High School Football Preview 2012

2012

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THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com2 SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2012 HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW

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FOOTBALL2012

A publication ofTHE DISPATCH

P.O. Box 511Columbus, MS 39703

(662) 328-2424

Editor andPublisher

Birney Imes

SportsAdam Minichino

Matt StevensScott Walters

Cover DesignStacy Clark

PhotographersLuisa PorterSam Gause

Graphic ArtistsJackie Taylor

Ernest Rogers

ProductionTina Perry

Anne Murphy

2012

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ABOUT THE COVER

WHAT’S INSIDE

Aberdeen Bulldogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Caledonia Confederates . . . . . . . . . .5Central Academy Vikings . . . . . . . . .23Columbus Falcons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3East Oktibbeha Titans . . . . . . . . . . .15Hamilton Lions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Hebron Christian Eagles . . . . . . . . .19Heritage Academy Patriots . . . . . . . .8Immanuel Rams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9New Hope Trojans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Noxubee County Tigers . . . . . . . . . .22Oak Hill Academy Raiders . . . . . . . .18Starkville Academy Volunteers . . . . .14Starkville Yellow Jackets . . . . . . . . . .13Victory Christian Eagles . . . . . . . . . .10West Lowndes Panthers . . . . . . . . .11West Oktibbeha Timberwolves . . . .16West Point Green Wave . . . . . . . . . .17

OUR PREP COVERAGEAll fall sports coaches

are reminded to reporttheir game results to TheDispatch.

Coaches, scorekeepers,parents and/or players cancall 662-327-1297 or emailinformation to [email protected] [email protected].

Our deadline is 8:30a.m. Please give us thefinal score, where thegame was played, the teamrecords, leading perform-ers, the team’s next gameand any other notableinformation.

Since The Dispatch is anafternoon paper, we will trythe next morning to trackresults of all games notcalled in to the newspaper.We will try to call at a reason-able hour and don’t mean todisrupt any coach, teacheror professional at work, butour goal is to recognize theperformances of as manystudent-athletes as possible.

If you are a coach, score-keeper or parent whoreports information, pleasegive us the best time andthe best number to reachyou. If the result of a gameisn’t in The Dispatch, pleasework with us to encouragethat coach to contact us sowe can provide the best pos-sible coverage to this area.If you have any questions,call 662-327-1297.

Prep Football ResultsHigh school football

coaches who don’t speakto a reporter from TheDispatch are asked toemail information thesports department infor-mation from their games.

The Dispatch will includeits prep football coverage inSunday’s edition, so we willcontact coaches Fridaynight or Saturday to getdetails from the last game.Coaches, please let us knowwhat is the best time for usto contact you.

HUDDLE UP:Thanks to the Players; Good Luck for 2012

Sam Gause/Dispatch Staff

Some of the area’s top players were asked to participate in The Dispatch’s annual cover shoot. West Point High’s Mario Virges also was invited but couldn’t attend.Here is another version that features Columbus High’s Jake Thomas, Noxubee County’s Dillon Bradley, Starkville’s Gabe Myles, Columbus’ Quan Latham, Columbus’DeMarcus Vance, New Hope’s Tee Payne, Starkville Academy’s Colby Runnels, New Hope’s Trae Collins, Starkville Academy’s Stephen Robertson, Noxubee County’sJavancy Jones, and Heritage Academy’s Cade Lott.

From kids to pros ... we cover the field. Visit us online at www.cdispatch.com

BY ADAM [email protected]

The challenge has been issuedto Jake Thomas, Quan Latham,and Demarcus Vance: EachColumbus High School seniorhas a statement to make in hisfinal season of high school foot-ball.

Thomas wants to complete hismaturation into a college prospectand to step out of the shadow ofhis older brother, Zach. Lathamhopes to recover from a backinjury that forced him to miss thefinal five games of the season.Vance intends to prove he cantake the place of Deontae Jonesand become the Falcons’ go-toreceiver.

Individually, each challenge will

play a key role in Columbus’ suc-cess. Collectively, the hurdles thethree seniors face represent a sin-gular obstacle Columbus mustclear if it wants to continue to moveforward and make the playoffs.

Columbus coach TonyStanford believes all three seniorswill be able to meet their individ-ual and team challenges.

“We have always told them theleaders are only going to be asgood as they lead us,” Stanfordsaid. “If other players see themnot putting in the time, they’regoing to think they don’t have toput in the time.”

Thomas, Latham, and Vanceagree they all have to hold uptheir part of the deal if Columbusis going to take the next step after

finishing 7-4 last season. Thethree-game improvement from2010 was nearly enough to qualifyfor the Class 6A North State play-offs, but the Falcons lost out on atiebreaker due to point differen-tial. It just so happens that thegame that turned the tide — a 35-7 loss to Southaven — was thegame Columbus lost Latham toinjury.

Latham, who suffered a rup-tured disc and two fractures of hisspine, is back to 100 percent. Inaddition to seeing time ondefense, Stanford said theFalcons will showcase Latham onoffense in an attempt to find aplaymaker to help replace thegraduation losses of quarterbackCedrick Jackson, running back

Damian Baker, and Jones.“I have a lot of work to do and

a lot of stats to put up,” Lathamsaid. “I have a lot of interceptionsto put up and tackles to make, alot of punt and kick returns andkick blocks.”

Latham prepared for a biggerrole by adding 30 pounds. He saidthe hard work in the offseasonhelped him get faster andstronger. Not only did he want toprove he could come back fromthe injury, he also wanted to erasethe frustration he felt in his play.This season, he said he won’t beas uptight about his mistakesbecause he knows as a senior heis expected to set the tone.

Trace Lee (Jr.), Keith Brooks (Sr.)

Lee, an All-State base-ball player and a soccerplayer, shared time withCedrick Jackson last sea-son. This season, he willlook to take on a biggerrole in a new offense thatwill feature multiple forma-tions and a few plays.“He has had a great earlycamp and he has thrownthe ball really well,”Columbus High Schoolcoach Tony Stanford said. “Ilook for a great year out ofhim.”

Kevin Jackson (Jr.),Kendrick Conner (Jr.),

Quan Latham (Sr.),Jarcquarius Clark (Jr.),

Corey Brown (Jr.)The Falcons will try to

find a go-to back afterDamian Baker, who led theway the past two seasons,graduated. Clark and Brownwill share time at fullback.“It will be by committee,”Stanford said. “If we want adifferent look we will get Qin there to be a biggerback. He is real good, hasgood speed, and cuts realwell. The other two are kindof scat backs. When theysee the seam they hit itreal fast, but they’re notgoing to run over you a lot.”

DeMarcus Vance (Sr.), Rod Hogan (Soph.), Dalon Moore (Sr.),

JJ Swanigan (Soph.),Meunta Verner (Jr.),Iziah Jones (Sr., TE), Kris Releford (Jr., TE)Columbus has plenty of

players with potential,including Vance, a sprinteron the school’s track andfield team. He is coming offhamstring injuries in thespring. Stanford hopessomeone emerges to helpmake up for the loss ofleading receiver Deontae

Jones. Meunta is the broth-er of former Columbus Highfootball player and power-lifter Justin Verner.

Jake Thomas (Sr., T), Jeremy Morgan (Sr., C),

Tyrus Brooks (Jr. C),Kenneth Miller (Jr., G), Jarvis Glenn (Jr., G),

TreMarcus Monroe (Jr., G-T),Jeremiah Caine (Soph., G),Darius Poindexter (Jr., T)The discussion begins

with Thomas, a DandyDozen selection by TheClarion-Ledger. The 6-foot-5,300-pounder is beingrecruited by MississippiState University, theUniversity of NorthCarolina, StanfordUniversity, and VanderbiltUniversity. After that,Stanford said the Falconswill mix and match andhope things come together.“It’s a work in progressright now,” Stanford said.“It is probably the spot weneed to improve the mostto have a good footballteam. If they don’t comealong it will be a long year.”

Chris Releford (Jr.),Ramadus Beasley (Sr.),Ryan and Bryan Ezell

(Soph.), Corey Brown (Jr.),Jalen Stewart (Jr.), Greg Sykes (Jr.),

Leon Payne (Soph.)While one side of the

ball is lean on experience,Stanford likes the unit andfeels it could dominate.“This is probably our strongpoint,” Stanford said.“There are more startersreturning there than anyother position. They are big,strong, and fast. They arethe main part of ourdefense right now.”

Jarcquarius Clark (Jr.),Martavious McKinley (Sr.),Larry Williams, (Sr.), John

Neil Stanback (Soph.),

Damian Moore (Jr.),Gemriah Williams (Sr.),

Quavis Sherrod (Jr.)Stanford said this unit

will have to come togetherto make the defense solid.He said Stanback really isdoing an outstanding job.

Jimmy Cockrell (Jr.) Rashad Meeks (Sr.),

Vonshay Walker (Soph.),Tyler Sanders (Sr.), Quan Latham (Sr.),

Alex Lipscomb (Soph.)Another area of possible

strength. Stanford likes theexperience and athleticismin this group. He saidJimmy Cockrell hasn’t beenwith the team this weekbecause he has been at abaseball camp.“After we lost a couple ofpeople like Byke (ByersonCockrell), we feel like thiscould become a strength,”Stanford said. “Quan playedabout half of the yearbefore he was injured, sowe have some experience.”

Rashad Meeks (Sr.), John Neil Stanback (Soph.),

Michael Sturdivant (Jr.),Greg Sykes (Jr.)

Meeks and Stanbackwill share the puntingduties. Sturdivant andSykes will handle the kick-ing and extra points.

THE DISPATCH • www.cdispatch.com SUNDAY, AUGUST 12, 2012 3HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PREVIEW

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game plan when it comes to emergency care, outpatient

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For more information about our services or our

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outpatient pavilion), please call 662-244-1000.

COLUMBUS FALCONSMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 6A, Region 1; 2011 Record 7-4

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 ABERDEENAug. 24 OpenAug. 31 WEST POINTSept. 7 New HopeSept. 14 LOUISVILLESept. 21 TupeloSept. 28 SOUTHAVENOct. 5 So. PanolaOct. 12 DeSOTO

CENTRALOct. 19 Horn LakeOct. 26 OLIVE

BRANCHNov. 2 Grenada

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

2011 ResultsAug. 19 W, 31-14

At AberdeenSept. 2 W, 35-27 OT

WEST POINTSept. 9 W, 33-0

NEW HOPESept. 16 L, 22-10

At LouisvilleSept. 23 W, 24-23

TUPELOSept. 30 L, 35-7

At SouthavenOct. 7 L, 21-7

SO. PANOLAOct. 14 W, 34-6

At DeSoto Central

Oct. 21 W, 41-21 HORN LAKE

Oct. 28 L, 43-14 At Olive Branch

Nov. 4 W, 48-21 GRENADA

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE FALCONSQUARTERBACK

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS

Class 6ARegion 1, District 2

ColumbusDeSoto Central

GrenadaHorn Lake

Olive BranchSouthaven

South PanolaTupelo

NOTE: Top four qualify forplayoffs.

COACHING STAFFn HEAD COACH:

Tony Stanfordn ASSISTANT

COACHES:Chris Childers (offensivecoordinator), BrandanHaynes (offensive line),Lawrence Hill and JamesRichardson (widereceivers), Brandan Brown(defensive coordinator /secondary), Jim Hamilton,Cody Rader, and ZachLeech (linebackers), Lee Davis, Rader, Childers(junior high program)

See COLUMBUS, 19

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffFrom left: Columbus High School seniors Quan Latham, Jake Thomas, and DeMarcus Vance will play integral roles this season in helpingthe Falcons overcome key graduation losses in hopes of building on a 7-4 finish last season.

