Congratulations to the Jackson Academy Arrows for winning the MAIS 4A State Football Champeenship Saturday night.
The Arrows thrashed two-time defending state champ Hartsfield Academy 50-14 on the gridiron at Mississippi College. The victory was another fiery step in Jackson Academy's Shermanesque march through Mississippi private school football this year. JA finished 11-1, losing only to Madison-Ridgeland Academy 35-24 in September. However, the loss only inspired the Arrows as they destroyed MRA 35-0 in a rematch in the semifinals of the playoffs.
How dominant was the Sheffield Drive school this year? JA averaged 41.5 points per game for the season.
Jackson Academy garnered some criticism this year after the Raiders raided several blue chippers from the Clinton High School roster. The Mississippi Scoreboard Facebook page reported in July:
Jackson Academy hasn’t won a state football championship since a three-peat from 2009 to 2011.But the Raiders – led by four players, each with multiple SEC offers – are one of the favorites to bring home the gold this season.Offensive lineman Caden Moss (No. 1 rated player in Mississippi and No. 4 rated offensive lineman in the country in the Class of 2026 by 247 Sports), defensive lineman and Tennessee commitment Dereon Albert (No. 8 player in Mississippi and No. 28 defensive tackle in the Class of 2026), linebacker and Tennessee commitment TJ White (No. 3 player in Mississippi and No. 5 linebacker in the country in the Class of 2026), and wide receiver and North Carolina commitment O’Mari Johnson (rated No. 17 player in Mississippi and No. 35 athlete in the country) lead the charge for the Raiders.No school in Mississippi has three players in the Top 20 in the Class of 2026 like JA and only defending MHSAA Class 7A state champion Tupelo has three in the Top 24.JA picked up more firepower this summer with the addition of six transfers, five from MHSAA Class 7A Clinton High, including last year’s starting quarterback and leading tackler, and one from Madison-Ridgeland Academy, who are all expected to make contributions to the already talented roster.
While Jackson Academy savored victory, Clinton High School tasted mud as it slogged through a 4-6 season. Sports Illustrated ranked the JA Arrows eighth among Mississippi High school football teams prior to last weekend's games. The rankings are:
1. West Point
2. Tupelo
3. Columbia
4. Oxford
5. Gulport
6. Lousville
7. Kosciusko
8. Jackson Academy
9. Warren Centeral
10. Hattiesburg
11. Picayune
12. Germantown
13. Noxubee County
14. Oak Grove
15. Parklane Academy
16. McComb
17. Lake Cormorant
18. Heidelberg
19. Petal
20. Horhn Lake


93 comments:
Desperate for clicks are we, Kingfish?
"All schools recruit" argument against an obvious tongue-in-cheek joke coming in 3...2...1...
A little sensitive are we, 9:57?
How awesome - congrats to JA!!! After years of sweat, practice, and hard work, they have been rewarded with a well earned championship. JA should be proud of themselves!
Great job! Go Raiders!
They bought it BOZO.
JA beat Hartfield at their own game (Recruiting)
@9:57 not as badly as you need attention.
JA couldn't beat 1/4th of the teams below its own ranking in that statewide list.
Was there ever any doubt?
Congrats to JA!!!! These folks are really going to be suicidal and hurt once School Choice passes. Just get better, train harder, & adjust.
I just hope the standards of education and rigor at Prep, JA, & H-Field (joking because there’s no standard at HA) have not suffered or dropped. If not….PLAY BALL!
@10:32 don’t forget MRA too. They started the entire recruiting circus a decade ago.
Congrats on buying a good football team.
I didn’t mention MRA because we would never do this and are def the best private school in the state academically!!!!
When did JA change its name to “Arrows” and why?
JA is a well-financed private school in a football crazy state. What they, Hartfield and MRA have done has been going on to a greater extent throughout the rest of the country for years. They have the money and they are using it. They can pick great athletes and not lower any "standards'. It's no big deal and the criticism just shows how Mississippi is always late to the game.
Champeenship?
Prep does the same, just with mostly white kids so no one really cares.
3 teams in state playoffs this weekend are from Smith County. 3A, 2A & 1A, how about we give these little guys some coverage Kingfish.
You don't want the kind of coverage that KF provides.
Small minds everywhere..........
