Defense carries Leake Rebels to first victory of year
The Leake Academy Rebels had their best offensive game of the season last week against Heritage Academy.
The Rebels scored 25 second-half points to overcome a two-score halftime deficit and scored with 45 seconds left to take a 38-33 win over the Patriots on Friday night for a large homecoming crowd.
Leake improves to 1-4 on the season and will host Copiah Academy to open district play this week.
Leake coach Brian Pickens said he was proud of his team from coming back in the second half to get the win.
“I was really proud of our kids,” Pickens said. “We didn’t play very well in the first half and had some bad turnovers that allowed Heritage to have the lead at the half. We challenged the kids at the half and I thought they responded. We were down late and put together a good drive to take the win. I thought our kids were in better shape and we just wore them down. It’s good to get that first win and get that monkey off our back. I thought some of our young kids grew up tonight.”
Heritage took an early lead with a 2-yard run with 3:03 left in the first quarter. The PAT failed and Heritage led 6-0.
The Rebels first score came from the defense as Charlie Brantley intercepted a pass and returned it 36-yard for a touchdown with 39 seconds left in the first quarter. Matthew Nowell hit the PAT and Leake led 7-6.
The action got going midway through the second quarter when Heritage scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 5:35 left in the half. The try for two was good and the Patriots led 14-7.
The Patriots found the end zone again when Leake quarterback George Wilcox threw an interception that was returned 18 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was good and Heritage led 21-7.
The Rebels got a big play from the offense when Wilcox hit Benjamin Jackson on a 57-yard touchdown pass with 3:48 left in the half. Nowell’s PAT was blocked and Heritage led 21-13.
But the Patriots answered with a 43-yard touchdown pass and led 27-13 at the half.
The Leake defense held Heritage scoreless in the third quarter. Leake cut into the lead when Wilcox hit Nowell on a short pass and the junior turned it into a 62-yard touchdown. Nowell also hit the PAT to cut the Heritage lead to cut the margin to 27-20, a score that lasted through the end of the quarter.
Leake then got busy in the fourth quarter with a pair of long touchdown passes. The first was a 48-yard pass from Wilcox to Jack Harkins to cut the score to 27-26 with 8:24 left to play. The second was a 35-yard pass from Wilcox to Mathan Weaver with 7:08 left to play to cut the score to 32-27.
But just as Leake seemed to have all the momentum, Heritage found an open receiver for a 70-yard gain. Three plays later, Heritage scored on a 2-yard run to go ahead 33-32 with 4:43 left to play.
Leake then used its rushing game to pound away at the Heritage defense. A big third-down conversion from Wilcox to Nowell put the ball inside the Heritage 20. Weaver then finished off the drive with a 12-yard run with 45 seconds left in the game for the final margin of 38-33.
Leake had 344 yards passing and 177 rushing for 521 yards of total offense. Weaver led the rushing attack with 67 yards on seven carries while Brantley had 50 yards on 14 carries. Camden Marble had 49 yards on nine carries.
Wilcox was 12-of-23 passing for 344 yards with four TDS and two interceptions. Jackson had four catches for 102 yards while Nowell had three catches for 96 yards. Weaver had three catches for 85 yards while Harkins had two catches for 61 yards.
On defense, Marble led the Rebels with eight tackles while Coby Kemp had 5.5 tackles. Weaver had 4.5 tackles while Brantley had four tackles and an interception. Grayson McDonald had 3.5 tackles while Joshua Gray had three tackles.