By Robert Wilson
FLOWOOD – The undefeated locomotive on Lakeland Drive – otherwise known as the Jackson Prep football team – had a slow start down the tracks Friday night in the MAIS Class 6A state playoffs, but once the Patriots’ engines got revved up, it was going as fast as a high-speed rail foreign train going hundreds of miles per hour.
The main engineers – senior quarterback Billy Puckett, senior wide receiver-defensive back Major Quin and the stingy Prep defense – ran over crosstown rival Jackson Academy 37-0 for its 16th win in the last 17 meetings before an estimated 3,000 at Patriot Field.
No. 1 seed Prep improved to 12-0 and meets defending 6A state champion and No. 3 seed Hartfield Academy, 11-2 and a 17-14 winner over No. 2 Madison-Ridgeland Academy in the other semifinal, Saturday at 6 p.m. at Mississippi College’s Robinson-Hale Stadium in Clinton. Prep defeated Hartfield 51-45 Oct. 18 at Hartfield.
Prep is looking to finish with an undefeated season for the first time since Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame coach and former National High School Football Coach of the Year Ricky Black led the Patriots to a 13-0 season and the state title in 2017.
No. 4 seed JA finished 9-4 and lost to Prep for the second time this season. Prep defeated JA 35-10 Sept. 13 at Prep. JA was trying to reach the state championship game for the first time since 2020 (lost to MRA) and for the second time since 2013. JA hasn’t won a state title since the three-peat by Coach David Sykes from 2009-2011.
JA’s only win during the 17-game losing span to Prep was in 2020 when JA scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to defeat Prep 28-21 in the Class 6A state semifinals in Black’s last game at Prep.
Prep didn’t score in the first quarter Friday and JA missed several opportunities to take the lead, getting into deep into Prep territory, but came up empty on a missed field goal attempt and one failed fourth down conversions, both inside the Prep 25.
That’s when the Prep train started gaining speed.
Puckett led Prep on an impressive, 11-play, 83-yard scoring drive with Quin – an Air Force Academy commitment – scoring on a 2-yard run for a 7-0 lead with 9 minutes, 19 seconds to play in the second quarter.
Speedy junior running back Thomas Hewitt Oswalt ran for a nifty, 27-yard TD scamper for a 14-0 Prep lead with 6:48 to play in the second quarter.
Quin added his second score, this time on the defensive side, when he stepped in front of a JA receiver and ran untouched for a 22-yard interception return for a TD for 21-0 Prep lead with 5:23 to play in the second quarter.
JA wasn’t able to gain any momentum after halftime, and the Prep locomotive kept barreling down the tracks as Puckett raced for a 65-yard TD for a 28-0 Prep lead a minute and a half into third quarter.
Prep’s defense picked up a safety when they tackled JA senior running back Omarean “Man Man” Ellis in the end zone for a 30-0 Prep lead with 2:16 to play in the third quarter.
Oswalt ran for his second TD of the game with a 5-yard run for a 37-0 Prep lead with 11:27 to play in the fourth quarter to start the running clock. He finished with 102 yards on 12 carries.
With the win, Prep coach Doug Goodwin goes after his second state title in three seasons after having a hall of fame high school coaching career in Alabama.
He has won 268 games in his 30-year head coaching career, including a 34-5 record in his third season at Prep. He led Prep to a 12-1 record and the MAIS Class 6A state title in his first season at Prep two years ago. Goodwin brought the Patriots back from the most losses since the first year of the school in 1970 (an 8-5 record in 2022). He won 234 games in 27 seasons in Alabama.
“I thought our defense played very well,” Goodwin said. “Any time you shut someone out, your defense played great. I thought our kicking game was solid. Offensively, we were inconsistent. We made some plays, but we didn’t take care of the ball very well. It’s the first time this season we’ve done that.”
Puckett completed 6 of 10 passes for 80 yards and ran 14 times for 73 yards and one TD.
“Our mindset going into the game was to just take everything one play at a time and respect our opponent,” said Puckett, whose father Hastings is considered one of the best basketball players in JA school history and won two Overall Tournament championships in the mid-1990s. “JA has gotten a lot better since we last played them and we knew that. But so had we. We knew that we were the better team and if we executed then the rest would take care of itself. I thought we started off very slow but in the second quarter we turned it up a notch and started grinding out some good scoring drives. Our running game was on last night. We had a lot of good run game calls for their defense. Whether it was myself or Thomas Hewitt running the ball, we were able to make some good gains because our offensive line had a good push and our receivers were blocking men downfield.
“Defensively, we were excellent. I give a lot of credit to the defense for giving us good field position and taking weight off the offense’s shoulders. The defense played phenomenal and set the tone for sure. It is a blessing to have a defense like ours. They play really hard and make the opponent earn every yard they get.”
Quin – who is the only Prep player who starts on offense and defense – and had one carry for two yards (his TD), and one catch for 33 yards, two tackles, one interception (his TD), made blocks to help the running backs and Puckett make big gains and good coverage on JA’s receivers.
“We started off a little slow, but then we were able to get a run game going after a bunch of big-time turnovers on defense,” said Quin, whose sister Caroline is a cheerleader and plays soccer for JA. “I was able to get that pick six to get us up 21 and that changed the momentum of the game. We started to spread it out and get going. I thought the offensive line and Billy played great and so did our secondary. We had three interceptions (the senior safety De’Marion Tyler, who is playing football for the first time this year, had the other two interceptions) on the night and played great.”
“We told our guys that this was a playoff game against our rival, but we had to do the same things that got us to where we were this season – run to the ball, play hard and do correct assignments,” said Prep defensive coordinator Nick Brewer, who has been at Prep since 1999 and been head of the defense for the majority of those seasons and been a part of 13 state championships. “For the majority of the night, we did those things. Our secondary got some big turnovers. Any time a defense scores (Quin’s interception return for a TD), its big. And Da’Marion had two big interceptions. He’s playing football for the first time since junior high and has had a good season. He’s very talented and can do a lot of things.”
JA had a tough night.
Sophomore quarterback Pruett James, who replaced Carter Mathison as the starter midway through the season, had constant pressure from Prep’s defense. He was sacked twice and hurried many other times and completed 5 of 20 passes for 74 yards and three interceptions.
Ellis, JA’s workhorse running back, had 89 yards on 20 carries. He finished the season with 1,421 yards and 14 TDs.
Prep limited JA to only 163 total yards (89 rushing and 74 passing).
David Duggan ended his first season as JA’s head coach, after 30 plus years as a college assistant (including two stints at Southern Miss), on a sour note.
“Our offense moved the ball, but we were very poor in the red zone,” said Duggan, who was JA’s defensive coordinator two years ago for one season before going back to college for one year. “We couldn’t punch it in. After that, we couldn’t get our offense going. Give Prep credit. They got after our quarterback pretty good. He’s a young player and will learn from experiences he had this year. Prep has a lot of good players and many of them, especially Quin and Puckett, responded and made plays when they needed them. Puckett was able to make plays with his feet and get out of trouble by just being a football player. He avoided a couple of sacks, broke some tackles, and made plays. He’s one of the best players in our league and showed that last night. Every time I thought we had something going, Prep responded. That’s what good teams do. They shut the door on any momentum we had and made a big play. I’m disappointed for our senior class. We set a high standard and they worked hard and did things the right way.”