Seniors hope to meet challenges, set tone

and to be tough.Payne graduated to the

Columbus city league whenhe was 9-10. He said he wasalways big for his age andthat it took time for his tech-nique to match his size.When it did, he was readyto take off.

Four years later, Paynewas taking the advice ofNew Hope High Schoolcoach Michael Bradley andhis assistant coaches whoinstructed him to partici-pate in the football team’ssummer workouts. Theirthought was Payne was astrong young man who hadthe potential to help the var-sity squad.

They were right.Payne won a battle for a

starting spot prior to thestart of the 2009 season andhas been a fixture on thedefensive line ever since.

“Tee is one of the bestindividuals you could everhope to have on your team,”Bradley said. “He is as gooda kid as you will ever wantto be around. He is a leaderin the weight room, he is aleader on the field, he is aleader off the field. If TeePayne was 6 feet tall, hewould have recruiters fromever part of the country try-ing to recruit him.

Brady Davis (Soph.)Davis experienced what

Bradley called a “trial byfire” last season as a fresh-man. This season, Bradleyhopes Davis will continueto mature and to slowdown and not try to score atouchdown on every play.“He learned a lot of hardlessons and had more suc-cess than I was anticipat-ing he was going to have,”Bradley said. “He reallydid a good job. He still hasa lot of mental develop-ment to do. Quarterbackis such a mental position,but he will get it. He has alot of potential.”

Q Newby (Sr.), Ryan Lowe (Sr.),

Brandon Spann (Jr.)Newby moves over from

the defense to give the

Trojans a power runningthreat.

“Q is a big kid with a lot

of strength,” Bradley said.

“He goes straight ahead,

and we’re looking for big

things from him. He is

looking forward to having

a chance to help the

team. Q is a team player

and he will do whatever he

can to help the team.”

Ryan Lee (Sr.),

Lee Brandon (Soph.),

Jameel Johnson (Sr.),

Jaquin Weatherspoon (Sr.),

Trae Collins (Sr.),

Victor Deloach (Jr.),

James Hill (Sr.),

DeAngelo Hamilton (Jr.),

Stone Sisson (Soph.),

Ryan Dye (Jr.),

Jeremy Washington (Sr.),

Tyler Staples (Soph.)The Trojans have plenty

of options. Bradley said Lee

had a really good summerand fall camp. He saidJohnson will move from run-ning back and will add avaluable dimension of speed.Deloach started in thespring but was hurt lookingand is expected back in thesecond or third game.“We’re looking for bigthings out of Lee,” Bradleysaid.

Joseph Hreish (Jr., C),

Blake Hardin (Soph., C),

Melvin Bradley

(Soph., RG),

T.J. Davis (Soph., RT),

Nate Saint (Sr., LG),

Allen Harvey (Jr., LT),

Austin Oswalt (Sr., T),

Drew Hoyt (Jr., G/T)An inexperienced group

that feature only one player— Saint — with startingexperience from last sea-son. Saint played the first

three or four games and wasinjured and didn’t return.

Marcus Johnson (Sr.),

Tee Payne (Sr.),

Kearick Patterson (Sr.),

Dylan Tribolet (Jr.),

Austin Oswalt (Sr.),

Peyton Lane (Soph.),

Patrick Johnson (Soph.)

Payne leads the way with

38 career starts. He is a fix-

ture in the middle, and uses

his strength to help control

the line of scrimmage.

“We are pretty deep on the

defensive line and have

seven kids who have the

potential to play,” Bradley

said.

M.J. Shirley (Sr.), Shontae Miller (Jr.), Juan Cedano (Sr.),

Justin Sherrod (Sr.), Gavin Salter (Soph.),

Dan Temple (Soph.), Javonte Ellis (Soph.),Javontay Lewis (Jr.),

Lonnie Stephenson (Sr.)Another strong piece to

what could shape up to be atough defense.“We have a chance to bepretty good here,” Bradleysaid of his defense.

Trae Collins (Sr.),

Howard Petty (Jr.), Preston

Davis (Jr.),

Jeremy Newton (Soph.),

Quinton White (Sr.),

Ryan Lee (Sr.)

Bradley said Collins is a

Division I prospect who he

hopes will take on a bigger

role this season. He said

Petty had an excellent

spring and offseason and

has really worked hard to

position himself to start.“Hopefully he will grow intoa leadership role,” Bradley

said. “Trae has the physicaltools. He just has to grabthe game and work on themental aspect of the gameand step up and be more ofa leader. He has the physi-cal tools, that’s for sure.”

Jerrod Bradley (Jr.), Austin Oswalt (Sr.)

Bradley, a transfer fromKosciusko High, will com-pete with Oswalt, who han-dled the duties last season.


NEW HOPE TROJANSMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 5A, Region 1; 2011 Record 4-7

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 LOUISVILLEAug. 24 OpenAug. 31 NoxubeeSept. 7 COLUMBUSSept. 14 CaledoniaSept. 21 SALTILLOSept. 28 OxfordOct. 5 HERNANDOOct. 12 Lake

CormorantOct. 19 CLARKSDALEOct. 26 Center HillNov. 2 WEST POINT

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TROJANSQUARTERBACK

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERS OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS

2011 ResultsAug. 19 W, 17-12

At LouisvilleSept. 2 L, 45-29

NOXUBEE CO.Sept. 9 L, 33-0

At ColumbusSept. 16 W, 28-0

CALEDONIASept. 23 W, 34-19

At SaltilloSept. 30 W, 43-22

OXFORDOct. 7 L, 24-7

At HernandoOct. 14 L, 15-12

LAKE CORMORANT

Oct. 21 L, 41-27 At Clarksdale

Oct. 28 L, 23-12 CENTER HILL

Nov. 4 L, 56-20 At West Point

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

COACHING STAFFn HEAD COACH:Michael Bradleyn ASSISTANT

COACHES:Bob Reaves (wide receivers/ running backs), MattKeith (defensive coordinator/ defensive line), BrianWalker (offensive line), IkeMelton (linebackers),Shawn Gregory (defensivebacks)

CLASS 5AREGION 1, DISTRICT 2

Center HillClarksdaleHernando

Lake CormorantNew Hope

OxfordSaltillo

West Point


See NEW HOPE, 12

Newby, Payne show heart, hunger to be best

Sam Gause, Luisa Porter/Dispatch StaffQ Newby, top, and Tee Payne, above, epitomize pride and toughness for the NewHope High School football team. The seniors also represent the heart and hungerit takes to be the best, even though they might not be the biggest or the fastest.


A hungry heart knowsno limits.

On paper, Terrence“Tee” Payne and Quanterris“Q” Newby wouldn’t havebeen the most likely fresh-men selected to move up toplay with the New HopeHigh School varsity footballteam.

But a successful player isbuilt with intangibles likefaith, perseverance, andeffort — otherwise knownas heart — that can’t bemeasured on a piece ofpaper. That’s how a 5-foot-7,240-pound freshman won apreseason battle to earn astarting position on theTrojans’ defensive line.That’s also how severalweeks later, Newby usedhis drive to be the best tocapitalize on an injury andthen made the most of hispromotion.

Today, both players havematured into team leaders,even though their bodieslargely have stayed thesame since their freshmanseasons.

“I never thought I wastoo small to do anything,”Payne said. “I thoughtabout it because my parentstalked to me about it. Mymom was one of the mainones. She kept telling me,‘You can do it, you can do it,you can do it, just keepworking hard.’ My dad waskind of skeptical about it.He said, ‘I don’t know if youshould be moved up to var-sity because you’re just 14years old and you’re goingto be going up against 17- to18-year-old kids. I was like,‘I don’t care. I love football. Ijust want to play.’ I neverthought I could do it. Coach(Michael) Bradley andcoach (Matt) Keith kept

telling me just keep work-ing hard and it is going tobe your time. God was justwith me and it was mytime.”

Letitia and Aaron Payneinstilled a tenacity in Tee atan early age. When Tee

was 3 years old, he startedto play baseball. When hewas 5, it was time to playfootball. His mother was soserious about him playingthat he traveled toAliceville, Ala., where heparticipated in a league

with kids who were as oldas 8. That didn’t preventPayne from runningaround and trying to hitpeople. He recalls playingas hard as he couldbecause his mother wantedhim to have that attitude

most schools because wereally don’t want a lot ofguys having to play twoways.”

Marchbanks returns forhis second season as start-ing quarterback. He feelsthe new offensive wrinkleswill allow him to makeplays with his arm and hisfeet. Just as important, hewill be able to make betterreads with his eyes.

“The spread gives memore room to see thefield,” Marchbanks said.“Being under center, Icouldn’t get a hang to it. Ireally couldn’t see every-thing I needed to see. Inthe spring, with the newoffense, things went a lotsmoother. It was differentall right. I thought we real-ly matured and developedduring the spring. Now it isa matter of working reallyhard to make things closeto perfect.”

As one of 22 seniors onthe roster, Armistad knowsnow is the time forCaledonia to turn the cor-ner and to return to thepostseason.

“Everybody is excited


CALEDONIA CONFEDERATESMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 4A, Region 4; 2011 Record 4-7

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 NettletonAug. 24 West LowndesAug. 31 HERITAGESept. 7 East WebsterSept. 14 NEW HOPESept. 21 AckermanSept. 28 CARTHAGEOct. 5 HoustonOct. 12 LOUISVILLE Oct. 19 KosciuskoOct. 26 NOXUBEE

COUNTY

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

See CALEDONIA, 12

CLASS 4A REGION 4, DISTRICT 4

CaledoniaHouston

KosciuskoLeake Central

LouisvilleNoxubee County


2011 ResultsAug. 19 W, 29-20

NETTLETONAug. 26 W, 29-15

W. LOWNDESSept. 2 L, 48-45

At Heritage Aca.Sept. 9 W, 24-0

E. WEBSTERSept. 16 L, 28-0

At New HopeSept. 23 L, 14-0

ACKERMANSept. 30 L, 20-6

At Leake Cent.Oct. 7 L, 39-10

HOUSTONOct. 14 L, 42-0

At Louisville Oct. 21 W, 28-10

KOSCIUSKOOct. 28 L, 36-7

At Noxubee Co.

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

n Head Coach: Ricky Kendrick (5-17 in third season)n Assistant Coaches: Mark Hysaw(offensive backs); Brian White(defensive coordinator/linebackers); Jason Forrester(defensive line); Murray Woody(defensive backs); Cody Brownlee(ninth grade/split ends and backs)

n 2005 – Last non-losing seasonfor Caledonian 22 – Seniors on the 2012 rostern 50-50 – Balance coaches hopeto attain with running and passing

Ben Marchbanks (Jr.)Marchbanks will adjust to a

new offense this season afterstarting a year ago.“Ben has really grown a lot at thequarterback position,” Caledoniacoach Ricky Kendrick said. “Hewas an all-district player last year.The switch to a spread offensewill allow him to see the fieldmore and will give him moreoptions to make plays.”

Cole Bruce (Sr.)Tyler Armistad (Sr.)Onterrio Lowery (Jr.)

The spread offense will employmore backs, so look for new facesto emerge.“For the most part, all of ourbacks return from last year,”Kendrick said. “Experience is notsomething that we have had a lotof around here the last couple ofyears. This year is different.These players have been regulars.Still, we will be doing some differ-ent things.”

Daniel Cunningham (Soph.)Stephen Black (Sr.)

Will Mainka (Sr.)Garrett Wester (Sr.)

