FLOOWOOD, Miss. (WLBT) – The Battle of Lakeland Drive goes back to the championship for the revenge of the season.

This year’s MAIS 6A Championship has been highly anticipated as it looks a lot like last year’s championship game.

Jackson Prep and Hartfield are headed back to the championship game. Both teams are happy to be back and both teams are looking for some revenge.

“We’re really excited,” Jackson Prep senior John Ed Maddux said. “It’s the goal every year to get to the state championship and win the state championship. Last year we fell short and we want to get back on top.”

“We can’t lose,” Hartfield senior Jaden Stingley said. “We already let these boys get us once so we can’t let it happen again.”

The 2023 MAIS 6A Championship game ended with Hartfield Academy lifting the trophy after their undefeated season. This time it’s a new season and a new team.

“After last year’s team and last year’s senior group that was so senior-heavy, this team had to grow up a little bit,” Hartfield head coach Craig Bowman said. “I think we’ve grown a lot and I think this team is still growing even this late in the season. They’ve come together towards the back half of the season and it’s been fun to coach.”

For Jackson Prep, this year has featured an undefeated season and a senior-heavy class.

“We have a lot of seniors; we have 36 of them,” said Jackson Prep head coach Doug Goodwin. “We’re resilient. We haven’t trailed all year except for the Hartfield game, but our guys never gave up.”

It will be the second time these two teams meet this season. Back in October, Jackson Prep came from behind to win the regular season 51-45. The Patriots know it will take a full game to beat a team twice.

“Stay focused all four quarters,” Blount Blackledge said, describing what it takes for his team to win. “That’s all the coaches are asking for and that’s what we’re going to do.”

As for Goodwin, he knows they’ll have to handle business on both sides of the ball and limit their mistakes.

“We have to go out and win the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” Goodwin said. “And not turning the ball over and not giving up too many big plays and hopefully we’ll come out on top.”

The Hawks believe that as long as they play their best brand of football, they will be able to give the Patriots a run for their money.

“I think we should just be ourselves,” Stingley said. “We can’t play shy and we have to be physical and be the footballers we can all be and go out and show ourselves.”

“We can’t help it,” Bowman explained. “We have to play four quarters. We have to finish in the fourth quarter and we have to play our best football to get this done.”

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