Parklane Academy needed a victory over a vaunted top-ranked Jackson Prep club Friday night to advance into the playoffs.
Parklane’s defense clocked in early, but the offensive unit overslept. Prep’s cat-quick defense prevented the Pioneers from crossing midfield until almost midway through the third quarter on their eighth possession of the game. Parklane got as far as the Prep 35 on that particular series.
Prep took advantage of Parklane miscues to lead 12-0 at halftime. But Prep turned it on in the second half to win 36-0 going away.
The defeat was the 17th straight to the Patriots. Parklane’s last win in the series was a 6-0 verdict in 1995.
The loss was the end of the prep career for 12 Parklane seniors who were recognized during pregame activities. Parklane finished the season 8-3 overall and 4-2 in AAA action under first-year PA coach Mike Powell, who played on that 1995 Parklane team. Prep improved to 11-0 and 6-0.
“Jackson Prep has a heck of a football team,” Powell said. “Obviously in the first half we played about as good as we could play defensively. Offensively, we couldn’t do anything. Defensively we played extremely well and did what we had to do to stay in it, but offensively, we just didn’t get it done.”
Junior Brady Lea entered the game as Parklane’s leading rusher. Prep bottled up Lea throughout the game and he finished with 29 yards on 22 rushing attempts. Senior running back Joseph Clark, who battled leg issues through the week, was limited to three nondescript carries during the first half. He did not play the second half.
After Clark went out, it was pretty much a running back-by-committee approach for the Pioneers. The Pioneers even put Lea in the backfield behind sophomore quarterback Carr Young for a short time. Along with Lea, senior Dylan Barnes and junior Dan Gill ran the ball. The Pioneers were without the services of senior back Taylor Burt, who was held out after he suffered a neck injury the previous week against Copiah Academy.
Parklane rushed 34 times and netted 38 yards rushing. The Pioneers finished with 137 total yards, 60 of which came on the final possession against Prep’s second defensive unit. The Pioneers reached Prep’s 20 on a 26-yard pass from Lea to senior Justin Brent as time expired. Brent finished with five receptions for 93 yards.
“(Prep) puts seven in the box on you. Ultimately you have to throw and catch the ball,” Powell said. We didn’t throw and catch well enough to keep us in it. We didn’t block very well. We threw a pickoff and fumbled. You just can’t do that against Prep and expect to stay in it.”
Prep quarterback Ryan Buchanan, an Ole Miss commit, threw two touchdown passes and was 10 of 21 for 143 yards on a breezy evening. Running back Hamel McGraw rushed 17 times for 106 yards, including one from 1 yard out. McGraw also caught 16-yard pass from Buchanan 6:54 before halftime that put the Patriots up 12-0 after both extra-point conversion attempts failed.
“I didn’t think the wind was much of a factor. I should have led my receivers a little more a couple of times,” Buchanan said explaining some passes downfield. “I think we played well and my receivers stepped up.”
Buchanan committed to Ole Miss before the season. He said he doesn’t intend to waiver from that pledge.
“It’s solid,” Buchanan said. “I wanted to get it out of the way where I could focus on the season. I wanted to stay in state and represent Mississippi.”
After a Parklane punt to begin the second half, Prep needed to travel only 46 yards in six plays for its third score. Buchanan connected with tight end Cossar Morgan going across the middle for a 13-yard score at the 8:52 mark of the third quarter. Reserve kicker Grant Lamb entered to add the first of his three successful PATs.
“Either by Buchanan’s big arm or (Hamel) McGraw’s hard-nosed running, Prep got it done,” Powell said. “It’s nothing fancy.”
Three plays after a Prep punt, Lea tried to pitch to junior back Logan Morel. But Prep defenders got to Morel before the ball did and a fumble occurred. Chandler Pride scooped it up and returned it 20 yards for the score with 1:49 left in the quarter.
Lamb added a 25-yard field goal at the 7:23 mark of the fourth quarter. The Pats also had a 44-yard touchdown run from Ian McGraw with 6:31 left.
Parklane seniors also included Tyler Stutzman, James Michael Schmidt, Austin Sanders, August Siebert, Seth Travis, Matt McElveen, Ty Crittenden and Joey Day Rushing.
Powell said it was a successful season. He returned to Parklane after serving seven years as offensive coordinator at Brookhaven High School.
“I just want to say I’m proud of my seniors,” Powell said. “For my first go, I had a blast and got to coach a good group of guys. Everybody bought in to what I brought. They sold out for me. The biggest thing is the staff we have. They came to work every day and handled 99.9 percent of the things we do. I appreciate everybody pulling in the same direction.”