I only wish JA would bring in more good players and play some of the out of state big name schools. It would be good for the image of Mississippi. It sure can't hurt.
What has been lost in this hullabaloo is that the Clinton football team was terrible in 2024. Actually the team was much better in 2025 without these players.
Am I saying these players were troublemakers? No way. What I am saying is that JA brought in three very good football coaches who developed these players.
The MHSAA has long recruited players. What JA did is nothing new. The JA coaches got these players to a higher level.
I have no connection to JA. I went to Jackson Public School. But I have followed high school football my adult life. I know that good coaching takes very good players and makes them great players.
As an aside, I wonder how solid O’Mari Johnson’s commitment to Chapel Bill is. Best to avoid that shit show.
Every single one of those guys from Clinton are the most down to earth people you will meet. It’s just plain racism at this point.
Yes - no doubts that high school football can turn around the image of the dumbest, fattest, poorest state.
It's racism to make cracks about a private school pilfering the best players from a public school then winning a state championship? Please elaborate. Oh, wait, that race card was burning a hole in your pocket and you decided to throw it out here. Got it.
YOU LEAVING OUT THE defensive lineman stolen away from Germantown ONE WEEK BEFORE THE SEASON.
And just how did Germantown win the 7A hoops title last year? They recruited. I laughed as the clock wound down to 0:00 in the title game, the announcer said, "Make no mistake, this Germantown team was not built, it was assembled."
Whoever said MRA was the best school in the state academically has got to stop living in their bubble. That may be the funniest thing I’ve read today.
1:25 PM, the racism BS dog doesn’t hunt anymore. Crying racism has been overused so much so that we just laugh when we hear it now. If you don’t understand, read the story about “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”
Only retards believe that parents forking out 10’s of thousands of their hard earned dollars for their child to go to a private school like JA, should have that child’s opportunity to play sports stolen from them by some “meathead coach” that found a “heaf jank trailer man” type willing to hand pick and pay kids tuitions, just so they can “so-called” “WIN” a state championship.
But hey, sports makes ____ing idiots out of otherwise good and moral men, and the fools running these private schools have made them their “little kingdoms.”
JA didn’t win jack ____, they bought it.
4:08. With the recruited Williams kid (as in Mo) who was recruited to JA the year before.
I remember 35 years ago when high school teams 'recruiting was virtually unheard of. Then we learned that South Panola was bringing boys down from Memphis and putting their parent (not plural) up in trailers in the district.
Nothing new here. Just a different angle. School Choice will be interesting as its goal is to gift the private schools of the recruits with the cash their county usurped for school taxes.
And the proponents pretend that's not the goal?
Hey to Kingfish at 10:42 who will deny the fact.
I don’t think it’s racism to comment about the kids from Clinton. None of them are paying full price like other students. We all make sacrifices to send our kids to Jackson Academy. Have the parents pay full tuition. That’s not racism.
I guess now on basketball for Jackson Academy with a completely recruited team. Are there any kids on the basketball team that were there in the eighth or ninth grade?
What about Baseball? Any kids on that team from eighth or ninth grade?
It's a PRIVATE school. If they wish to pay a coach a quarter mil to coach high school football, that's their business. No problem if they can afford it, right? They can also afford scholarship help for kids with exceptional academic OR athletic ability. No problem, right? They want to be special and they have the ability, financial or otherwise, to do so. Why is that a problem?
Hartfield: Low budget rednecks
JA: Redneck nerds
11:23- Hartfield is not a well-financed private school.
It’s a school whose parents are paying more than they can afford to have Little Johnny got to a “private school”.
Their curriculum is sub-par and quite frankly, less of an education than what NWR can provide for free.
It’s a joke.
Except the faculty and coaches are not drug dealers. Not a minor difference
Anyone that says their school doesn’t recruit is just flat out stupid. Every school recruits or at least tries to. It’s sad that people only see the race thing when it comes to recruitment. If every school recruited white kids there would not be a word said, but since it’s not everyone has to share their piece of mind on why it’s so bad.
