JACKSON, Miss. — Caden Stovall has the same thought the night before a Friday game: booting the game-winning field goal as the clock hits zero.
Thursday night at The Brickyard on the campus of Jackson Academy, the dream became reality.
Stovall’s 28-yard field goal as time expired lifted Leake Academy to a thrilling 25-24 victory over Tri-County Academy in the MAIS Class 3A, Division I championship game, delivering the Rebels their second state title in school history and first since 2020.
Leake Academy finished the season 10-2.
“It’s an amazing feeling. Every Thursday night before Friday, I think about kicking the game-winning field goal and I came through at the end,” Stovall said. “The two-minute drive is something we practice every day, so it’s nothing new for us.”
Trailing 22-16 entering the fourth quarter, Tri-County grabbed its first lead of the night when Cooper Johnson connected with Colton Jones on a 30-yard touchdown pass and then ran in the two-point conversion to make it 24-22 with 8:07 remaining.
The Rebels’ defense forced Leake Academy to turn the ball over on downs at the Tri-County 22-yard line, but Tri-County’s ensuing possession ended in a punt with 2:13 left.
Taking over at their own 31 with 2:05 remaining and no timeouts, the Rebels needed nine plays to march 63 yards and set up Stovall’s heroics. A 22-yard attempt was good, but a false-start penalty moved the kick back five yards. Stovall calmly split the uprights from 28.
“Stovall knew he had it in him to make it, just make sure the ball was in the middle of the field and that’s what we did. He chip shot the ball through the upright,” said Leake Academy coach Brian Pickens. “Hats off to our defense. They got us the football back and we drove down the field and kicked the field goal. I told the kids before the game that this was going to be the game of the season for us. We’re going to have to give it all for four quarters. We challenged the kids to be physical, and George did a great job of running the ball and being physical. I’m proud of the guys for fighting and it’s an amazing feeling.”
Dual-threat quarterback George Wilcox carved up the Tri-County defense, completing 24 of 36 passes for 219 yards and one touchdown while rushing 38 times for 184 yards and two scores.
“I prayed to God to give me the ball one more time and I was going to get the ball down there. We talked about it on Tuesday. I said Caden, when you get a game-winner, what are you going to do? He said I’m drilling it, so we knew it was coming and we have all the confidence in him,” Wilcox said. “My philosophy running the ball is just try to run the defender over, put my head down and fall forward. It’s been an amazing ride. I’m so proud of this group going out a state champion.”
Johnson threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns for Tri-County, which also finished 10-2.
“I’m proud of how our kids and how they fought back take the lead in the second half. They made some plays on both sides of the ball,” said Tri-County Academy head coach Philip Wasson. “We felt like we had a first down to end the game, but a challenge call that was overturned. So we feel like we won the game and we didn’t. I’ve never been involved in a tough loss like that, but our kids will be ready to roll to get back next year.”
