Veteran sportswriter and high school football expert Robert Wilson is doing the Germany Law Firm, PLLC/Mississippi Scoreboard predictions column each week during the high school football season on teams from Hinds, Madison, and Rankin County. Wilson had a 22-8 record (73.3 percent) last week and has a 66-29 record (69.4 percent) this season.
By Robert Wilson
Jackson Academy (3-0) at Hartfield Academy (1-2)
This could be the year that Jackson Academy finishes the season with a championship.
The Raiders haven’t won a state title since Coach David Sykes won three straight from 2009-2011.
JA is loaded with talent.
Junior offensive lineman Caden Moss (No. 1 rated player in Mississippi and No. 4 rated offensive lineman in the country in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports), senior defensive lineman and Tennessee commitment Dereon Albert (No. 8 player in Mississippi and No. 28 defensive tackle in the Class of 2026), senior linebacker and Tennessee commitment TJ White (No. 3 player in Mississippi and No. 5 linebacker in the country in the Class of 2026), and senior wide receiver and North Carolina commitment O’Mari Johnson (rated No. 17 player in Mississippi and No. 35 athlete in the country) lead the charge for the Raiders.
Moss, Albert and White and members of the Performance Therapy/Mississippi Scoreboard Preseason Metro Jackson Football Elite 11 Team.
No school in Mississippi has three players in the Top 20 in the Class of 2026 like JA and only defending MHSAA Class 7A state champion Tupelo has three in the Top 24.
Senior quarterback and Clinton High transfer Josef Walker – rated as the No. 7 dual threat quarterback in Mississippi in the Class of 2026 by qbhitlist.com – has completed an amazing 86.2 percent of his passes for 413 yards and four touchdowns and ran for 85 yards and one TD.
Junior running back Kingston Mays and junior running back and Clinton High transfer Aaric Beasley has combined for 446 yards and 12 TDs.
Senior wide receiver and Clinton High transfer Jaydann Hollins has caught a team-high 11 passes for 236 yards and one TD.
JA has three lopsided victories, defeating Oak Forest, La., 42-6, Leake Academy 48-21 and Greenville St. Joseph 45-7.
Two-time defending MAIS state champion Hartfield lost its first two games of the season to MHSAA Class 4A Columbia High 22-21 and MAIS Class 4A Madison-Ridgeland Academy 48-21, but bounced back with a 42-13 victory over Pillow Academy last week.
Hartfield junior quarterback Ethan Elliott has completed 60 percent of his passes for 511 yards and three TDs and ran for a team-high 275 yards and three TDs.
Senior wide receiver and Auburn commitment Bralan Womack – the 2024 Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year and a member of the Elite 11 Team – led Hartfield in receiving with 13 catches for 305 yards and two TDs.
Womack – rated the No. 1 safety in the country and the No. 12 player in the country in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports – is dangerous regardless if he is on offense, defense or special teams. He is a threat to score from anywhere on the field.
Hartfield – which won 26 games with only two losses over the last two seasons – has defeated JA 28-17 last season and 40-13 two years ago.
Hartfield doesn’t as much as talent as it did last season and JA has more than it did last season.
Jackson Academy 28, Hartfield 14
Jackson Prep (2-2) at MRA (3-1)
Despite its tough schedule, Madison-Ridgeland Academy has won three of its first four games, including last week’s impressive 62-37 victory over Collierville, Tenn., High, the largest public high school in Tennessee. The Patriots’ only loss was a 28-24 decision to Ravenwood, Tenn., High, located in Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville, where MRA head coach Herbert Davis’ son Hayden is the offensive coordinator. Ravenwood is ranked No. 5 in Tennessee by MaxPreps and finished 13-1 and reached the public school Class 6A semifinals last year.
MRA senior quarterback Samuel Stockett had the best game of his career against Collierville, completing 28 of 39 passes for 539 yards and five TDs. With Friday’s performance, Stockett ranks No. 1 in Mississippi and No. 76 in the country according to MaxPreps with 1,147 passing yards this season. He has completed 66 of 96 passes, 68.8 percent, with 10 TDs.