5:10, saying Jackson academy didn’t win jack is absolute bigotry. There’s no telling the amount of work those boys put in to accomplish what they did
I am guessing the recruits from Clinton weren’t that good…. Why would they leave public school 7A sports to beat up on some white privileged kids? What do they have now to show for it now? A private school championship that doesn’t mean anything to 7A football championship…. Weak
And what does JA have to show? I saw the MAIS post. A bunch of recruits holding a sign while the paying kids stand in the background. Congrats
@8:49.. please show me the JA kids. Tell me that JA wins it all without 8-9 recruits. That’s silly. They are 5 -5 with out them.
What’s a world without achievements for sale?
JA parent here-
At the end of the day, I was happy to see the excitement on our kids’ faces. It was a special moment for them. Unfortunately, we will know that deep down, it’s not how we wanted it to happen. It was obvious that the parents of the Clinton recruits cared very little about our kids. They sat by them selves and were very obnoxious the entire season. We will live on but I hope we limit the recruits. It would have meant more to our kids to win it with their friends and teammates. Not recruits.
It was an exiting season watching 7-8 recruits play offense and defense while our long term kids sat the bench. I think we were all surprised how little the oil money went at the school.
Let’s not forget “Drunk Tony” running his mouth and acting like a fool. Then the QB’s mom running her mouth. I was hoping to get a fat head sign or t-shirt of my kid but they left out the paying kids’ families.
6:30, 8:49 (and others that require a mental jolt) might use the ole “what if” trick to stimulate those brains. Here’s an example:
What if the meathead coaches had recruited 30 players from Clinton and other public schools, and every time you looked out on to the football field there were nothing but recruits, with parents that don’t pay, having stolen the positions from every kid with parents that do pay, that would have been playing on that field?
Can’t wait.
This season was special. I will have great memories of watching the “drunk bag man” scream and holler at the referees and act like he’s someone. How we sat in the stands and we’re embarrassed of what our school had become watching the recruits parents scream and yell. It was a special year for sure. Can’t wait till next year
Just wait til the House Speakah and Light Gub and Tater force school choice down our throats.
If you think a few hooligan parents of recruits isolate themselves and act like loud fools, you ain't seen shat.
Wait til the mommas come bustin' down the hall lookin' for somebody's ass to whup.
9:30 PM – I’m afraid your wish will require a MAIS private schools mission statement along the lines of:
The private schools are there to teach and create opportunities for the children with parents or guardians THAT PAY (there’s a reason parents PAY instead of sending their kids to the public schools).
The school is not there for meathead coaches that didn’t make it to the college or professional level but want to act like they did.
The the school is not there for the heaf jank trailer men types throwing their $$$ around trying to buy their child a so-called “winning team.”
This mission statement must backed up with men and women of extreme high moral character on the board of trustees (likely a deal killer there).
And the mission statement must be backed up by the majority of private schools making it very clear that any school deviating from these moral principles will be deleted from their season schedule (let those meathead coaches play against the public schools and we can then see just how great they are at “coaching.”)
The fact that this is even a discussion is just another example of how much we have lost our way in this country. So don’t hold your breath thinking it’s going to change long term.
P.S. Been hearing for years some white liberal “heirs” that inherited money granddaddy earned have a goal of making JA a 50% tuition payers, 50% non-tuition payers school; any truth to this?
It's true that this goes on all over the country and it's accepted. But this is Mississippi and it's a race thing. It's that simple. It will take time but Mississippi will catch up. It takes time.
Enjoy that championship that you purchased, JA. While initially you may think it's great, the shine will wear off, as you realize it was bought, not earned.
In the long run, as this continues, you will destroy the culture that your school has built over time. Get ready for lower academic achievement, higher discipline issues, and an exodus of the kids and parents that make that one of the better ones in the state.
Good luck with becoming Dearborn!
5:47: BINGO! DING! DING! DING!
You got that right!
Who cares whether it’s moral, immoral, or amoral? JA won, it’s football, and so both your lame rationalization and moralizing aren’t important and don’t matter. Because this is about football, our God-given gift, the most important thing. Ever.
Um, how do y'all know the school gave them free tuition or boosters paid for it?
And the stupid meathead head coach couldn’t care less.
“Um, how do y'all know the school gave them free tuition or boosters paid for it?”
A very fair question since any kid with parents or guardians paying 100% of their child’s tuition (Iike the other parents have to) would be another subject all together; verses the kids being scholarshipped in order to have “pretend” championship “wins” for meathead coaches.
