in the Class of 2026 by qbhitlist.com – connected with senior wide receiver and North Carolina commitment O’Mari Johnson for a 50-yard TD pass on the first play of the drive.
MRA made its first turnover when it fumbled the ball out of the end zone after gaining three yards to the JA 3-yard line. JA sophomore linebacker Adam Alexander forced the fumble with 2 minutes, 24 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.
Walker scored on a 1-yard run to give JA a 14-0 lead with 7:41 to play in the second quarter. The drive was set up when there was a low snap on a punt, which resulted in JA getting the ball at the MRA 32.
MRA fumbled at the JA 15 when JA senior linebacker Jack Seward forced a fumble and Johnson recovered the fumble.
JA junior defensive back Ashton Blackmon made an interception at the JA 20 to stop yet another MRA scoring threat with 6:48 to play in the third quarter.
Walker completed a 40-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Vaiden Taylor for a 21-0 JA lead with 3:33 to play in the third quarter.
Seward made an interception at the JA 45 to stop another MRA drive with 2:33 to play in the third quarter.
Walker completed a 25-yard TD pass to freshman wide receiver Braylan Short for a 28-0 JA lead with 1:29 to play in the third quarter.
JA senior defensive back Carter Mathison made an interception – his team-leading fifth of the season – at JA 19 with 16 seconds tp play in the third quarter.
JA junior running back Aaric Beasley scored on a 14-yard run for a 35-0 lead with 6:22 to play in the fourth quarter.
JA senior defensive back Baird Kennedy made an interception at the JA 2 with 2 minutes play in the fourth quarter to stop another MRA drive.
JA’s defense was led by senior linebacker and Tennessee commitment TJ White – No. 3 player in Mississippi and No. 5 linebacker in the country in the Class of 2026 – with nine tackles. Alexander, Mathison, junior defensive back Mari Jackson and junior Jaden Walker – Josef’s brother – had five tackles each.
In addition to Josef Walker, JA’s offense was led by Beasley with 90 rushing yards and one TD and one catch for 46 yards, Taylor with two catches for 51 yards and one TD and Johnson with one catch for 50 yards and one TD.
MRA senior quarterback Samuel Stockett – who entered the game second in Mississippi with 2,660 passing yards, according to MaxPreps – completed 15 of 23 passes for 245 yards. He had passed for 23 TDs with only five interceptions coming into the game this season.
MRA senior wide receiver Case Thomas caught nine passes for 136 yards. He was sixth in Mississippi with 1,036 yards going into the game, according to MaxPreps, on 58 catches with nine TDs.
MRA senior defensive back James Downer had a team-high seven tackles. Senior defensive back Jack Ridgway and senior linebacker Parker Durham had six tackles each.
“Our game are playing with great effort,” said second-year JA head coach David Duggan in a halftime interview with sideline reporter Carli Grace Criddle of JA’s Raider Network. ”The defensive line is really doing a good job, getting pressure on the passer. Our offensive line is going a good job with protection and we’ve just got to keep playing hard.”
Duggan, who was a college assistant, for 38 years, knows preparation is the key to winning.
“We talk about it every single week, it’s not who you play, it’s about us,” Duggan said in pregame interview with Bryan Eubank of JA’s Raider Network. “This one is true, now the meaning is a lot greater. It’s still about us and now we show up and prepare to play against a really good MRA football team. They might be the most complete high school football team I’ve seen in a long time. Across the board, they are just a really solid football team who is really well coached. We put an emphasis on the off week on how hard you’ve got to concentrate on every single snap to make you are fundamentally sound, you’ve got your assignments right, you’ve got great communication, and then you have to play with great effort. Our first game with MRA, we spotted them 21 points. We had a blocked punt, we had a turnover for a touchdown and then we had a bust coverage. You can’t do that against a really good football team and expect to win. The emphasis has been on eliminating the mistakes and really concentrating hard and great communication. You can’t turn back the hands of time but you can certainly learn from them.”
With the loss, MRA coach Herbert Davis won’t be able to try to win his seventh state title and fourth at MRA. He has won 255 games in 29 seasons.
“It was a nightmare – six turnovers in nine possessions,” Davis said. “We couldn’t run it. They dropped eight people on us and had their three studs rushing and we couldn’t stop them. I told the kids after the game we played the best regular season schedule in the history of the association this year, but we didn’t win the championship. We played some really good teams (Ravenwood High and Collierville High from Tennessee and Baton Rouge Catholic out of Louisiana) who will play a long time in the playoffs and possibly win a championship. And we beat JA, too.”
