Photo Gallery: Sharkey-Issaquena Academy wins MAIS Class 1A football championship

Published 11:23 pm Thursday, November 16, 2023

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Sharkey-Issaquena Academy football players celebrate with the trophy after they defeated Calhoun Academy 32-26 to win the MAIS Class 1A championship. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

A young Sharkey-Issaquena Academy football fan cheers on his team during the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy football players warm up before the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy football players Damarion Stamps (9), Gary Jackson (7) and Aiden Allen (1) run onto the field before the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy football players and coaches stand for the National Anthem before the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Heath Vanlandingham (4) brings down Calhoun Academy running back Easton Dishman (33) during the MAIS Class 1A championship game on Thursday. Vanlandingham had nine total tackles as SIA won 32-26. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Jerry Johnson (45) tackles Calhoun Academy running back Easton Dishman (33) in the first half of the MAIS Class 1A championship game on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy running back Gary Jackson (7) is wrapped up by Calhoun Academy's Easton Dishman (33) during the MAIS Class 1A championship game on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy football fans stand for the National Anthem before the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy quarterback J.B. Boykin (5) runs with the football during the MAIS Class 1A championship game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Will Boykin stands on the sideline during the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Aiden Allen fields a kickoff during the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy quarterback J.B. Boykin (5) is tackled by Calhoun Academy's Kenny Melton (72) during the MAIS Class 1A championship game on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Tom Davis (6) is tackled by Calhoun Academy's Lane Watts (10) during the MAIS Class 1A championship game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy cheerleaders Katelyn Shoemaker and Shelden Nipper perform at halftime of the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy cheerleaders Adelece Clark and Katelyn Shoemaker perform at halftime of the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy cheerleader Peyton Pickle, top, performs a stunt at halftime of the MAIS Class 1A championship game against Calhoun Academy on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Gary Jackson (7) runs past Calhoun Academy's Jake Baker (12) on his way to a 52-yard touchdown run in the third quarter of Thursday's MAIS Class 1A championship game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Players from Calhoun Academy and Sharkey-Issaquena Academy line up to run a play during the MAIS Class 1A championship game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Gary Jackson (7) gets past Calhoun Academy defender Bailey Parker (3) in his own end zone during the MAIS Class 1A championship game on Thursday. Jackson ran for a 97-yard touchdown on the play, and finished with 211 yards and three TDs to lead SIA to a 32-26 victory. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Tom Davis (6) hits Calhoun Academy quarterback Coley Denton as he throws during the MAIS Class 1A championship game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy student Way McCoy throws a football during a contest at the MAIS Class 1A championship game. McCoy won a $500 scholarship for throwing more footballs through a target than his opponent from Calhoun Academy. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy student Way McCoy holds a giant check after winning a contest at the MAIS Class 1A championship game. McCoy won a $500 scholarship for throwing more footballs through a target than his opponent from Calhoun Academy. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Brady Brooks (22) tackles Calhoun Academy quarterback Coley Denton (7) during the MAIS Class 1A championship game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Jerry Johnson (45) tackles Calhoun Academy quarterback Coley Denton (7) short of the goal line during the MAIS Class 1A championship game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's Gary Jackson (7) consoles Calhoun Academy's Layton Logan (4) after SIA defeated Calhoun 32-26 in the MAIS Class 1A championship game. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy quarterback J.B. Boykin (5) celebrates with cheerleader Shelden Nipper after the Confederates defeated Calhoun Academy 32-26 to win the MAIS Class 1A championship on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy head coach Matt Homan celebrates after his team defeated Calhoun Academy 32-26 to win the MAIS Class 1A championship. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy coach Matt Homan celebrates with the trophy after the Confederates defeated Calhoun Academy 32-26 in the MAIS Class 1A championship game on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy football player Gary Jackson (7) hugs his mother, Shaqueta Carroll, after SIA beat Calhoun Academy 32-26 in the MAIS Class 1A championship game. Jackson had 211 rushing yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning 35-yarder on the final play. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy's football team poses for a phot after defeating Calhoun Academy 32-26 in the MAIS Class 1A championship game on Thursday. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Sharkey-Issaquena Academy football players celebrate with the trophy after beating Calhoun Academy 32-26 in the MAIS Class 1A championship game Thursday in Jackson. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

JACKSON — Sharkey-Issaquena Academy completed a remarkable worst-to-first run Thursday by defeating Calhoun Academy 32-26 in the MAIS Class 1A football championship game at Jackson Academy.

SIA’s Gary Jackson rushed for 211 yards and three touchdowns, including a game-winning 35-yarder on the final play. The Confederates only ran 19 offensive plays the entire game, but scored five touchdowns in the second half — on plays covering 52, 97, 53, 94 and 35 yards — to overcome a 20-0 deficit.

SIA finished with a 12-1 record, one year after it went 2-8 and had to forfeit a playoff game because it did not have enough healthy players. It won its first state title since 2014.

The team has also overcome adversity off the field. Its hometown of Rolling Fork was devastated by an EF-4 tornado on March 24 that killed 14 people in Sharkey County and damaged more than 75 percent of the buildings in town. SIA’s gym was used as a collection and distribution point for relief supplies for most of the spring and summer, and its football players often worked long shifts volunteering there.

“My hat is off to the kids, and the community for backing us and how great they are. You see this, and it’s an amazing thing, man,” head coach Matt Homan said, pointing to dozens of SIA fans who came on the field after the game to take pictures with his players. “It’s a Cinderella story, fairybook ending, you can’t write stories like that. It’s a great thing for the whole state. It’s a great thing for our area, our family, our friends, people at SIA, all the small towns, this is for them.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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