Senior wide receiver Case Thomas – a member of the Elite 11 Team – has caught a team-high 22 passes for 423 yards and three TDs, including eight catches for 194 yards and two TDs against Collierville.
Senior defensive back Jack Ridgway has three interceptions, two returned for TDs, and blocked a punt this season.
MRA’s showdown with undefeated Jackson Academy next week could be one of the best MAIS regular season games in history with Division I talent all over the field.
But MRA cannot overlook Prep, which has won two games in a row. Prep lost 36 seniors to graduation and has only there returning starters, but it gradually getting experience and improving with coaching from an experienced staff, led by head coach Doug Goodwin, who is in the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame, and defensive coordinator Nick Brewer, who was named to the MAIS Coaches Hall of Fame this year.
Prep junior quarterback Luke Essary has completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 765 yards and seven TDs. Junior running back Wade Smith has a team-high 369 yards and four TDs. Sophomore wide receiver Josh Parker has caught a team-high 14 passes for 352 yards and two TDs.
Sophomore defensive back Herrin Goodman has a team-high 36 tackles.
MRA has one of the best offensive lines in Mississippi: junior right tackle Brody Brown (6-foot-3, 229 pounds), senior right guard Heed Burnham (6-3, 292), senior center Morgan McCrory (6-foot, 215), junior left guard Clay Lawson (6-3, 304), junior left tackle and member of the Elite 11 Team Caleb Unger (6-3, 295), junior tight end Tripp Carroll (5-11, 195), and senior tight end Will Jones (6-3, 188).
MRA coach Herbert Davis gets his 250th career coaching victory.
MRA 35, Jackson Prep 14
Madison Central (1-2) at Northwest Rankin (2-1)
MHSAA Class 7A Madison Central was upset by MHSAA Class 5A Brookhaven 20-17 in overtime last week in Brookhaven, the first time in many years the Jaguars have lost in football to a team two classes smaller than them. It is also the first time since 2016 that Madison Central has lost two of its first three games.
Madison Central will try to rebound against Metro Jackson Class 7A rival Northwest Rankin in a non-region game. The good news for the Jaguars is they have won 12 of the last 14 meetings against the Cougars.
Northwest Rankin has split with Metro Jackson MHSAA Class 7A rivals Germantown (won 24-17) and Clinton (lost 19-11) and defeated MHSAA Class 5A Wayne County 24-14 this season.
Madison Central junior Ross Beavers – the first team kicker on last year’s Performance Therapy/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson team and one of four sophomores on the first team – is the difference. He has made 15 of 19 field goal attempts and 45 of 45 extra points attempts over the past two seasons.
Madison Central 24, Northwest Rankin 21
In other games (winning team in bold):
Brandon (2-1) at Clay-Chalkville, Ala. (4-0)
Canton Academy (1-2) at Centreville Academy (3-1)
C.H.E.F., La. (0-4) at Central Hinds (3-1)
Christ Covenant School (3-1) at Prairie View, La. (4-0)
Clinton Christian (0-3) at Ethel (2-1)
East Rankin Academy (3-1) at Lamar School (3-1)
Florence (1-2) at Mendenhall (2-1)
Forest Hill (1-2) at Canton (2-1)
Kirk Academy (1-2) at Tri-County Academy (2-1)
Lanier (3-0) at Raymond (1-2)
Leake County (0-3) at Velma Jackson (1-2)
Madison St. Joseph (1-3) at Brookhaven Academy (2-1)
McLaurin (0-3) at West Lincoln (0-3)
Neshoba Central (1-2) at Germantown (1-2)
Park Place (1-2) at Discovery Christian (1-3)
Pearl (1-2) at Clinton (2-1)
Pisgah (3-0) at Puckett (1-2)
Provine (0-3) at Jim Hill (1-2)
Richland (2-1) at Pelahatchie (1-2)
St. Andrew’s (0-3) at McAdams (2-0)
Terry (3-0) at Callaway (2-1), South Jackson Field
Yazoo City (2-1) at Ridgeland (3-0)
