Philadelphia’s Raedarius Triplett (21) breaks a tackle for a first down in the Tornadoes’ victory over MRA.

PHILADELPHIA — Asher Morgan was challenged, and he responded.

Morgan had a rushing and passing touchdown to lead Philadelphia past MAIS powerhouse Madison-Ridgeland Academy 21-14 Friday night at Harpole Stadium.

“A lot of people may not think it, but this was probably Asher’s best night he’s had,” Philadelphia head coach David Frey said. “He was smart with the ball and made great decisions and did a great job pulling the ball and running. He took the game into his hands tonight and did really well.”

After a scoreless first quarter, Morgan scored the game’s first touchdown on a 10-yard run with 4:17 left in the second quarter to give the Tornadoes a 7-0 lead.

MRA tied the game at 7 on its first drive of the third quarter on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Philip Short to Russ Sceroler with 5:40 left.

Philadelphia regained the lead on a 73-yard touchdown pass from Morgan to Kadarius Calloway on a third and long with 11:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“I didn’t see initially, and I was about to start running,” Morgan said. “I saw him at the last second, and I put the ball up for him to go get it and made a play.”

The Patriots answered back with a 51-yard touchdown pass from Short to Tyler Starnes to tie the game 14-14 with 11:09 left in the game.

Philadelphia took the 21-14 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Raedarius Triplett.

The Tornadoes defense then forced back-to-back turnover on downs to come away with the win.

MRA only had 25 yards rushing, and Philadelphia sacked Short twice.

“Our defense was lights-out tonight,” Frey said. “Holding that team to 14 points was just great, and I’m really proud of them. We are still coming together as a team, and we can’t overlook Kemper County next week with Scott Central being our first division game.”

Morgan finished the night 19 of 30 for 286 yards with a touchdown and added 20 yards rushing with a touchdown to lead Philadelphia (4-1).

Calloway had six catches for 202 yards.

Short finished the night 15 of 39 for 283 yards with two touchdowns to lead MRA (5-1).

“Too many mental mistakes and missed opportunities in the red zone, and we didn’t protect,” MRA coach Herbert Davis said. “Defense played great but gave up the big touchdown pass on a busted coverage. Philadelphia has a lot of speed, and we won’t see that type of speed again.”