Veteran sportswriter and high school football expert Robert Wilson is doing the Priority One Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard predictions column each week during the high school football season on teams from Hinds, Madison, and Rankin County. Wilson had an 22-4 record last week (84.6 percent) and has a 121-32 record (79.1 percent) for the season.
Jackson Prep (6-0) at West Jones (5-0)
MHSAA Class 7A power Oak Grove outlasted MAIS Class 6A power Madison-Ridgeland Academy 45-44 in overtime two weeks ago in an exciting matchup featuring two of the best football programs in Mississippi and two of the best quarterbacks in the state in Oak Grove senior and Texas A&M commitment Anthony Maddox and MRA senior and Southern Miss commitment John White.
This Friday night, Mississippi high school fans get another dynamic MHSAA-MAIS matchup with two undefeated teams in MAIS Class 6A Prep and MHSAA Class 6A West Jones, two teams which have never met on the football field. In fact, this is the first time West Jones has ever played a MAIS team in football in school history.
Prep has played many MHSAA teams over the years and played in the first MHSAA-MAIS football matchup in 2001 when George County defeated Prep 27-14 at Prep. Prep has a 21-10 record (a 67.7 winning percentage) against MHSAA teams over the year, but here is the interesting stat. When a MHSAA team plays Prep for the first time, Prep has a 9-2 record, an 81.8 winning percentage, only losing to George County in 2001 and Oxford in 2013. George County and Oxford are the only MHSAA teams that Prep played that it didn’t beat at least once. Prep is 7-1 vs. Forest, 3-3 vs. Pearl, 2-0 vs. New Hope, 2-0 vs St. Stanislaus, 2-0 vs. Madison St. Joseph, 2-0 vs. Yazoo City, 1-1 vs. Newton County, 1-1 vs. Bassfield, 1-1 vs. Taylorsville, 0-2 vs. Oxford and 0-1 vs. George County. Three of those teams (St. Stanislaus, Bassfield and Taylorsville) that Prep defeated went on the win the state championship in the same year and two of those teams (St. Stanislaus and Bassfield) Prep was its only loss of the season.
There are some who believe the reason is that the MHSAA teams don’t take the MAIS seriously because the bigger MHSAA schools don’t believe the smaller MAIS schools have the talent, speed, or depth to match up with them.
Prep has proved that otherwise and MRA – despite being a school more than four times as small in enrollment in grades 9-12 – was able to play Oak Grove to the wire two weeks ago. West Jones has about 250 students per grade, compared to Prep’s about 110 per grade, more than twice the size of Prep.
Prep comes in with a 12-game winning streak. The Patriots won the MAIS Class 6A state title last season (its first since 2018 and 22nd in school history) and finished the year winning its last six games and has won its first six games this year in impressive fashion. Its closest game was a 17-10 victory over arch-rival Jackson Academy at JA.
West Jones has also won most of its games easily this season, with its closest game a 24-16 victory over Laurel in the season opener. West Jones lost to eventual Class 5A state champion Picayune in the second round of the playoffs last season, the last game for highly successful coaching career of Scott Pierson, who retired after 21 seasons as West Jones head coach. Pierson had a 195-65 record, an excellent winning percentage of 75 percent, and won one state title in 2020, one runner-up finish in 2018 and reached the semifinals six other seasons.
Former South Jones head coach and Oak Grove offensive coordinator Cory Reynolds took over for Pierson this season.
Prep is coached by Doug Goodwin, who is in his second season. Goodwin is in the Alabama Coaches Hall of Fame after winning 234 games in 27 years as a head coach in Alabama. In 2008, Goodwin became the first coach in Alabama history to take three different teams to a state championship game. He led Demopolis to a 15-0 record and a state title in 2008 and set a state record with 761 points that season.
He also worked at Auburn and Ole Miss before coming to Prep.
Prep has a solid team without any superstars. The offense is led by senior quarterback Billy Puckett (1,067 passing yards and seven TDs and 239 rushing yards and six TDs), senior running back Lake Womack (313 yards and seven TDs), junior running back Cole Gideon (276 yards and two TDs), senior wide receiver Owen McCraney (16 catches for 368 yards and two TDs), senior tight end Peyton Puckett (Billy’s brother), senior center Allen Rebich (5-foot-11, 245 pounds), junior left guard Thomas Coco (6-2, 275), and junior left tackle Cole Allen (6-6, 260).
Senior Thomas Cross (a team-high 31 tackles), senior defensive tackle Andy Brown (team highs of 10.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks), and senior defensive backs Micah Stallworth, Matthew Laseter and Matthew Mehrle led the defense.
West Jones needs to keep an eye on Prep junior Major Quin, who hardly ever comes off the field. Quin plays offense, defense and special teams. Colorado’s Travis Hunter made national news earlier this year, playing 144 snaps in the season opener. Quin probably does that every game and more.
As usual, West Jones has plenty of talented players. Junior running back Elijah Jones (the 6-1, 230 pounder has 479 yards and eight TDs), sophomore running back Caleb Holmes (220 yards and three TDs), freshman quarterback Kymaurion Lindsey (six TD passes), senior linebacker Rase Jones and senior defensive end Isaiah Lindsey lead West Jones.
Prep has won nine of the last 10 games against MHSAA opponents and averaged 47.1 points in those 10 games.
Jackson Prep 28, West Jones 14.
In other games (winners in bold):
Provine (3-2) at Jim Hill (1-4), Thursday, Hughes Field
Callaway (2-3) at Forest Hill (2-3), South Jackson Field
Central Hinds Academy (4-2) at Bayou Academy (4-3)
Central Holmes Christian School (4-2) at Canton Academy (3-3)
Clinton Christian Academy (4-2) at Columbia Academy (2-4)
Florence (3-2) at Hancock (5-0)
Gentry (3-2) at Germantown (2-3)
Hartfield Academy (7-0) at Oak Forest, La. Academy (3-3)
Jackson Academy (4-2) at Madison St. Joseph (3-2)
Kemper County (3-3) at McLaurin (1-4)
Leake County (0-5) at Puckett (4-1)
Madison-Ridgeland Academy (4-2) at East Rankin Academy (2-4)
Murrah (4-1) at Holmes County Central (5-0)
Porter’s Chapel Academy (7-0) at Hillcrest Christian School (1-5)
Prairie View, La., Academy (2-4) at Park Place (2-3)
Raleigh (3-2) at Pisgah (2-3)
St. Andrew’s (3-2) at Pelahatchie (0-5)
Taylorsville (1-4) at Tri-County Academy (6-0)
Terry (4-1) at Clinton (0-5)
Velma Jackson (4-0) at Ethel (4-0)
Wingfield (1-4) at Raymond (1-3)
