When John Douglass stepped away from football nearly 20 years ago, it was Larry Weems who called him back into the coaching fold when the latter took over at Pearl.

Douglass and Weems remain close to this day, and on Friday, the two met as competitors for the fourth time in their careers.

Weems walked away with another year of friendly bragging rights.

The Weems-led Jackson Academy Raiders defeated Douglass’ Northeast Lauderdale squad 31-14 to make Weems a perfect 4-0 against his former pupil and spoil Northeast Lauderdale’s homecoming. 

“We want each other to win, except when we’re facing each other,” said Douglass, who is in his first year with Northeast Lauderdale. “He’s got a good football team, and they’re well-coached. They work hard and they play hard, and we feel like we do, too. We just have to go back to work and fix the mistakes — the few too many self-inflicted wounds, turnovers and things like that. We have plenty we can work on, and that’s what we have to do.”

Northeast Lauderdale (3-1) entered its matchup with Jackson Academy (4-0) having committed zero turnovers in its first three games. The Trojans coughed the football up three times in the first quarter, and Jackson Academy recovered the football on two occasions. In all, Northeast Lauderdale ended the night with five fumbles, three of which the Raiders recovered. 

“It hasn’t been an issue with us,” Douglass said. “We work on ball security and we talk about ball security and taking care of the football and being smart and all that… So obviously we’re going to go back and spend some more time on it and start stressing it more and repping it and things like that.”

Trojans running back Michael McClinton scored on a one-yard run with 8:00 remaining in the first quarter to cap a 10-play, 80-yard drive that gave Northeast Lauderdale a 7-0 lead.

It took the Raiders just three plays to knot the score at 7 after Jackson Academy quarterback Kinkead Dent dashed 50 yards for a touchdown with 6:35 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Trojans moved the football to the Jackson Academy 40-yard line on the ensuing possession, but McClinton fumbled the football and Caleb Hernandez recovered it at the Raiders’ 42.

Three plays later, Trojans defensive back Brandrick Thomas scooped up a Jackson Academy fumble and carried it 32 yards for a touchdown, which gave Northeast Lauderdale a 14-7 advantage with 3:23 left in the opening quarter.

Dent added his second rushing score of the night on a 5-yard run late in the first quarter to tie the score at 14, and he floated a 15-yard touchdown pass to the right corner of the end zone to receiver Max Harmon with 47 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Dent found receiver Webb Strickland for a 24-yard touchdown just before halftime to make the score 28-14, and Raiders kicker Land Gebhart booted a 21-yard field goal with 2:55 left in the third quarter to round out the night’s scoring.

Dent was 6 of 13 for 72 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He added another 111 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 14 carries. Raiders running back Thad Bishop tallied a game-high 122 yards rushing on 21 carries.

“We’re glad our team won, but at the same time, only one of us could have won the thing, so we’re just glad it worked out our way tonight,” Weems said. 

Northeast Lauderdale quarterback Kam Hulin eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark for a fourth consecutive week. The senior ended with 102 yards on 17 carries, and he was 5 of 13 with 93 yards passing. Trojans defenders Thomas and Tyler Smith pulled in interceptions. 

Jackson Academy moves to 4-0 on the season, and the Raiders stretched their win streak against the Trojans to three. 

After the game, Weems found Douglass, shook his hand and the two shared a brief word. Weems commented on his relationship with Douglass. 

“John and his family are close friends, and I’m just so proud of him,” Weems said. “He got into the coaching business years ago, and he got out for a short period of time, and I’m going to take credit for when I got the head (coaching) job at Pearl, I said, ‘John, you’re a football coach. You don’t need to be out there in that business world…’ And 18 years later, I’m really proud of what he’s done, and the job he’s done. It makes you feel good as an old coach if you can encourage guys and they do things and you see them be successful. That’s always a good feeling.”

Up next: Northeast Lauderdale travels to Neshoba Central (4-0), while Jackson Academy visits Hartfield Academy (1-3).