It was one of those efforts that Parklane Academy first-year football coach Mike Powell was waiting on.
The Pioneers’ combination of a quick-strike offensive attack and a stout defensive unit that prevented the big play resulted in a convincing 35-12 MAIS AAA victory over Starkville Academy Friday night at Cowart-Smith Stadium.
The Pioneers had only one hiccup on special teams on a blocked punt, but other than that, there were no other flaws as the hosts led from start to finish and closed strong.
With the victory, Parklane won its fifth straight and improved to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in AAA action. The Volunteers dropped to 4-3 and 2-4 in AAA play.
“I thought it was a great effort on both sides of the ball. We were solid on special teams besides that one punt which was the one miscue we had,” Powell said. “To me, the punt was the only mistake in all three phases of the game. We played four quarters.”
Offensively, the Parklane’s triumvirate of quarterback Brady Lea and running backs Joseph Clark and Taylor Burt did yeoman’s work against the Vols.
Lea combined for 245 yards rushing and passing. He passed for two scores and ran for another. Clark ran for a score and led the Pioneers in rushing with 93 yards. One of Lea’s TD passes went to Clark. Burt rambled for 51 yards and a touchdown.
“I thought Brady Lea played well,” Powell said. “He was very solid. We got good runs out of Joseph and Taylor. It was a good 1-2 punch, I thought.”
Defensively, Parklane held the Vols to no big plays until the very end. PA lineman Justin Reynolds’ fumble recovery on the Vols’ first series led directly to Parklane’s initial touchdown. Justin Brent had an interception. Tyler Stutzman moved inside to nose and the move literally shut down SA’s success inside.
“It was one of those bend-don’t-break kind of nights defensively,” Powell said.
For all practical purposes, the Pioneers broke the game open after halftime. Under a heavy rush, Lea flipped a desperation pass in the direction of Clark, who was just behind the linebackers. Clark streaked down the left sideline for a 59-yard touchdown with 5:53 left in the third quarter.
Zack McDaniel added the third of five successful PATs for a 21-6 lead.
“Brady did a great job of being able to get the ball off,” Powell said. “Clark purposely ran an underneath route.”
Game officials were about to call Lee down when he got rid of the ball. He was in the clutches of two Volunteer defenders.
“I threw it to where I thought Joseph would be, and he was there,” Lea said. “They were hanging onto my jersey. I was just trying to get rid of the ball.”
“I didn’t think Brady was going to be able to get the pass off,” Clark said. “It was more like a shuffle pass, I just tried to get as much as I could.”
Parklane’s defense forced a punt and then scored on its next possession for a 28-6 lead. Lea’s 7-yard jaunt up the middle with 10:51 left in the game capped the 10-play, 63-yard drive.
A 37-yard touchdown pass from Drew Pellum to Colby Runnels brought the Vols to within 28-12 with 2:40 left, but the score was offset by Clark’s 2-yard burst for a score with 49 seconds left. The 51-yard scoring drive only needed four plays.
Reynolds’ early fumble recovery at Parklane’s 13 quickly turned the momentum toward the Pioneers, who launched a 12-play scoring drive. Lea hit Brent for a 30-yard touchdown with 2:39 left in the opening quarter. Brent was hit at the 2, but remained on his feet and stepped into the end zone.
On Starkville Academy’s next series, PA linebacker James Michael Schmidt tackled Colby Runnels for a 5-yard loss on fourth-and-five from the Parklane 20. Parklane went the other way and went 75 yards in only four plays and scored on Burt’s 11-yard run up the middle with 9:15 left before halftime.
Jonathon Burton kicked two field goals — from 31 and 25 yards —in each half for the Vols. He also missed from 31 yards.
Parklane travels to Hattiesburg on Friday to take on another AAA foe in Presbyterian Christian. The Bobcats hammered Hillcrest 49-0 Friday and improved to 6-2 overall and 3-2 within AAA action.
“(Presbyterian Christian) is what we’ve been waiting on to see where we are,” Powell said. “We dang sure will know where we stand after next week. That game has playoff implications.”