Wester, the center, is the onlyreturning starter.“We will be looking to develop afew more linemen in camp,”Kendrick said. “We have someseniors who will step in and getsome playing time there. Four ofour five line sports are new, so itwill be interesting to see howquickly the line matures and howwell they play together.”

COACHING STAFF

Kendrick hopes team can take to air in spread attack

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffQuarterback Ben Marchbanks, left, and running back Tyler Armistad will be twokey pieces of a new-look Caledonia High School offense.

BY SCOTT [email protected]

CALEDONIA — TheCaledonia High Schoolfootball team spent amajority of its spring prac-tice changing its offensivephilosophy.

Now, all of theConfederates need is acatchy nickname.

“Air Feds,” anyone?“We have had a lot of

work to do since the end oflast season,” Caledoniacoach Ricky Kendrick said.“We are switching offens-es. In spring practice, wedid a lot of experimenting.We found some things weare good at and some areaswhere we really needwork. That is what hap-pens when you try some-thing new.”

Caledonia is shifting tomore of a spread offensethis season that will givejunior quarterback BenMarchbanks morerun/pass options. Seniorrunning back TylerArmistad believes thechange will get him andhis fellow backs moretouches. Both players areexcited about the potential.

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CONFEDERATES

BY THE NUMBERS

QUARTERBACK RUNNING BACKS OFFENSIVE LINE

“I think the fans willsee a different game thisyear,” Armistad said. “Itwill be like our springgame but more intense.The biggest thing duringthe offseason is condition-ing. We don’t have a lot ofdepth and we have to beready to run a lot of plays.

I think this will be excit-ing.”

Caledonia lost only fiveseniors from last season’s4-7 squad. With numbersbeginning to rise in theprogram, Kendrick feelshe is at a point in his thirdseason that he can changethings.

“Are the numberswhere you want them tobe? No,” Kendrick said.“However, we are headedin the right direction. Weare one of the smallerClass 4A schools. The keyis depth and conditioning.We have to work on ourconditioning more than

See A CLOSER LOOK, 12


places to be

FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALLteams to see

1234567

ABERDEEN HIGH SCHOOL100 Bulldog Blvd., Aberdeen662-369-8933

ALICEVILLE HIGH SCHOOL417 3rd St. SE, Aliceville205-373-6378

AMORY HIGH SCHOOL1006 Sam Haskell Circle, Amory662-256-5753

CALEDONIA HIGH SCHOOL111 Confederate Drive, Caledonia662-356-2001

CENTRAL ACADEMY300 Hale Street, Macon662-726-5846

COLUMBUS HIGH SCHOOL215 Hemlock Street, Columbus662-241-7200

EAST OKTIBBEHA COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL178 Moor High Road, Crawford662-272-5603

EAST WEBSTER COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL195 Old Cumberland Road, Maben662-263-5321

HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL40201 Hamilton Road, Hamilton662-343-8307

HEBRON CHRISTIAN SCHOOL6230 Henryville Road, Pheba662-494-7513

HERITAGE ACADEMY625 Magnolia Lane, Columbus662-327-5272

IMMANUEL CENTER FOR CHRISTIAN EDUCATION6405 Military Road, Steens662-328-7888

LAMAR COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL43880 Hwy. 17 S, Vernon205-695-7129

LOUISVILLE HIGH SCHOOL200 Ivy Avenue, Louisville662-773-3431

NEW HOPE HIGH SCHOOL3419 New Hope Road, Columbus662-244-4701

NOXUBEE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL16478 Hwy. 45, Macon662-76-4428

OAK HILL ACADEMY800 N. Eshman, West Point662-494-0301

PICKENS ACADEMY225 Ray Bass Road, Carrollton205-367-8144

PICKENS COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL205 4th Ave. SE, Reform256-375-2344

SOUTH LAMAR SCHOOL300 Sls Road, Millport205-662-4411

STARKVILLE ACADEMY505 Academy Drive, Starkville662-323-7814

STARKVILLE HIGH SCHOOL603 Yellowjacket Drive, Starville662-324-4130

SULLIGENT HIGH SCHOOL661 Elm Street, Sulligent205-698-9254

VICTORY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY374 Mill Road, Columbus662-327-7744

WEST LOWNDES HIGH SCHOOL644 South Frontage Road, Columbus662-244-5070

WEST OKTIBBEHA COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL2459 Holland Street, Maben662-263-8106

WEST POINT HIGH SCHOOL950 S. Eshman Avenue, West Point662-494-5083

WINSTON ACADEMY111 Richardson Road, Louisville662-773-3569

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The 2012Lineup

Some of the area’s topplayers were asked toparticipate in TheDispatch’s annual covershoot. West Point High’sMario Virges also wasinvited but couldn’tattend. Here is anotherversion that from left features Columbus High’sJake Thomas, NoxubeeCounty’s Dillon Bradley,Starkville’s Gabe Myles,Columbus’ Quan Latham,Columbus’ DeMarcusVance, New Hope’s TeePayne, StarkvilleAcademy’s ColbyRunnels, New Hope’s TraeCollins, StarkvilleAcademy’s StephenRobertson, NoxubeeCounty’s Javancy Jones,and Heritage Academy’sCade Lott.

Sam Gause/Dispatch Staff


East OktibbehaEthel

Nanih WaiyaNoxpater

PelahatchieSebastopol

WeirWest LowndesWest Oktibbeha


AckermanEast Webster

EuporaHamilton

J.Z. GeorgeWilliams-Sullivan


AberdeenMantachieMoorevilleNettleton

South PontotocWater Valley


CaledoniaHouston






OxfordSaltillo

West Point

Region 2, District 6CallawayCantonLanier

Neshoba CentralProvine

RidgelandStarkvilleYazoo City


ColumbusDeSoto Central

GrenadaHorn Lake

Olive BranchSouthaven

South PanolaTupelo

MAISEight-Man / North - District 1

Calhoun AcademyCalvary Christian School

Central AcademyDelta Academy

Kemper AcademyNorth Sunflower Academy

Russell ChristianVeritas School

Class AADistrict 2A

Canton AcademyImmanuel Christian

Leake AcademyManchester Academy

Oak Hill AcademyWinston Academy

Class AAADistrict 1A, Division II

Heritage AcademyLee Academy

Magnolia HeightsWashington SchoolJackson Academy

Madison-Ridgeland AcademyPillow Academy

NOTE: Jackson Academy, MRA,and Pillow Academy are DivisionI. All regular-season gamescount toward determining whowill advance to the Division I andDivision II playoffs.

District 2AAACopiah Academy

East Rankin AcademyHillcrest Christian

Starkville AcademyJackson Prep

Parkland AcademyPresbyterian Christian

NOTE: Jackson Prep, ParklaneAcademy, and Presbyterian Chr.are Division I. All regular-seasongames count toward determiningwho will advance to the Division Iand Division II playoffs.

Christian Football AssociationEight-Man

Flint Hill (Ala.)North River (Ala.)Tabernacle (Ala.)New Life (Ala.)

Tuscaloosa (Ala.) ChristianVictory Christian

NOTE: Hebron Christian will playas an independent this season.

LOCAL TEAMS’CL ASSES


Bart Gregory first talked onthe radio when he was a freshmanat Mississippi State University.

Seventeen years later, Gregoryis still entertaining and informing.

“High school football is where Igot my start,” said Gregory, agraduate of Nanih Waiya HighSchool and MSU. “It’s a passion inthis state. There is somethingabout a Friday night. In stadiumsall across the state it is electrify-ing. It is something great to be apart of.”

In 1995 at the age of 18,Gregory read statistics at halftimeof Louisville High School radiobroadcasts. Five years later,Gregory was doing play by play ofWinston County schools gameson WLSM-FM. Now a staple onthe MSU broadcast team,Gregory still finds time to do ahandful of Louisville High andWinston Academy games for hisfriend and station owner, PhilHarrison.

“I have most of my games ontape,” Gregory said, “Some of theearly ones were really atrocious. Idon’t know why anyone listened.”

Anthony Craven shares thesame passion for Friday night.News Director for WMSV-FM inStarkville, Craven, and seniorMSU student Zach Miller team upeach Friday night to callColumbus High School footballon WMSV, which is on the MSUcampus.

“I love doing play by play ofsports period. That is my true pas-sion,” Craven said. “There is

something unique and specialabout Friday nights and abouthigh school football. It is differentthan anything else you do as abroadcaster.

“There is the access to theplayers and coaches. Walkingthrough the gates, everybody inthe stadium associates you as thatschool’s radio guy. That is what itmakes it neat and special.”

With Columbus playing in thestate’s highest classification, theFalcons broadcast team has seenits fair share of top-notch athletesand coaches.

“The thing that appeals to methe most is all the players we getto watch,” Miller said. “Each weekwe have a good football game. Weare watching players you knowwill play in the SoutheasternConference. You have some whowill have a chance to play in the(NFL). It is a little overwhelmingto be a part of that action.”

Gregory also can relate to theFriday night experiences.

“It is so different than a collegefootball weekend where you aresaturated by games,” Gregorysaid. “The question is what is hap-pening in x game over there or ygame over there. Everybody getsin their car when they leave thestadium and flip around for anoth-er game.”

They eventually many land onJason Crowder and the WFCA-FM Friday Night ScoreboardShow. Crowder and JonathanHolmes co-host a two-hour score-board show that wraps up thenight of high school football.

“We try to get as many story-lines as we can out over the air,” said

Crowder, who is the play-by-playvoice of French Camp Academy andEast Mississippi CommunityCollege on WFCA. “We have aloyal group of callers, which mayinclude coaches, newspaper people,and other radio broadcasters. Theshow is never dull and never boring.It moves along at a break-neck paceand we try to give as much informa-tion as we can.

“What people do not realize isthe tremendous amount ofresearch which goes into the fin-ished product. It starts as a sidejob and then turns into a passion,an obsession.”

A local newspaper reporter,Michael Wardlaw, also learnedfirst-hand the amount of advancetime needed to place a qualityproduct on the air. Wardlaw willcall Starkville High football onWKBB-FM for a fourth season.This will be third season Wardlawwill work with local attorney JayPerry.

“My first year, I didn’t do any-thing,” Wardlaw said. “It was likegrab a roster and call the game.Now, I spend a couple of daysresearching Starkville and theopponent. I will drop in for a filmsession or go to a practice.

“I found the more you can do inadvance, the better the broadcastturns out. The access to the highschool players and the coaches ismy favorite part. They make iteasy to enjoy what you are doing.”

Miller has found a similarenjoyment watching the Falcons.This will be his third season toteam with Crowder. As the game’sanalyst, Miller, a kinesiologymajor from Starkville, compiles

the stats and helps spot during thebroadcast.

“I have learned so much fromAnthony about the radio busi-ness,” Craven said. “He is a totalprofessional and has been sogreat to me. I have learned aboutpreparation and about profession-alism. High school football is spe-cial to so many people. We try tobring that energy and enthusiasmhome to the people who can’tattend the games.”

In what is a common theme inathletics, the radio business also isall about the relationships.

“With Columbus football andColumbus basketball, it has beena chance to build some reallygreat relationships with the coach-es,” Craven said. “It is great whena player’s parents will come upand knock on the press box win-dow and thank you for what yousaid about their son.

“A lot of people are genuinelyappreciative you are the ones help-ing getting their team’s games outover the air. Some of the thingsthat are lost and taken for grantedon the college level are not lost onthe high school level.”

Many college broadcastersload their plate with high schoolbroadcasts. Jim Ellis previouslyserved two stints as the play-by-play broadcaster of StarkvilleHigh. Last season, Ellis assumedthe play-by-play roles for footballand men’s basketball while contin-uing to do baseball at MSU.