However, its usually not, or at least it used to not be the school or technically boosters providing the scholarships. It’s the heaf jank trailer man types (trying to give their kid an unfair so-called “winning” advantage, or for other reasons) since there’s no real way to keep someone parading as a good Samaritan from paying a child’s tuition. Of course said child being helped out by the pretend good Samaritan almost always just so happens to be a phenomenal athlete.
There’s a reason parents PAY instead of sending their kids to the public schools. And at least there used to be a reason a kid had to sit out for year after transferring from another school once they’re in 9th or 10th grade. A sitting out for a year requirement for all students coming over in the 9th – 12th grades would go a long way towards defanging the meathead coaches and heaf jank trailer men types.
Whoa, the entitlement is flowing full stream this week. If most of these comments weren’t so sad, they’d be funny.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Because the kids themselves admitted it. The QB and linebacker brothers are 2 of 5 kids living in an apartment with a single (loudmouth) mom. The other 3 NONPLAYERS are at Clinton Public Schools. Wake up.
9:25. THANK YOU.
Yawn…..this is boring. The Raiders never would have won without adding some players because MRA, Hartfield and yes, Prep, have been bringing kids in for years. There are schools all over the MAIS who bring kids in. MHSAA too. It’s the world we live in. Congrats JA! The league is better when you don’t suck. Get over yourselves angry people. Life is too short to rage on gossip blogs.
Montrose crowd sure is stirred up
This entire retarded debacle is a product of our shitty culture full of man-children who can't let go of SPORTS 24/7. Football is simply not important enough to go to these lengths. Bunch of man toddlers who think they are men but are retards in reality. News flash: no matter how good your white boy is at JA he isn't going to be some standout at a D1 college or much less in the NFL. Why would you not set your boy up to pursue a career they love and be successful/happy in the long run instead. Everyone wins that way. I cringe thinking of parents screaming at refs from the stands. My gosh it's gone too far. RIP Jackson Academy.
"It’s sad that people only see the race thing"....How can you not? 18 of 22 starters for Hartfield were black recruits, NOT THERE in the 9th grade?
The difference in Hartfield and Jackson Academy is, Hartfield owns it. They know they have all these recruits and that’s how they win. Jackson Academy still acts like it’s some upscale private school that’s winning. We saw it’s the same as Hartfield now.
@ 11:18 better check the academic offerings and test scores before making that statement.
Honest question here, why do Prep and MRA get a pass on this topic? I’m sure many of us could name numerous transfers/recruits/whatever you want to call them at both Prep and MRA, dozens at MRA, yet the topic largely omits these two schools. Why is that?
I only have a soccer player but from the looks of it MRA holds kids back, Hartfield and JA recruit a ton and it doesn’t look like prep is recruiting much these days. It’s just a bigger school
You’re wrong about Prep. They recruit plenty. And if you don’t think MRA recuits “a ton”, you’re wrong there too. Stick to futbol.
11:35 AM, could be the same reason some thieves get caught stealing and some don’t. The greedy thief that steals a lot has a higher mathematical probability of getting caught.
Just talked to a Dad of a senior (that’s NOT on the football team) that attended the state champ JA/Hartsfield game at Mississippi College. Said he will never attend another private high school football game. Said he sat in the stands smelling weed and listening to f’ing this and MF that & n___a this & n___a that all throughout the game. Made it clear this thug culture was not coming from any of the parents paying the tuition of their kids (white or black) that had been at Hartfield for a while, so it is not a racial issue at all.
It’s a crying shame these meathead coaches and idiot sports addicted Dad’s are going to end up ruining Jackson’s private schools.
JA is a great school but the administration is allowing recruiting to take place, and they don’t appear to want to stop it. They’re gambling that JA families who’ve supported the school with money and sweat equity will stick around and put up with this. Many left last year.
Give name or initials of 3......crickets. I thought so.
11:18- Hartfield has very medicore academic standards, compared to JA. Not a bad school, but nothing extraordinary. Just be sure to bend at the knee to Pinelake.
That is correct 2:20. It’s not an appearance, it has been declared. A current board member stated in 2020 that this is the new normal. People are just gonna have to get over it was the quote. The best thing those with concern can do would be to educate the uninformed in lower grades.
Have all 4 big schools in Jackson area recruited in the past?
Yes
Were there recruits on Prep and MRA football teams this year?
