Blackville – There will be no secrets when Jefferson Davis Academy takes on Holly Hill Academy for the SCISA 8-man football state title on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Calhoun Academy field in St. Matthews.
This will be the third meeting between the two teams this season. In the first meeting on September 1, JDA won 28-22 to snap Holly Hill’s 39-game winning streak. The second meeting came nearly two months later on October 27 with the region crown on the line. HHA came away with a 36-16 victory in that contest.
In this go-around, Jefferson Davis will be trying to snap Holly Hill’s run of three consecutive state championships. So how big of a factor is the familiarity with each other?
“It absolutely makes a difference,” said JDA head coach Anthony Reitenour, who is in his second season as head coach. “It’s hard to beat a team twice, much less playing them for a third time in one season. That’s where the coaching and execution comes in. We’re two pretty well-matched teams. It should be a good game.
“They’ll have a game plan, and we’ll have a game plan,” Reitenour added. We know what they’re going to do, and they know what we’re going to do. It will be a speed versus power game. There’s not much more they can throw at me, and there’s not much more I can throw at them.”
Actually, Jefferson Davis won’t be throwing much at all if Reitenour has his way. JDA, which is 11-2 on the season, is averaging 266.3 rushing yards a game and is averaging less than seven pass attempts a game.
JDA’s offensive line makes it easy to run the football. Junior center Landon Williams (5-feet-10-inches, 190 pounds) has a pair of seniors on either side of him at guard in Tollie Fickling (6-2, 220) and Hunter Zorn (6-2, 250). Freshman Fisher Robinson will also see some time when Zorn sees some action at fullback.
Also, there is senior Payton Payne (6-3, 220) at tight end and junior wide receiver Colson Loadholt (6-0, 155).
“We’ve just really got a strong front line and two very strong backs,” Reitenour said while referring to junior Nasir Void and . junior James Grubbs. “We’ve kept it pretty simple because of that. We’ve slowed the game down a lot.
“We’ve been taking the approach of trying to run the ball down other teams’ throat. People have been stacking the box against us, so we’ve been having to keep being creative. They’ve done a great job all season getting us yards, and I hope we’ll continue to do that. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
Void (6-1, 200) is the leading rusher with 1,239 yards and 16 touchdowns on 125 carries. Grubbs also has 125 carries, picking up 925 yards while scoring 10 touchdowns.
Loadholt has gotten 43 carries, running for 401 yards and 10 scores. Senior quarterback Paxton Wall has 297 yards and six scores on 87 totes. Junior fullback Keaton Crouch has 167 yards and three touchdowns on 35 carries, while Zorn has 28 carries for 116 yards.
Wall has completed 38 of 63 passes for 780 yards and 13 touchdowns. Loadholt is the leading receiver with 23 catches for 552 yards and nine touchdowns. Payne has 11 catches for 199 yards.
JDA is also stout up front on defense with Fickling dominating in the middle at noseguard. He leads the team with 116 tackles, 23 tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks.
The ends are Zorn and senior Tucker Fields. Zorn has 74 tackles, four TFLs and a sack, while Fields has 52 tackles and eight TFLs.
Payne is in the middle at linebacker and has 96 tackles eight TFLs. Senior Connor Loadholt and Void start on the outside. Void has 59 tackles and seven tackles for loss, while Connor Loadholt has 54 tackles and three TFLs.
Colson Loadholt is joined in the secondary by his other senior brother, Carter Loadholt. Colson has nine interceptions to go with 87 tackles and 10 TFLs. Carter has four interceptions to go with 60 tackles and one TFL.
“We’ve been lights out on defense,” Reitenour said. “(Defensive coordinator) Coach (Matt) Lightsey has done a great job. Tollie has been a force on the front line. He's a hard thing to handle.
“Payton Payne hardly played last year, and he’s just come into his own and has played great.”
The focal point for the JDA defense will be keeping HHA running back Tyree James from having a huge night. James has rushed for 1,832 yards and 33 touchdowns, but has had pedestrian numbers – for him – in the two games against JDA.
James rushed for 124 yards and no touchdowns in Holly Hill’s win and had 108 yards and a TD on 27 carries in the loss. James had to play some quarterback in the loss when starter Ashton Soles was injured.
“We’ve done a great job bottling him up,” Reitenour said. “He hasn't been able to do to our defense what he’s done to others. He’s a tremendous athlete. I’m hoping we can do it again.”
Freshman Chaz Breland handles the punting and kicking chores.
JDA will be trying to win its first state title since 2010 when it won the 11-man Class A title.
“It's huge,” Reitenour said of his team earning the chance to win a state title. “We preach having the right mentality, the right culture and that hard work will pay off. We’ve improved and they see the results and you earn what you get.
“This is a huge boost for the morale and the culture. This team put in the work, improving, putting in their extra time in the weight room. This is a great thing for the school and the program.”
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