Legendary MSU broadcasterJack Cristil had a long run as thevoice of Tupelo High andItawamba C.C.

Now, Crowder is working well

past the midnight hour on Fridaynights before hosting an MSUpregame show Saturday anddescribing MSU women’s basket-ball. Gregory can’t walk away fromthe high school game despite join-ing Ellis as an analyst on close to100 MSU games a year. Cravenloves his Falcons and also co-hostsa daily call-in show and describesMSU softball in the fall.

“I do more research each sea-son,” Crowder said. “I have tocarve out an hour or two each dayeither at the station or at home atnight. Before the season starts,you are researching your teambecause you have new players andnew wrinkles. As the year goesalong, you get a comfort level withyour team and it is more about theopponent.

“Late in the year, it is all aboutthe playoffs. You have to monitorothers games and you have toknow what they mean. It goesfrom passion to obsessions quick-ly. You want the folks at home toenjoy your broadcast. But you alsowant them to feel they got a goodsense of what just happened.”

Describing what has happenedhas been Gregory’s calling cardfor 17 seasons. His love for highschool football also was fueled byhis relationship with his father,Larry Gregory. On many Fridaynights, Larry will assist his son inthe broadcast booth, helping spotand compile stats.

“We make a great team,”Gregory said. “It is a really a goodway for some father-son time. Italso makes me want to be profes-sional. After all, you don’t want todisappoint dad.”


Scott Walters/Dispatch StaffAnthony Craven, left, and Zach Miller were be the broadcasting team that will announce the Columbus High School football team’s games this season on .

Local stations lend voices to Friday Night Lights


Aaron Studdard alwayswas considered “big”when he played pee weefootball.

But as much asStuddard’s youth coacheswanted to use his size onthe offensive line, hefought back and dideverything he could not toplay the position and toplay where he really want-ed: fullback.

If Barrett Donahoe hadknown thatwhen hetook over asH e r i t a g eAcademy’sf o o t b a l lcoach, hemight havefound anoth-

er senior to move to theoffensive line. Coming in,Donahoe realized anyswitch, especially oneinvolving a senior, couldhave repercussions thatmade his first year on thejob more challenging.

Studdard didn’t want tomake things difficult.Instead, he wanted hissenior season to be spe-cial, so he listened whenDonahoe told him he wasgoing to be moved fromfullback to offensive line.The reaction was what anycoach would expect froma team leader.

“Maybe any other yearI would have been upsetabout it, but, I don’t know,I trusted him and what hewanted to do with thisteam,” Studdard said. “If itis all for the team, I am allfor it.”

Studdard’s approach on

the field has mirrored hisinitial reaction. While ithas been an adjustmentmoving from fullback tooffensive line inDonahoe’s pistol set,Studdard is excited aboutthe possibilities, as isDonahoe, who said theway Studdard handled themove allowed him to easeinto his new job muchfaster.

“(His reaction) showedhis selfless attitude andthat he was going to dowhatever for the team to

be successful,” Donahoesaid. “When we decidedwe were going to havethat conversation withAaron, (the coaches) saidthis could be one of themoments that starts mov-ing us in the right direc-tion with our kids and atti-tude. We felt like it was ahuge win for our footballprogram and our newcoaching staff whenAaron accepted it so well.He didn’t just say it, hewent out there and did itand has never complained

about it.“I am sure there are

some nights Aaron gets alittle frustrated with us.No doubt would I everblame him for it. But whenhe looked at us and said,‘Coach, I will do whateveryou need me to’ and thenwalked out to the field forthe next two weeks duringspring training and did itwith a positive attitude andbecame a leader on theoffensive line ... and theway the kids saw that wefeel that is one of the

biggest positive things wehave had as a coachingstaff since we have beenhere.”

Donahoe first sawStuddard in the weightroom in early April afterhe took the job. He imme-diately thought Studdardwould be an ideal fit as anoffensive guard. He alsorealized talk about a posi-tion change wasn’t a con-versation a coach wants tohave with a player

Cade Lott (Sr.), Garrett Taylor (Soph.)Lott takes over the full-

time duties after seeingtime at the position withBrandon Bell last season.Heritage Academy first-year coach BarrettDonahoe has installed anoffense that will run a vari-ety of looks out of the pis-tol, and likes what he hasseen from Lott. He hopesLott gives the Patriots arunning threat who can getoutside the pocket andmake throws down thefield and run a little option,too. Taylor will be thebackup.“I feel very confident Cadeis going to be the guy forus,” Donahoe said. “He haslooked good. I wish he hadmore high school repsunder his belt, but he does-n’t and he still is goingthrough a little bit of alearning curve. He com-mands the offense, is acompetitor, makes naturalplays, and is getting betterat making decisions on cov-erages and options reads.He still has some learningto do and he knows it, andhe is all in on it.”

Miller Puckett (Sr.), Parker Turner (Sr.), Parker Short (Jr.), Hunter Bean (Sr.),

Parker Anderson (Jr.)Puckett, who suffered a

season-ending injury lastseason, is injured again,and Donahoe isn’t sure howlong he will be out. He saidthe Patriots planned towork several players intothe rotation, so the injuryhasn’t forced the coachingstaff to scuttle their initialplans. He said Bean andAnderson will providedepth.“Parker Short is taking thetailback reps this weekwith Parker Turner at full-back,” Donahoe said. “Wefelt like a lot of guys werecapable of running the foot-ball. We do want to getthose guys more experi-ence.”

Parker Dunaway (Sr.),Logan Bell (Jr.),

Mark Thatcher (Jr.)Dunaway, a standout on

the school’s track and fieldprogram, is the go-toreceiver and the speed

threat all wrapped up intoone.“If their health stays withthem we will have a solidgroup of receivers, guys whocan run good routes andplay hard for us,” Donahoesaid. “The good thing iswe’re going to have otherthreats in our passing gameother than Parker Dunaway.Of our guys, Parker is proba-bly the biggest threatbecause of his speed. He isa guy who can stretch thefield for us.”

Hunter Ferguson (Jr., RT)Aaron Studdard (Sr., RG),

Wesley Swedenburg (Sr., C),Bryant Bonner (Sr., LG),

Marshall Tomlinson (Sr., LT),Douglas Kilarski (Jr.)

Donahoe saidSwedenburg had to movefrom tackle to center toreplace Will Bonner, who isrecovering from a torn ante-rior cruciate ligament. Hehopes to have Bonner backmidway through the sea-son. He said Kilarski willwork in and be a valuablecomponent to give otherplayers a break. BryantBonner and Will Bonner aretwins.

“This group has done agreat job,” Donahoe said. “Idon’t want to say they’renot skilled because I dothink they have had coach-ing in the past, but ourstyle of offensive blockingis different from that theyhave been doing. They arestill trying to transition.They have the opportunityto be very strong. Theyhave shown things to begood as a core group.”

Aaron Studdard (Sr., DE),Wesley Swedenburg (Sr., DT),

Brady Clark (Soph.),RT Bryant Bonner (Sr., RT),

David Hardy (Sr., DE), Douglas Kilarski (Jr.),

Taylor Fields (Sr.)Donahoe said Fields and

Clark will be valuablepieces considering severalof the linemen will go bothways. The bigger role Clarkplays, the more time otherplayers will have to restand to be fresh late ingames. Hardy is back withthe program for the firsttime since his sophomoreyear.“Taylor Fields is our biggestutility guy, if you can imag-ine a guy playing defensive

end, cornerback, and line-backer at the same time,”Donahoe said.

Matthew Morrison (Sr., MLB), Parker Turner(Sr., OLB), Miller Puckett

(Sr., OLB)Donahoe said Morrison

is going a “great job” in themiddle. Coach Tate Marshsaid the group continues toimprove.“Coach Marsh feels they dohave the ability to be goodbut that they’re not quitewhere he wanted themwhen he started,” Donahoesaid. “He has been pleasedin the last week and a halfwith their development.”

Cade Lott (Sr.), Parker Dunaway (Sr.)Hudson Bean (Sr.), Parker Short (Jr.),

Mark Thatcher (Jr.), Taylor Fields (Sr.)

Another pivotal positionwhere the contributions ofThatcher and Fields will bekey to make sure Lott andDunaway aren’t playingevery snap.


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HERITAGE ACADEMY PATRIOTSMississippi Association of Independent School: Class AAA, District 1AAA, North Division 2; 2011 Record 5-5

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 LAMARAug. 24 StarkvilleAug. 31 CaledoniaSept. 7 MRASept. 14 CLARKSDALE

LEESept. 21 JacksonSept. 28 Magnolia

HeightsOct. 5 OAK HILLOct. 12 OpenOct. 19 WASHINGTONOct. 26 Pillow

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

See STUDDARD, 12

MAISCLASS AAA,

DISTRICT 1AAA, DIVISION II

Heritage AcademyLee Academy

Magnolia HeightsWashington SchoolJackson Academy

Madison-Ridgeland AcademyPillow Academy

NOTE: Jackson Academy, MRA,and Pillow Academy are DivisionI. All regular-season games counttoward determining the teamsthat will advance to the playoffs.

2011 ResultsAug. 19 W. 37-36

At LamarAug. 26 L, 33-7

STARKVILLE ACADEMY

Sept. 2 W, 48-45 CALEDONIA

Sept. 9 L, 24-14 At Madison-Ridgeland Aca.

Sept. 16 L, 29-14 At Clarksdale-Lee Aca.

Sept. 23 L, 42-0 JACKSON ACA.

Sept. 30 W, 56-28 MAGNOLIA HEIGHTS

Oct. 7 W, 49-0 At Oak Hill Aca.

Oct. 21 L, 41-3 At Washington

Oct. 28 W, 32-14 PILLOW ACA.

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE PATRIOTSQUARTERBACK RUNNING BACK

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINEDEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKER

SECONDARY

COACHING STAFFn HEAD COACH:Barrett Donahoe

n ASSISTANT COACHES:

Tate Marsh (defensivecoordinator / runningbacks / linebackers),Bruce Branch (defensiveassistant / defensivebacks / wide receivers),Jimmy Hicks (passinggame coordinator / quar-terbacks / defensivebacks), Toby Lott, Ed Lott,Tommy Studdard (juniorvarsity / varsity assis-tance)

Studdard shifts to offensive line to make his mark

Luisa Porter/Dispatch StaffHeritage Academy senior Aaron Studdard wasn’t sure what to expect when new coach Barrett Donahoe tookover the football program. When Donahoe asked him to move from fullback to offensive line for his senior season, Studdard didn’t hesitate to do what was best for the team.

Studdard


STEENS — Negativity issuffocating.

Thrust into a new city anda new living arrangement,Wilson Harmond didn’t seeanything worthwhile. He did-n’t like school, he didn’t wantto make friends, he had afilthy mouth and a filthy atti-tude and everything he didwas awful.

With his life spiralingdown the wrong path,Harmond paused one dayand asked himself a question:Am I really doing this withmy life?

Now a senior at ImmanuelChristian School, Harmondcan look back to his fresh-man and sophomore yearsand talk honestly abouteverything he did wrong andhow he has transformed hislife.

“I was the stereotypical‘bad boy’,” Harmond said. “Ihad the bad girlfriend. I wasdoing all of the bad things. ...I was dating all of the wrongpeople, I was doing all of thewrong things, cussing, swear-ing — I just did not care. Iwas leading an ungodly life,and it was awful. I never felthappy. Then I finally got rightwith Christ and I don’t haveto feel sad or bad anymore.

