SENATOBIA - Cole Prosek and Harlin Hovater of Magnolia Heights are best known in this part of the state for their exploits on the baseball field. The Chiefs’ dynamic diamond duo showed Friday night they’re pretty good at football, too. Make that really good.

     One certainly would get no argument from Heritage Academy.

     Prosek, a sophomore quarterback who committed to Ole Miss baseball as an 8th-grader, accounted for all six of his team’s touchdowns - five passing, one running - as Magnolia Heights pulled away in the second half to walk away with a 42-21 victory over Heritage on a cool, brisk early October evening at James E. Cahill Field.

     Three of Prosek’s touchdown passes went to Hovater, a senior wide receiver/defensive back who although committed to Meridian Community College in baseball has drawn interest from a handful of Division I schools. Prosek, a pitcher/infielder, and Hovater, a catcher, connected on scoring strikes of 31, 11 and 40 yards in the second half to help the Chiefs pull away after the Patriots had tied the score 14-14 early in the third quarter.

     Hovater, who had never played football on the varsity level before joining the team in Week 3 earlier this season, also had a pair of interceptions. One of those came midway through the fourth quarter following a successful onside kick by Heritage after the Patriots had just cut the deficit to 14 points.

     Prosek, a dual-threat signal caller capable of hurting opposing defenses with his legs and arm, totaled 397 yards of total offense. He completed 15 of 22 passes for 208 yards and carried the ball 26 times for 189 yards. Nearly every time his team needed a big play, Prosek delivered. Hovater, meanwhile, finished with four catches for 78 yards and three touchdowns.

     “Both of those guys played really well for us tonight,” said Magnolia Heights coach Russ Whiteside, who is in his second year at the Chiefs’ helm after spending the previous six years at Heritage in a dual role of defensive coordinator in football and head boys basketball coach. “Our quarterback is a competitor . . . he loves to compete and you saw that tonight. He’s a dog for us. And Hovater is getting better and better every week. I’m glad we’ve got both of those guys on our side.”

     Magnolia Heights improved to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in District 1-5A. The Chiefs have won two straight and five of their last six since an 0-2 start. Meanwhile, Heritage dropped to 0-7 and 0-2. The Patriots had won six straight in the series by an average margin of 21 points, and had not lost to Magnolia Heights since 2014.

     As has been the case most of the season, Heritage was competitive for a while but simply did not have enough in the tank to finish the deal in the second half. Magnolia Heights rattled off 21 unanswered points in an eight-plus minute period stretching over the third and fourth quarters to essentially put the game out of reach.

     Heritage finished with 263 yards of total offense - 189 passing, 74 rushing. Xzavier Webber had five catches for 67 yards, including a pair of touchdowns. One of those went through the hands of Hovater, who was defending in one-on-one coverage on the play, and into the awaiting hands of Webber. The sophomore wideout took advantage of the fortuitous bounce, reeling the ball in and racing into the end zone - turning what should’ve been an interception into a touchdown.

     Cameron Kidd had a team-high six catches for 44 yards. Noah Madan had five receptions for 38 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown grab in the first quarter for the Patriots’ first points.

     Heritage turned the ball over four times - all interceptions. The Chiefs capitalized on three of those, converting them into 21 points. 

      “Magnolia Heights did a really good job tonight,” first-year Heritage coach Tobias Smith said. “They coached well, they played well . . . and we just didn’t do a good enough job of getting off the field on third downs. That’s what it came down to. They did a good job of being physical and finishing off plays . . . we didn’t tackle well enough. Our guys fought hard to the end like they always do. We’ve got a resilient bunch. We just have to find ways to win games at the end of the day.”

     Heritage returns to action next Friday at Starkville Academy. The Patriots have won eight straight in the series.