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Based on team-play – everything shown all year: Sacrifice; unselfish sacrifice!
These are the fellows they say are pretty good; but I think we’re better!
And I think if we get ourselves keyed up to a point, and when we’re confident of that, why the results will take care of themselves…
But, don’t forget, men – when we get’em on the run, we’re going to go, go, go, go!
And we aren’t going to stop until we go over that goal line!
And don’t forget, men – today is the day, we’re going to win!
They can’t lick us, and the best time to go.
The first who’s gonna, men, go in there and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!
What do you say, men!
Knute Rockne, 1928
Halftime speeches have been immortalized over the years. Whether they were speeches delivered by the likes of Knute Rockne or Vince Lombardy, or glorified in countless movies, the speeches have proven to be the one component needed to fire up a team and send them into the second half and on to victory.
I am not sure what words were used, and some may not be repeatable, when SCA Head Coach Winston Mullins addressed his team at halftime of the SCA – Starkville second round playoff game. Whatever was said worked. The Cougars appeared to be a different team and as such, coasted into the third round of the MAIS AAA playoffs.
Forecasts of torrential rain all week prior to the game had everyone prepared for a gully washer. However, the weather was never an issue. While the ground was damp, it could not be blamed for the first half play.
Perhaps it was nerves or the pressure of the playoffs, but neither team appeared to be playing their best. The teams traded drives throughout the first quarter, with three punts in the first seven minutes.
Starkville was the first to reach the end zone on a 44 yard run by their quarterback. Throughout the first half, the Starkville quarterback and tailback were able to run right up the middle of the Cougar defense and find plenty of running room once they reached the secondary. This was very uncharacteristic of the Cougar defense. The Cougars answered right back with a 55 yard touchdown run by Kyle Burney, with 44 seconds left in the first quarter.
That was the end of the scoring for both teams in the first half. One Cougar drive was stopped after a blocked field goal. Every other drive resulted in a punt. As the rain began to fall, the two teams left for their locker rooms tied 7-7.
Again, no one outside the Cougar locker room knows exactly what Coach Mullins said, but whatever it was, he needs to write it down, bottle it and sell it because it worked. The Cougars looked like the Cougars in the second half.
Kyle Burney scored his second touchdown of the night when, with 8:28 left in the third quarter, Burney reached the end zone on an 11 yard run. Neither team scored again in the third quarter.
Then the fourth quarter came and the Cougars increased their intensity even more. It started when Kyle Burney scored his third touchdown of the game, this time from 36 yards.
After the score, Scott Johnson’s kickoff was fielded at the 6 yard line and Riley Runnels, flying down the field, limited the return to only 6 yards. The Volunteers were 88 yards from scoring and trailed 20-7. The Volunteers lined up in the shotgun formation. The ball was snapped and it sailed over the quarterbacks head into the end zone. Players from both teams were diving for the ball. The ball squirted out from the hands of Will White to be recovered by the Starkville quarterback. White made sure the quarterback was downed and the Cougar defense was credited with the safety.
The Volunteers were forced to kick off to the Cougars. Kyle Burney returned the kickoff to mid-field. Then the Cougars did what everyone in the stadium knew they were going to do. Anyone in Starkville knew what they were going to do. The Cougars were going to run the ball.
Kyle Burney ran the first two times. After his second run, the Volunteers were flagged for targeting and the Cougars had the ball at the Volunteer 31 yard line. Enter Triston Cowan and the Simpson offensive line, Cullen Shows, Nicholas Dukes, Alex Hamilton, Peyton Neely, Jayce Knight, and Patrick Mullins. The Cougars ran the same play for the next six snaps. Cowan had runs of 8, 4, 6, 8, -1, and finally 6 yards for the touchdown. The Cougars lead stretched to 29-7 and the game was basically over.
Once again, a Simpson opponent scored meaningless points to close out the ballgame. This time, the Volunteers scored on a 14 yard touchdown pass with :46 seconds left in the game. Nicholas Dukes fielded the ensuing onside kick. As Jack Cristil would say, you could wrap this one in Red, Blue, and Gold!
Kyle Burney finished the night with 172 yards on 22 carries with 3 touchdowns. Matthew Burney played extremely well, completing 4 passes for 57 yards and running for another 94 yards on 12 carries. Triston Cowan had 54 yards rushing, 15 yards receiving and one rushing touchdown. Cullen Shows had 2 receptions for 34 yards. Shows first reception was huge as it forced Starkville to respect the Cougars passing game.
Riley Runnels and Triston Cowan led the defense with each being credited with 7.5 tackles. Will White had 5.0 tackles and a safety. Aaron Burney had 3 tackles, one interception and recovered a fumble caused by Patrick Zila.
With the victory, the Cougars advanced to the semi-finals of the playoffs. Their next opponent will be the #2 seeded Indianola Academy Colonels. The Colonels are a familiar foe to the Cougars as Indianola knocked Simpson out of the 2014 playoffs in the second round.
Indianola will be a formidable opponent as they have yet to lose a ballgame in 2015, finishing 10-0 on the season and 5-0 in District 1AAA. Indianola has advanced to the third round by defeating Riverfield Academy in the first round by a score of 44-7 and in the second round, defeating Cathedral by a score of 27-7. Cathedral was responsible for one of the two losses for the Cougars this season.
The winner of this ballgame will advance to the championship game to be held on the campus of Millsaps College. The winner of the Indianola/Simpson game will play the winner of the Leake Academy/Silliman Institute winner. The third round playoff games are scheduled for 7:00 on Friday, November 13th.