“I just finally came to therealization I can do it. I amsmart enough to be able toplay, I am smart enough to bemaking ‘A’s in the classroom,why am I not doing it? I amcheating myself. I just real-ized I am not giving it 100 per-cent, I am not living up to myfullest potential, I am not liv-ing life to the best I can live it.Why cheat myself out of funand happiness and beingremembered?”

As captain of ImmanuelChristian’s 2012 footballteam, Harmond immunizesthe Rams daily with positivityand a work ethic that dareshis teammates not to givetheir all. If they don’trespond, their punishment isto work out with Harmond,who will push and prod andcajole teammates into invest-ing every ounce of effort intoa workout.

On the field, the 5-foot-11,180-pound Harmond isn’t thebiggest or the strongest play-er. But he doesn’t let any-thing stand in his way of goal.This year, his goal is to leavea legacy for future ImmanuelChristian football teams.

“Anybody at this schoolcan become anything they

want,” Harmond said. “Icame here and I was theloser, I was the kid nobodyliked, nobody talked to. ...Now I am on student council,I am football captain, I aminvolved with everybody,everybody likes me, I ameverybody’s friend, I am

always willing to help, I tutorsome of the younger kids onthe team, I tutor some of thekids in my class. ... I want toleave a legacy that anybodycan do anything if they settheir minds to it and workhard. The biggest thing in lifeis working hard.”

Harmond lived inColumbus before living withhis mother in Atlanta for 13years. When he entered highschool in the metro Atlantaarea, he quickly found him-self in trouble. Skippingschool wasn’t the route hismother, Chandra Brandel,wanted her son to take, soshe told him there would beconsequences if he did itagain. The following week,Harmond skipped schoolagain and was sent packing tolive with his grandparents,Sherry and CharlesHarmond, in Mississippi.

“It was difficult to makethat decision,” Brandel said.“I knew if I wanted Will todevelop and to mature into ayoung man the path he was

headed down he wasn’t goingto make it. I knew the placehe was going to be in inColumbus was a good place,and I felt confident about thedecision and the people hewas going to be with and withthe education he was goingto get. The way I alwayswrapped my mind around itwas that he was going to col-lege four years early.”

Initially, the move leftHarmond in “culture shock.”He didn’t know anyone, hefelt like an outsider, he didn’twant to study. The only sol-ace was an opportunity toplay on both sides of the ballon Immanuel Christian’s foot-ball team. Unfortunately, thathighlight didn’t preventHarmond from getting intotrouble. As a result, hebecame a regular in the officeof Bob Williford, an adminis-trator at Immanuel Christian.

“He came to us as a youngman who was pretty bitterand pretty frustrated withthings that were going on,”Williford said. “At the begin-

ning, we spent a good deal oftime together. I have knownhis grandparents for a num-ber of years they were totallysupportive when I would callthem up and tell them this iswhat we’re dealing with andthis is what were going to do.Inside of a year you could seehis attitude start changing.He began to get comfortableat Immanuel and he saw hecould excel at some things.”

As old habits faded awayand gave way to a new identi-ty, Harmond applied himselfin the classroom. His gradesimproved. He made friends.His attitude changed.

Trips in the summer backto Atlanta helped him takethe next step. Working withhis stepfather, Mike Brandel,he discovered a passion forworking out and he quicklyapplied it to football. He alsore-connected with his father,Edward, who lives in Atlanta,after not speaking with himfor a number of years.

K.C. Cunningham (Soph.),Omar Aquil (Jr.)

Cunningham will get hisfirst chance at varsityaction at the position tokick off the season. Heplayed quarterback forthree years on the juniorvarsity team. ImmanuelChristian coach GregWatkins said the Rams willrun a lot of same stuff theydid last season and likelywill lean more toward therun. He said the decision toattend a 7-on-7 camp in thesummer will pay dividendsbecause it helped the Ramswork out the mistakes andget more comfortable inthe passing game.“(K.C.) played some highschool on defense and a lit-tle on the running backside,” Watkins said, “so healready is familiar with thespeed of the game. He hasdone a real good job. We’relooking for big things out ofhim this season.”

Justin Tate (Jr.), Joshua Dantzler (Sr.),

Ryan ForresterAnother new look due tothe losses of Michael Tate,Norris Harris, Jason Davis,and Darius Jones. Tate, whois the brother of MississippiState University track and

field standout Tavaris Tate,will provide the speed,while Dantzler, who is 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, will pro-vide the size. He playedrunning back and widereceiver last season.Watkins said Forrester, whohas played at New Hopeand at Central Academy, isout four to five weeks witha bone bruise and partiallytorn meniscus.“Justin has real good speedand quickness,” Watkinssaid “He is an electrifyingrunner who is capable ofbreaking one at any time.He is a real coachable kidwith a lot of natural talent.Joshua has real good speedfor his size.”

Omar Aquil (Jr.), Jaylin Bankhead (Jr.)

Watkins hopes the workthe team did in 7-on-7 inthe summer carries over tothe season because therewill be plenty of new parts.“Both guys have prettygood hands,” Watkins said.“They are more possessionstyle receivers who are newto the program.”

Wilson Harmond (Sr., G),Luke Hudson (Jr., G),Christopher Randazzo

(Soph., C), Zach Johnwick (Soph., T),

Phillip Taylor (Jr.), Bruce Baudoin (Soph.),

John Michael Randazzo (Jr.)Hudson played on the

offensive line last season,while Harmond providesexperience. Still, the Ramslikely will be at size disad-vantages at this position.Taylor is a transfer fromColumbus High School.“It will be a big test for ourguys,” Watkins said.“That’s probably one of ourbig concerns because wehave a lot of young guys.”

Wilson Harmond (Sr.), Luke Hudson (Jr.),

Zack Ferguson (Sr.), Reed Williams (Soph.),

John Michael Randazzo (Jr.)Like on the offensive

line, Watkins said the Ramswon’t have a lot of size, buthe feels they will have theathleticism to get the jobdone.“We are going to be fairlyquick,” Watkins said.“We’re going to run differ-ent packages with blitzesto offset having a smalldefensive line.

B.J. Shirley (Soph.), Joshua Dantzler (Sr.),

Ryan Forrester, Omar Aquil (Jr.),

Luke Hudson (Jr.)There are plenty of pos-

sibilities, but Watkins hasliked what he has seenfrom Shirley.“He started last year in theOak Hill Academy game,”Watkins said. “He hasplayed some high schoollinebacker. We expect a lotout of B.J.”

Justin Tate (Jr.), K.C. Cunningham (Soph.),

Jaylin Bankhead (CB), Zach Ferguson (Sr.)

Cunningham and Bankheadare penciled in at corner-back. Ferguson also playedthere last season.

Joel Meek (Sr.), Zach Ferguson (Sr.)

Two years ago, Meek hita game-winning field goalto help Immanuel Christianbeat Central Holmes toqualify for the Class A play-offs. He will handle thekicking and the puntingduties.


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IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN RAMSMississippi Association of Independent Schools: Class AA, District 2AA; 2011 Record 2-8

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 Winona

ChristianAug. 24 LEAKEAug. 31 MarshallSept. 7 NEW SITESept. 14 CantonSept. 21 Park PlaceSept. 28 CARROLLOct. 5 Potts CampOct. 12 MANCHESTEROct. 19 WinstonOct. 26 OAK HILL

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

“I just finally came tothe realization I cando it. I am smartenough to be able toplay, I am smartenough to be making‘A’s in the classroom,why am I not doing it?I am cheatingmyself.”

Immanuel Christian senior Wilson Harmond

See HARMOND, 19

MAISClass AA

District 2AACanton Academy

Immanuel ChristianLeake Academy

Manchester AcademyOak Hill AcademyWinston Academy

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE RAMSQUARTERBACK

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY SPECIAL TEAMS

2011 ResultsAug. 19 L, 14-0

WINONA CHR.Aug. 26 L, 35-8

At Leake Aca.Sept. 2 L, 49-12

MARSHALL ACA.Sept. 9 W, 42-8

At New SiteSept. 16 L, 25-14

CANTON ACA.Sept. 30 L, 27-26

At Carroll Aca.Oct. 7 L, 35-0

POTTS CAMPOct. 14 L, 42-16 At

Manchester Aca.Oct. 21 L, 42-14

WINSTON ACA.Oct. 28 W, 14-12

At Oak Hill Aca.

HOME GAMES IN CAPS


Greg Watkinsn ASSISTANT

COACHES:Rob Barron (defensivebacks), Antwan Richards(running backs / lineback-ers), Dickey Peralto andBruce Baudoin (offensive /defensive lines)

Change of attitude allows Harmond to be leader

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffImmanuel Christian football player Wilson Harmond very nearly lost his opportunity to play football at the school.He admits he had a bad attitude as a freshman and a new perspective allows him to be more positive.

Bryer Bolton (Sr.), Anthony Sharp (Soph.)Victory Christian coach

Chris Hamm said earlierthis week that Boltonwould start if the Eaglesplayed today. He also saidboth figure to take snaps tocapitalize on their skills. “We’re probably going todepend a little more onAnthony at running backand Bryer at QB,” Hammsaid. “As far as the pass-ing game, Bryer is a littleahead of Anthony. Anthonyis probably a little betterrunner and a little moreelusive.”

Anthony Sharp (Soph.),Hunter Austin (Jr.),Sean Meadows (Fr.)If Sharp isn’t playing

quarterback, he likely willbe featured in a one-backset that will go out of theshotgun. Last year, Boltonand Sharp worked moreunder center.

“They seem to have done

well,” Hamm said of

Bolton’s and Sharp’s tran-

sition to the offense. “It is

a little bit different for

Bolton, but he has been

doing a lot of that and has

done a pretty good job of

handling the snaps.”

Cody Bolton (Soph.),

Tayler Frye (Jr.),

Roy Boden (Sr.),

Austin Richardson (Jr.),

Michael Elliott (Sr.)

Hamm hopes Cody

Bolton emerges as a sec-

ond option in the offense.

Last year, Bolton moved to

wide receiver after Sharp

had to replace Bryer

Bolton, who is Cody’s

brother, at quarterback.

Boden also showed last

season he could make big

plays. Hamm said

Richardson has improved

as a receiver and has good

speed. Elliott will play a key

role in the Eagles’ blocking

scheme and could be a

threat in the play-action

game, Hamm said.

“We’re looking for Cody

Bolton to have a big year,”

Hamm said. “He had some

good catches and some

good games. He has real

good hands.”

Shane Bradford (Soph., C),Bo McCrary (Soph., G),Brandon Shaw (Jr., G)Hamm said a young line

won’t have to learn new

blocking schemes out of

the shotgun set.

“Bo played center for us last

year and Brandon played

guard,” Hamm said. “Toward

the end of the season,

Shane came in and got a lit-

tle more experience. Shane

has done a really good job

snapping the ball for us. He

has been really consistent.”

Michael Elliott (Sr., DE),

Roy Boden (Sr., DE),

Clinton Spencer (Sr.)

Hamm said the Eagles

will rely on the size and

experience of this group.

He said junior Joshua

Foxworthy will miss six to

eight weeks with a foot

injury. He also said Shane

Bradford and Bo McCrary

could see time at tackle.

Brandon Shaw (Jr.),

Hunter Austin (Jr.),

Sean Meadows (Fr.),

Bryer Bolton (Sr.)

Hamm feels depth will

help the Eagles stay fresh

and keep two players on

the field at all times.

Cody Bolton (Soph.),

Tayler Frye (Jr.),

Austin Richardson (Jr.)

Like on offense, Hamm

said Bolton did a fine job

stepping in and playing

cornerback following his

brother’s injury.

Roy Boden (Sr.)