No. Anyone that says otherwise is either lying or only says so bc it is the default excuse for their school’s recruiting.
Would JA have won a football championship without recruits this year?
No. Not even close. JA’s AD couldn’t stomach losing to MRA, Prep and Hartfield yet again and encouraged coaches to bring in new talent and told them tuition would be taken care of. IT Director Head of School and board couldn’t or wouldn’t stop it.
Will JA win championships in basketball and baseball this year?
Very likely. Wait til baseball season - recruiting has been more blatant than football. Basketball, well we’ve been watching that for a few years.
Would JA win basketball and baseball championships without recruits?
No. Not even close. JA’s AD couldn’t stomach losing to MRA, Prep and Hartfield yet again and encouraged coaches to bring in new talent. IT Director Head of School and board couldn’t or wouldn’t stop it.
Which schools actively recruit?
JA - Yes, excessively. All major sports. Win at all cost mentality with complete disregard for future of school or parents concerns.
Hartfield - Yes but not as much as in the past. Lost primary funding source.
MRA - No or very, very little
Prep - No
It’s don’t take nothing for yall to lie. The QB only had 2 brothers and one is in college and the have a home in Madison. The information is openly listed on the school directory.
Good check them out. And report back.
It’s apparently you didn’t keep up with football. The team was better in 2024 and beat the top teams. What they QB do this year 15 picks and lost to everybody.
@3:38 wins the BS post of the day.
What receipts do you have to back up your claims. Are you saying their parents don’t make sacrifices?
It apparent you must didn’t attend the games. It looked like they were all mixed in. Because clearly they are black. It’s sad the you think cheer for your son and the their team is obnoxious. It’s clear you are used to silence at a game. You should stay home for that. Who exactly are you referring to as their teammates! Better yet just say it to our face Sunday at the banquet you don’t have to hide here.
You got so much to say here. But you didn’t open your mouth to ask for a shirt, fat head or good mouth smack. I do believe my account gets drafted just like yours. Please be sure to voice your concerns at the banquet Sunday. I’m sure it will be a great conversation.
Embarrassing of parents cheering for their kids. Interesting. Did you ever say something? NO of course not! Please prepare to stay at home next year cause we will be BACK!
3:38. CORRECT. Period.
@3:38 Prep and MRA both have several recruits on this year’s team. To say otherwise simply confirms you have no clue what you’re talking about. Hell, an MRA recruit posted on social media about his transfer. JA will be good in baseball, but no one is beating Mag Heights. JA won’t win basketball.
You need to seek help for your rage.
JA has been irrelevant in boys sports for a while absent soccer and in recent years, basketball. Several families left there a few years back because of it. MRA went wholesale recruiting and holdback years ago, Hartfield bumped up and followed suit, and Prep has quietly recruited for years while successfully convincing most that they don’t recruit at all.
They all recruit. You won’t win otherwise.
The QB has like 5 siblings and only 2 are a JA. Never saw his dad at the school. I wonder how they afford 18k a year x2. 36K and live in an apartment... Sure they pay
The way the recruits' families act is just embarrassing to all of us that pay to go here. Please put a limit next year on the amount of financial aid we give out.
It is so refreshing to see that St. Andrews has continued to uphold its academic excellence with no recruiting like the other private schools. As a long time alum, we hope to never see that day come. Academics first.
No one cares about St. Andrews. Shut up, nerd, before we cram you back in your locker.
MRAs faculty is made up of many retired public school teachers. In that line of common sense, these teachers are teaching the same methods as they taught in their former schools so that in itself tells me the schools are similar. Also, test scores mean nothing to MRA as patrons have said over and over. If that is your argument, lots of public and private schools offer the same courses as MRA. The National Merit finalists are numerous at prep, JA, SA, and MC. That’s in public references. You love the alter of MRA and can’t see past its painted iron fences.
I just did some research on how many National Merit semi finalists each school has for the 2025 academic year. Someone mentioned there are only 4 large schools in the metro area but there are more. I’m not sure if he/she meant private schools. So here is my compiled list:
Madison Central 29
Saint Andrews 15
Prep 8
JA 2
I could not find any listing anywhere for MRA concerning National merit semifinalist. Hope this helps.
I would like to mention that some of these students also play football for their schools which is even more impressive.
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