Back to Back to Back Herbert Davis lost in the championship game in each of his first three seasons as head football coach at MRA. The Patriots went 8-5 in his fourth season and were bounced in the semifinals. Davis was so discouraged he almost left MRA. In fact, he contem- plated getting out of coaching altogether. “I thought we weren’t really getting anywhere as a program,” Da- vis said. “I looked at another job. But the good Lord told me to stay put, that I had something special here. Just keep working. He was right, as always.” Something special indeed. MRA has won 47 games in the four years since then, the latest coming November 21st in the form of a convincing 42-7 victory over Hartfield in the MAIS Class 6A state championship game at Mississippi College’s Robinson-Hale Stadium. It marked the Patriots third straight state title and fifth in program history. “Three in a row. Wow!,” Davis said. “It’s pretty incredible. To look back four or five years ago and compare that to now where we’re sitting on a three-peat. It’s crazy. Never would’ve thought that would happen. It’s a testament to these kids. We work the heck out of them, but they take that challenge head on and here we are again. I can’t say enough about them. I’m proud of our kids, our program, and our school. It’s awesome. These seniors did something nobody in a MRA uniform has ever done before – win three in a row.” Some say bad things come in threes. Apparently, good things can also come in threes. MRA’s three straight wins in the title game have come against three different opponents – Jackson Prep three years ago, Jackson Academy last year, and upstart Hartfield this season. “Winning three in a row, that’s unbelievable,” MRA senior receiv- er Street Toler said. “It feels good to go out on top.”
The title game was tied 7-7 late in the first quarter before MRA scored 35 unanswered points to win going away – much the same way they did for most of the season. After a 1-3 start, the Patriots ran the table with 10 straight victories to finish 11-3. They outscored those 10 opponents 458-109, an average margin of five touchdowns per game. “We started off slow, but we made some adjustments and were able to put some points on the board,” said MRA senior receiver Davis Dalton, a Southern Miss commit. Hartfield finished 9-3 with two of those losses coming to MRA in recent weeks. The Patriots defeated the Hawks 45-23 in the regular season finale for both teams. “We played a really tough schedule early and we struggled some, but those games helped us and they made us the great team we are now,” MRA sophomore quarterback John White said. “Those games prepared us for the rest of the season, and they prepared us for this game. This is what we’ve been working for all year, and we were able to finish it out. That was our goal.” MRA scored 14 points in the first quarter and 14 more in the sec- ond to take a 28-7 halftime lead. The Patriots added another touch- down in the third quarter and another in the fourth to eclipse the 40-point mark for the ninth time this season. They held Hartfield scoreless over the last 37 minutes following the lone touchdown late in the first quarter, marking the seventh time this season they’ve allowed seven or fewer points in a game. MRA finished with 560 yards of total offense, compared to 318 for Hartfield. The Patriots rushed for a season-high 287 yards, White completed 17 of 26 passes for 273 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also added an 18-yard touchdown run. The Winona Christian transfer finished the season with a Mississippi-best 3,936 passing yards and 39 touchdowns. His two favorite targets all year have been Dalton and Toler, and that night proved no different. Davis had nine catches for 112 yards, while Toler reeled in six catches for 105 yards and a
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