Hamm said Boden will

handle the kicking and

extra points, and likely,

punting, too.

n Hamm said the

Eagles will carry a varsity

roster of 18-20 players.

That number is a little

down from past years.

but those who hope in the Lordwill renew their strength.They will soar on wings like

eagles;they will run and not grow

weary,they will walk and not be faint.— Isaiah 40:31

(Holy Bible, NewInternational Version)


Like a lot of coaches, ChrisHamm takes time before each sea-son to locate a saying or to find aBible verse to motivate his players.

Coming off a 6-2 season thatended in the semifinals of theChristian Football Associationplayoffs, Hamm hoped to discov-er the words that could help play-ers emerge as leaders and makeeveryone understand the impor-tance of sacrifice, hard work, andcommitment.

When he found the right pas-sage, Hamm added a twist andtied it in with the team’s offseasonworkouts. The result was a dogtag that features a capital letter Swith the word “Strength” andIsaiah 40:31. The Bible verse cap-tures the dedication Hamm want-ed to his players to invest in their

training for the 2012 season.Those who attended all or most ofthe team’s offseason training ses-sions received a dog tag as theirreward.

“We always choose somethingfor the year to focus them on thatthey can rally around and to applya bigger message and a life lessonto the sport of football,” Hammsaid. “The idea of endurance andstrength and being Eagles issomething they repeat at the endof every practice, and is some-thing they have bought into.”

That mind-set might be evenmore important this seasonbecause Victory Christian has

only four seniors, including quar-terback Bryer Bolton, who suf-fered a season-ending injury mid-way through 2011 that changedthe Eagles’ plans. Bolton brokehis arm in a victory againstHeritage Christian, paving theway for freshman Anthony Sharpto step in and lead the team.

Now that he is healthy, Boltonwants to work with classmatesRoy Boden, Clinton Spencer, andMichael Elliott to make sureVictory Christian learns from lastseason and applies the principlesthe dog tags signify.


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VICTORY CHRISTIAN EAGLESChristian Football Association (Eight-Man); 2011 Record 6-2

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 ClintonAug. 24 HEBRONAug. 31 New LifeSept. 7 TabernacleSept. 14 EVANGELSept. 21 FLINT HILLOct. 5 OpenOct. 11 NORTH RIVEROct. 19 Tuscaloosa

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

See STRENGTH, 15

18-20

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE EAGLES

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS


Chris Hammn ASSISTANT

COACHES:Ronnie McDaniel (offense),Kevin Harrell (defense),Todd Dyer (defense),Andrew Pace (offensive /defensive lines), T.J.Meadows, Heath Simpson,Jerry McCrary, RodneySullivan (trainer), JasonHeaton (manager)

2011 ResultsAug. 19 W, 42-6

CLINTON CHR.Sept. 2 W, 37-12

NEW LIFESept. 9 L, 58-28

TABERNACLE CHRISTIAN

Sept. 23 W, 44-0 At Heritage Chr.

Sept. 29 W, 49-20 At Flint Hill

Oct. 14 W, 58-14 At North River

Oct. 21 W, 54-52 TUSCALOOSA CHRISTIAN

Oct. 28 L, 28-16 NORTH RIVER

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

CHRISTIAN FOOTBALL

ASSOCIATIONEight-ManFlint Hill (Ala.)

North River (Ala.)Tabernacle (Ala.)New Life (Ala.)

Tuscaloosa (Ala.) ChristianVictory Christian

QUARTERBACK

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffVictory Christian senior football players Bryer Bolton and Michael Elliott hold out the dog tags they earned for their participation in theteam’s offseason conditioning and strength training program. The dog tags feature the word strength and a verse from the Bible — Isaiah40:31 — that represents the commitment, dedication, and hard work the players intend to invest in the season.

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffVictory Christian football coach Chris Hamm smiles as his players take a breakduring an early season practice. Hamm likes how his players have responded tothe idea of “Strength” and the dog tags they received for participation in theteam’s offseason workouts. He hopes the hard work they put in to earn the dogtags translates this season on the field.

Hamm hopes strength will bring team together

DEFENSIVE LINE

BY THE NUMBERS

Justin Stephenson (Jr.),Daniel Davis (Soph.)

Stephenson spent partof his summer at a quarter-back camp at theUniversity of Alabama. Thegraduation of running backAntonio Wilson leaves thedoor open for someone toemerge as the Panthers’primary playmaker. WestLowndes High School coachAnthony King hopesStephenson can be thatplayer by mixing passingand running.

“Justin can throw theball with the best of them,”King said. “We want him tobe able to carry the ballbecause we have a youngoffensive line. If Justin ismobile, we will be verygood.”

Trey Williams (Soph.), Eric Harris (Soph.),

Darious Douglas (Jr.)Williams and Harris

could be a version of thun-der and lightning, withHarris providing the powerand Harris adding thespeed. King said Douglas isquick and hits the hole asfast as Wilson.

“Trey has real goodhands out of the backfield,he can catch the ball, hehas good speed, and isvery strong,” King said.“Eric is probably fastestguy on the team. He got alot of playing time at run-ning back last seasonalso.”

Shaquille Sharpe (Sr.),Deion Ames (Sr.)

The ability of a youngoffensive line to protect thequarterback coupled withStephenson’s developmentwill determine how muchthe Panthers’ widereceivers will contribute.

“Sharpe can fly,” Kingsaid. “He has real goodhands and is really long.”

Breshon Brooks (Sr., C),LeVonte Campbell (Sr.),

Krayveon Harris, Devin Givens (Jr.), Torrie Evans (Jr.)

King will look to Brooks,a four-year starter, andCampbell, another seniorleader, to set the tone and

to help bring the rest of ayoung offensive line up totempo.

“They look pretty good,”King said. “My line is realyoung and it is going to getbetter as the season goesalong. We are going to plugthem in and out until theyget up to speed. As theseason goes along I hope itwill be a strength.”

Ronnie Porter (Sr.),Breshon Brooks (Sr.),

LaVonte Campbell (Sr.),Kazmin Rogers (Sr.),Lavonte Porter (Fr.)

Four seniors will play keyroles in King’s 5-3 defense.A year ago, King was disap-pointed in the aggressive-ness of his defense. Thisseason, he feels it will be

better prepared after a fulloffseason to train and toplay together.

“The defensive line isgoing to be the strength ofthe team,” King said. “Theyare real fast, and I thinkthey can put a lot of pres-sure on offenses.”

Thytrell Williams (Jr.),Javarious Ellis (Soph.),Marquise Miller (Sr.)

King will look to the line-backers to use their speedto support the defensiveline by going side to sidewith a purpose.

“Williams is extremelyfast and smart,” King said.“I am expecting them tohave a big role becausethey played last year.”

Jermaine Thomas (Sr.),Deion Ames;

Eric Harris (Soph.)King feels Thomas’

experience as a three-yearstarter works well withHarris’ speed.

“I think our defense willbe the strength of ourteam,” King said. “As soonas our offense gets there Ithink we will be a very dan-gerous team.”


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WEST LOWNDES PANTHERSMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 1A, Region 3; 2011 Record 2-9

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 MONTGOMERYAug. 24 CALEDONIAAug. 31 ShannonSept. 7 EthelSept. 14 OpenSept. 21 EAST

OKTIBBEHASept. 28 NoxapaterOct. 5 PELAHATCHIEOct. 12 West

OktibbehaOct. 19 NANIH WAIYAOct. 26 WeirNov. 2 SEBASTOPOL

HOME GAMES IN CAPS


East OktibbehaEthel

Nanih WaiyaNoxpater



2011 ResultsAug. 19 W, 40-28

At Montgomery Co.

Aug. 25 L, 29-15 At Caledonia

Sept. 2 L, 50-14 SHANNON

Sept. 9 W, 42-20 ETHEL

Sept. 23 L, 6-0 At E. Oktibbeha

Sept. 30 L, 49-0 NOXAPATER

Oct. 7 L, 5-14 At Pelahatchie

Oct. 14 L, 36-30 W. OKTIBBEHA

Oct. 21 L, 46-6 At Nanih Waiya

Oct. 28 L, 46-44 WEIRNov. 4 L, 35-20

At Sebastopol

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE PANTHERSQUARTERBACK RUNNING BACKS RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY


Anthony Kingn ASSISTANT

COACHES:Todd Stanley (offensivecoordinator), EddieChapman (special teams,defense)

Stephenson will try to grow into leader at QB

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffFrom left: West Lowndes High School’s Jermaine Thomas, Bre Brooks, and Ronnie Porter will be counted on to contribute this season ifthe Panthers are going to improve on a 2-9 finish last season.


The stage is there for JustinStephenson to take it.

A year ago, Stephenson admit-tedly was nervous as a sophomorein his first varsity action as quarter-back of the West Lowndes HighSchool football team. It didn’t takelong for lanky right-hander to shakethe butterflies and settle in, eventhough the team finished 2-9 lastseason.

This season, without a go-toteammate like Antonio Wilson inthe backfield, coach Anthony Kingis looking to Stephenson to breakout as a dual threat in his junior sea-son.

“He has matured a whole lotover the summer,” said King, who isin his second year as head coach.“Going to camp (at the University ofAlabama) helped him manage the

offense a lot better and he doesn’tseem to be as rushed as he wasbefore. He takes his time to let theplay develop and has a lot calmerdemeanor.”

That’s a good sign for an offensethat also will rely on seniors BreBrooks and LeVonte Campbell toanchor a young offensive line thatwill need time to come together.

King said the uncertainty aboutthe offensive line is why he wantsStephenson to branch out and usehis athleticism to be a runningthreat. He said Stephenson’s abilityto use his 6-foot, 176-pound frame toroll out and to create opportunitiesfor his teammates will be a valuableweapon, especially early in the sea-son as the unit learns to jell.

“Justin has put a lot of time in inthe weight room because we knowhe is going to take some licks,”King said. “He looks pretty good

when he pulls it down and runs.We’re asking him to get down andnot take as many hits. We want himto pick his spots.”

Stephenson said he is eager toput what he has learned at variousquarterback camps. He attendedNick Saban’s camp earlier this sum-mer, and has went to MississippiState University and the Universityof Memphis to learn the finer pointson how to play the position.

“When I was in pee wee, I didn’teven play quarterback because Iwas a bigger guy,” Stephenson said.“I lost a lot of weight.”

Stephenson smiles when he saidhe was a “chubby kid” when he was8-10 years old. He said he was tallerthan his teammates, but he said hedropped 20 pounds as he enteredhis teenage years. In the offseason,he continued to do situps andpushups and worked out at the

school to keep himself in shape andprepared for what he hopes is hischance to shine.

“I am looking forward to it a lot,”Stephenson said. “I am confident Iwill do a good job. I am going to beable to throw the ball more. Mythree-step and my five-step dropbacks have improved.

“We have a lot of confidencebecause we have been lifting weightmore and working out more.”

Campbell and Brooks arefocused on doing their part to helpStephenson and to make sureeveryone is committed to a winningseason.

“Last year, we saw we didn’t putin much work and we saw the con-sequences,” Campbell said. “Thisyear, we have put in more work overthe summer trying to get better andstronger. We’re looking to have abetter team than last year.”

Josh Betts (Jr.)Luke Eads (Sr.)Ryan Unruh (Sr.)

The receiving corps isback and should work wellin another season with aveteran backfield.“Our split ends all return.We have some depth andskill at those positions,”Kendrick said. “You haveto develop a passing gameto be successful on thislevel and I think we havesome really goodreceivers. It is about tim-ing and finding a rhythm.”

Ryan Unruh (Sr.)Zach Harrell (Sr.)

Colton Gilbreath (Sr.)Darryl Williams (Sr.)The defensive line

returns experience and willbe led by seniors.

“Our defensive line is prettymuch intact from last year,”Kendrick said. “It has beentogether and now many ofthem are starting togetheras seniors. Defensive lineplay was strength from lastseason and hopefully thatwill carry over.”

Darius Chatman (Jr.)Hunter Hill Kirkland (Jr.)

Josh Livingston (Jr.)Orlandis Smith (Soph.)New, new, new. The

Confederates will startover at this position.“We have had some play-ers who have moved inwho will be helping usthere,” Kendrick said. “Ithink this group has comea long way since the off-season. However, it is thearea where we are thenewest.”

Randy Reynolds (Sr.)Peter Pagaduan (Sr.)John Pagaduan (Sr.)

Brandon Henry (Soph.)Several seniors will help

anchor a unit that improvedgreatly last season inregion play.“With Randy and thePagaduan twins, we haveexperience back there,”Kendrick said. “BrandonHenry has really steppedup. We are expecting bigthings out of here. It is asolid group.”

Josh Kugel (Sr.)Kugel will handle the

kicking chores and hopesto build on a solid juniorseason. “We have one ofthe best kickers in NorthMississippi in Josh Kugel,”Kendrick said.


CaledoniaContinued from Page 5

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS

about this year because us seniors havebeen waiting a long time for it,” Armistadsaid. “In the past, we had some problems,but I think this year’s team is a lot differ-ent. Practice is going well. Players arecoming early and staying late.

“For a lot of us, this is our last season,so we want to make it the best year pos-sible.”

Kendrick credits his seniors for play-ing an integral role in rebuilding the pro-gram. While the squad struggled attimes last season, there were signs it washeaded in the right direction.

“For the first time, we can really sayexperience is a plus,” Kendrick said.“Being our third year together, the kidsknow the system. They know what isexpected of them and they know what toexpect of me. Some of these seniors havestarted since they were freshmen.

“I am proud of them for sticking withit. Even when times are tough, they hadthe right mind-set to persevere. Thisgroup of seniors will be special for thesacrifice they have made.”

The offensive line will rebuild with fournew starters. The backfield will includereturnees Cole Bruce, Onterrio Lowery,and Armistad. On defense, the linereturns, the secondary includes all sen-

iors, and the linebackers will all be new.“Our new offense will open up the

running game a lot more,” Marchbankssaid. “We can pass out of it and run out it,with different options on different plays.We have put in a lot of hard work duringthe offseason. The seniors have put inmore effort and shown a lot of leader-ship.

“The biggest thing now is buildingdepth. Coach wants everybody to have aprimary position to play that position, sowe are working hard to find some moreguys who can step in and play rightaway.”

With Louisville and Noxubee Countyexpected to contend for the Class 4Astate title, the Class 4A, Region 4 race willbe challenging. Still, Caledonia is readyfor the challenge.

“The players have had a great sum-mer,” Kendrick said. “Our strength pro-gram has come a long way. We got a longway to go. We want to be realistic. Weunderstand where we are. Our seniorsdo, too. We try to be as realistic withthem as we can.

“We want to be as competitive as wecan. Last year, we had success at times.Now, the challenge is to do that moreconsistently.”

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CONFEDERATESRECEIVERS

StuddardContinued from Page 8

because it is natural forthem to want to touch thefootball and to scoretouchdowns. Still, hecouldn’t overlookStuddard’s strength andhow that could contributeto the success of theoffense.

“His upper bodystrength and his ability tomaintain blocks at thepoint of contact was veryapparent during springtraining,” Donahoe said.“He is a quicker offensivelineman. From a speedstandpoint, he is a little bitaround average for a full-back, but that makes hima quick offensive lineman,especially in our guardseries with what we’redoing.”

Donahoe’s pistol is avariation of the shotgun

and single-back offenses.In it, a quarterback stands4 yards behind the center,whereas he would be 7yards behind the center inthe shotgun. The tailbackalso is directly behind thequarterback in the pistol.In the shotgun, the tail-back is beside the quarter-back.

“We are not going to beyour base zone-blocking,up front, inside, outside,zone offensive scheme,”Donahoe said. “We aregoing to create anglesthrough down blocking,pulling, trapping, thingsyou have seen for yearsand years and years.”

Donahoe likes the factthat Heritage Academyhas plenty of speed to beable to use the pistol to itsadvantage. That speed

also is key for the offen-sive linemen, which iswhy Studdard has fit in sowell.

“The quicker guards,the guys who can get outof the backfield fast, thatis kind of what we’re look-ing for,” Donahoe said.

As quickly as Studdardhas picked up on the newsystem, he is having toread things faster. At full-back, he would have a sec-ond or two to read thedefense. Up front,Studdard has to reactquicker. In the spring,Donahoe said Studdardfared well on first-levelblocks. He said makingsecond-level blocks andunderstanding where line-backers were was a littletougher, but Donahoefeels Studdard will devel-

op that comfort level withmore practice.

Studdard is more thanwilling to put in that timeafter not getting as muchplaying time as he wantedlast season. He realized hemight have had to wait histurn playing behind a sen-ior. When HeritageAcademy finished 5-5 andfailed to qualify for theplayoffs, Studdard knewhe would have anotherseason to realize hisdream to play the positionhe wanted.

Now that he isimmersed in life at thepoint of contact, Studdardsaid his experience at full-back is helping him. Hesaid the pulling he will beasked to do at guard issimilar to what he did as afullback. He said his foot-

work also will help himfollow the blocking paths

In addition to playingon the offensive line,Studdard also will play onthe defensive line, a posi-tion he played as a sopho-more. Donahoe feelsStuddard will be equallyimportant on defense.

“Some players just playbetter with their hand onthe ground,” saidDonahoe, who coachesthe offensive and defen-sive linemen. “We’regoing to put his hand onthe ground at defensiveend and teach him properreads, and we really feelhe is going to be a very,very strong defensive inour league because of hisspeed and his strength.”

Now that the season isabout to begin, Studdard

said the experience wasn’twhat he expected it to be.He said he has gained anew appreciation for line-men because they have toknow a lot of things anddo them in a split second.If they don’t, a play canblow up for loss. Thatdoesn’t worry Studdard,though, because he feelshe will do OK and that hewill only get better.

“Coach Donahoe is areally good coach and heteaches more than I haveever learned,” Studdardsaid. “I pick it up fasterfrom him. He just spends acertain amount of time onthe line every day in teach-ing us the steps and thefootwork all the way to theplay, and incorporating itwith everybody. It helpsme get it a lot better.”

New HopeContinued from Page 4

“He is dependable. Heis hard working. Thereare not enough goodadjectives in the Englishdictionary to describehim.”

Listed at 5-8 1/2 245pounds, Payne hasn’tgrown much physicallysince his freshman year.He has matured mentallyto the point where heunderstands the impor-tance of faith, persever-ance, and effort. To him,that’s the definition ofheart, something coach-es and teammates say isPayne’s biggest quality.

“Tee is an athlete. Heis all heart,” New HopeHigh School baseballcoach Lee Boyd said. “Hehas done a wonderfuljob.”

Said Bradley, “Heartdoesn’t have an age. It isnot something you getmore of as you get older.In my years of experi-ence, kids have heartfrom the time they startplaying. Tee was not asbig or as strong then ashe is now, but he alwayshas been as quick. As hehas gotten bigger andstronger, he hasn’t lostany quickness. If any-thing, he has gottenquicker. His first step offthe ball is explosive. Ifyou’re not on your Ps andQs, he is going to blowright by you

“He has that innateinstinct that he is going toplay every play as hard ashe can, he is going to doeverything he does at 100percent, and you don’thave to push him to dothat. He never had a prob-lem from the ninth gradeon. He was a dominantvarsity football player inthe ninth grade. He hasbeen pretty much therock on our defensiveline ever since.”

The lessons Paynelearned from his parentshelped him fortify hisstarting position. Bradleysaid Payne has gained the

respect of his teammatesand coaches for neverasking out of a drill or forusing any medical condi-tions as an excuse not towork hard. Payne realizeshis size works againsthim, especially since heusually goes up againstof fensive linemen whoare bigger. In no way,though, does that meanthey’re stronger. That’sPayne’s forte. ThroughMay 25, Payne held theteam records for best par-allel squat (605 pounds),bench press (320), andpower clean (260). Hewas second in the deadlift (510).

Payne attributes hissuccess to his parents.He said they taught himat an early age that hehad to be tough and thathe had to play as hard ashe could. It’s a mind-setthat still drives him today.

“I just keep a mentalityI can beat anybody anddo whatever I want,”Payne said. “I just workhard in the weight roombecause I have to be asstrong because I amshort and when I go upagainst an offensive line-man who is 6-3 or 6-4, Ican get leverage on themand just push them back.I just use my strength,quickness, or speed to goaround people, or gothrough them.”

Newby has a similarapproach. He doesn’tremember being sur-prised when he receivedan opportunity to movefrom the freshman teamto the varsity squad. Infact, he felt he hadworked hard and thoughthe deserved a chance.

“I am hungry,” Newbysaid. “It is just a driveinside me I can’t control.I want to be the best ateverything I do.”

Newby admits he didbetter than he expectedas a freshman thanks to a“fearless” attitude thatdidn’t allow him to think

of himself as a freshman.Now at 5-9, 210, Newby’sphysical talents don’tjump off the page. Theyare more apparent whenyou watch him competein any situation.

“You want to be thebest,” Newby said.“There is no point indoing the same thingover and over and gettingthe same result. I would-n’t like anyone to be bet-ter than me. It is just thedrive to succeed.”

This season, Newbywill take that mind-set tothe offensive side of theball to play running back.Bradley said it didn’t takethe coaches long to seehow Newby’s head-onapproach to life couldserve the Trojans’offense well every Fridaynight.

Newby’s move tooffense means Payne willhave to pick up the slackand help the defensiveline control the point ofattack. On paper, thatmight sound tough for aplayer his size, but Payneand Newby have learnedhow to push themselvesand to be their harshestcritics. Bradley said thatwill serve them very welldown the road.

After all, a hungryheart knows no bound-aries, and after coming sofar, Payne and Newbyaren’t about to changetheir thinking

“If they see me on thefield, the weight room,the practice field, thegame field, people aregoing to see I play with alot of emotion, heart,intensity, passion, and Iam a smart player,”Payne said. “I am physi-cal. Whatever you needon the field, I can giveyou. If you need a sack, atackle for loss, a vocalleader, whatever type ofplayer you need me to be,I will be it. I just want towin.”

starting quarterback tomore efficient. He said hegrasps what the offense isdesigned to do and will beable to handle high-pres-sure situations.

“It’s not like the coach-es have flipped me thekeys and I’m the one driv-ing the car because it’llalways be the coaches first,but maybe I’m in the pas-senger seat knowing thedirections,” Myles said.“I’m just more comfortablewith what I’m supposed tobe doing and where theball needs to go.”

After leading the YellowJackets in rushing with1,018 yards last season,Myles once again will beasked to make plays withhis feet and with his rightarm.

Mitchell already hassimulated rollouts in mostof the 11-on-11 scrim-mages in practice to makethe defense decide if itwants to allow Myles totake off or if it wants tocover a group of skilledreceivers in a zone pack-age.

“We have to keep Gabehealthy, but I just don’tthink we can sit aroundand ponder on it and worryabout him running it,”


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STARKVILLE YELLOW JACKETSMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 5A, Region 2; 2011 Record 12-3

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 NOXUBEE

COUNTYAug. 24 Madison

CentralAug. 31 TupeloSept. 7 WEST POINTSept. 14 OpenSept. 21 LanierSept. 28 ProvineOct. 5 RIDGELANDOct. 12 CantonOct. 19 YAZOO CITYOct. 26 CallawayNov. 2 NESHOBA

CENTRAL

HOME GAMES IN CAPS


CallawayCantonLanier

Neshoba CentralProvine

RidgelandStarkvilleYazoo City

NOTE: Top four qualify forplayoffs. Starkville was therunner-up in Class 5A lastseason.

2011 ResultsAug. 19 L, 33-21

At Noxubee Co.Aug. 26 W, 16-14

MADISON CENTRAL

Sept. 2 W, 10-7 TUPELO

Sept. 9 L, 33-12 At West Point

Sept. 23 W, 53-13 LANIER

Sept. 30 W, 38-7 PROVINE

Oct. 7 W, 26-23 At Ridgeland

Oct. 14 W, 45-8 CANTON

Oct. 21 W, 35-0 At Yazoo City

Oct. 28 W, 35-21 CALLAWAY

Nov. 4 W, 35-14 At Neshoba Central

Nov. 11 W, 42-28 HERNANDO

Nov. 18 W, 20-14 WEST POINT

Nov. 25 W, 28-7 At Ridgeland

Dec. 3 L, 38-21 vs. Picayune

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE YELLOW JACKETS

Gabe Myles, Sr.Caleb Wilson, Soph.

Myles had 2,934 total yards last sea-son. The Mississippi State University ver-bal commitment will be responsible forfiguring out which highly talented athleteto give the football to. Wilson, the son ofMSU defensive coordinator Chris Wilson,is a 6-foot-3 athlete who could be the QBof the future.“Gabe’s total understanding of the offenseis way better than even it was in the springand he understands coverages in the wayyou’d love to see in a leader,” Starkvillecoach Jamie Mitchell said. “His input willbe involved tremendously this year.”

Preston Baker, Sr,Ladorrius Pittman, Jr.Shyquell Spruell, Sr.

Shytraille Spruell, Soph.Jaquez Horsley, Soph.

Rodrigquez Norman, Soph.

Baker and Pittman combined for 811yards and have the inside-and-outsidecombination that can put defenses ontheir heels. A key will be Pittman’s abilityto stay healthy. The coaches are excitedabout Horsley.“We feel like we have a group of guys we arenot afraid to hand the football to,” Mitchellsaid. “We knew (Baker and Pittman) wouldbe great players for us. Horsley had a tremen-dous ninth-grade season, and is somebodythat will be a great player.”

Stanley Higgins, Sr.Princeton Jones, Sr.Jimmy Saulsberry, Sr.

Darius Grayer, Jr.Kentrell Spencer, Sr.

Nigil Randle, Sr.The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Higgins, who

had 544 total yards last season, hascaught the eye of many Division I coach-es. Saulsberry will return from a kneeinjury after the first month of the season.

QUARTERBACK

RECEIVERS

BY MATTHEW [email protected]

STARKVILLE — Dec.3, 2011 will go down as amiserable night in the his-tory of Starkville HighSchool football.

Starkville lost a second-half lead en route to a 38-21loss to Picayune in theMississippi High SchoolActivities Class 5A statechampionship game atMemorial Stadium inJackson. The title appear-ance was Starkville’s firstin a decade. Everybodywearing yellow and blackcolors was clearly in a lowmood and understandablynot looking forward to thetwo-hour bus ride backhome.

The night got worsewhen the team’s bus suf-fered a mechanical mal-function and broke downin the stadium parking lotafter moving only a fewfeet from its parking spot.The players and coacheshad to wait until nearly 2a.m. for a replacement partto be installed on the busbefore they could evenstart back to Starkville.

Coach Jamie Mitchell,who had crying daughterson both arms in the finalseconds of the loss, isdetermined to have a moreenjoyable experience inthe state capitol city at theend of this season.

“There’s a lot of thingswe’d like to accomplishhere at Starkville, andthere’s just no doubt aboutthat, but everybody knowsthat’s the ultimate prize,”Mitchell said of winning astate title. “What we’ve gotto do is be careful to notmake that the only prioritybut always have it the toppriority.”

The new era ofStarkville High football

Mitchell, Myles focused on return trip to Jackson

Luisa Porter/Dispatch StaffStarkville High School football coach Jamie Mitchell, right, watches as senior quarterback Gabe Myles drops back for a pass in an early season practice. Myles,who has given a verbal commitment to play football at Mississippi State University,is focused on leading the Yellow Jackets back to the Class 5A title game.

RUNNING BACKS

See STARKVILLE, 24


continued in the summerwhen the program movedinto a new field house nearthe south end zone of thefootball field. The talent inMitchell’s third seasonmatches the facilityupgrades.

“We think we’re gettingthere as a program whereyou circle Starkville onyour schedule every year

when you know you’ll geta test on a Friday night,”Mitchell said.

The Yellow Jacketshave at least four seniorsDivision I colleges are tar-geting this year. The mostwell-known prospect isquarterback Gabe Myles,who recently gave a verbalcommitment toMississippi State

University. He emergedlast year as a player whocould be a physical andverbal leader and some-one who could manageMitchell’s offense.

After ending 2011 just84 passing yards fromachieving 2,000 passingyards and 1,000 rushingyards, Myles expects hissecond season as the

year. We don’t want peopleto think of last year as afluke.

“When people talkabout the best academyteams in the state ofMississippi, we want to beright up there withJackson Academy andJackson Prep. This is a bigyear for us as we continueto restore the football her-itage at this school.”

A longtime junior col-

lege coach in the state,Terrill found his creatingan attitude and building abelief in what he and hisstaff were trying to accom-plish were his biggesttasks. After going 10-3 lastseason, the roles havebeen reversed.

“The kids are excitedbecause they know wehave a chance to reallymake a statement thisyear,” Terrill said. “We

want people to know thatthe tradition is returningand we were not simply aone-year flash. The kidsknow that nothing carriesover from last year. Wewill be facing opponentswith more experience thisseason.

“We are going to be ayoung football team. It willbe up to our players torespond to the challengeof keeping this thinggoing.”

Senior quarterbackDrew Pellum return. Inthe backfield, Mike Miller,Drew Harrell, Slaughter,and Colby Runnels willpick up the slack from thedeparture of Ryan Mann,a 1,000-yard rusher lastseason.

“We won’t be the hard,

bruising, run-you-overteam we were last sea-son,” Slaughter said. “Insome ways though, we willbe a better football team.We have some guys whowill have to step in andreplace Ryan, who was abig asset for us.

“I think the biggestthing is technique.Sometimes, the littlethings determine whetheryou win or lose a footballgame. That is what wehave been working hard atduring fall practice, work-ing on the little things. Wehave gotten the big thingsdown, but the little thingscan be just as important.”

Bolin agrees it will becrucial for the team to play


STARKVILLE —“Accept the challenge.”

Starkville Academy foot-ball coachJeff Terrillhas encour-aged hisVolunteersto relishtheir trans-f o r m a t i o nfrom hunter

to hunted. After a winless2009 season, StarkvileAcademy moved to threewins in 2010 and won 10games and played in thestate championship gamelast season.

“Last year, we were thehomecoming game forfour or five opponents, andwe took that as a slap in theface,” Starkville Academysenior wide receiver/cor-nerback Hunter Bolin said.“We really won't be sneak-ing up on anybody any-more. A lot of teams usedto think losing to us was anembarrassment. It is ourjob to make sure we arepast that point.”

Terrill delivered a brief,yet powerful, message tohis juniors shortly afterlast season’s 20-0 loss toGreenville WashingtonSchool in the MississippiAssociation ofIndependent Schools ClassAAA, Division II statechampionship game. It wasthe Volunteers’ firstappearance in the titlegame since they won the2005 championship.

“Our slogan is to acceptthe challenge,” StarkvilleAcademy senior runningback/safety ZachSlaughter said. “Thatmind-set was establishedduring offseason workoutsas soon as last year ended.We are not going to be thatteam that had one good

Drew Pellum (Sr.)

Pellum returns after

starting last season. Fully

healed from a season-

ending shoulder injury,

Pellum missed the final

two games last season,

including the state

championship.

“You feel good to have a

returning star ter at

quarterback," Starkville

Academy coach Jeff

Terrill said. "We are

looking hard for a No. 2.

Depth at that position

was our death sentence

last year. One of the

biggest tasks of fall camp

is finding a backup for

Drew.”

Mike Miller (Jr.)Drew Harrell (Soph.)Colby Runnels (Sr.)Zach Slaughter (Sr.)The task here is to

replace 1,000-yard rusherRyan Mann. Harrell was akey back on a highly tout-ed junior high team lastseason. Runnels will beasked to shoulder the full-back load. He was a short-yardage back last season.“We have several talentedplayers in our backfield,"Terrill said. "Colby andZach do a great job ofleading by example. Wewill be working someyounger players in thebackfield, too. I feel confi-dent in the players we willhave running the ball.”


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STARKVILLE ACADEMY VOLUNTEERSMississippi Association of Independent Schools: Class AAA, District 2; 2011 Record 10-3

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 St. AndrewsAug. 24 HERITAGEAug. 31 Magnolia

HeightsSept. 7 LEAKESept. 14 HILLCRESTSept. 21 J PREPSept. 28 CopiahOct. 5 ParklaneOct. 12 WINSTONOct. 19 ERAOct. 26 PCS

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

“When people talk about the best academyteams in the state of Mississippi, we want tobe right up there with Jackson Academy andJackson Prep.”

Starkville Academy senior Zach Slaughter

Terrill


See VOLUNTEERS, 24

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE VOLSQUARTERBACK RUNNING BACKS


Jeff Terrill (13-11 in third season)


Brad Butler (defensive coor-dinator), Chase Nicholson(offensive coordinator), Marcus Ballard(DL), Matt Crosetti(WRs/special teams), ChadPeterson, Neal Henry, andPreston Bates (junior high)


ST. ANDREW’SAug. 26 W, 33-7

At HeritageAcademy

Sept. 2 W, 22-0 MAGNOLIA HEIGHTS

Sept. 9 W, 42-14 At Leake Aca.

Sept. 16 W, 42-8 At Hillcrest

Sept. 23 L, 23-0 At Jackson Prep

Sept. 30 W, 34-26 COPIAH ACA.

Oct. 7 W, 7-5 PARKLANE

Oct. 14 W, 55-12 At Winston Aca.

Oct. 21 W, 18-7 EAST RANKIN

Oct. 28 L, 21-3 At Presbyterian Christian

Nov. 4 W, 28-0 WASHINGTON-LEE

Nov. 11 L, 20-0 vs. Washington

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

MAISCLASS AAA, DISTRICT 2

Copiah AcademyEast Rankin Academy

Hillcrest ChristianStarkville Academy

Jackson PrepParkland Academy

Presbyterian ChristianNOTE: Jackson Prep, ParklaneAcademy, and PresbyterianChristian are Division I. All regu-lar-season games count towarddetermining the teams that willadvance to the Division I andDivision II playoffs.

Terrill, Vols ready to ‘accept the challenge’

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffStarkville Academy quarterback Drew Pellum will try to lead the Volunteers back to the MississippiAssociation of Independent Schools Class AAA Division II state title game.


13927 Old Hwy. 82 East Starkville, MS 39759

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EAST OKTIBBEHA TITANSMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 1A, Region 3; 2011 Record 5-6

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 Leake CountyAug. 24 McAdamsAug. 31 North

PontotocSept. 7 SebastopolSept. 14 ETHELSept. 21 West LowndesSept. 28 OpenOct. 2 NOXAPATEROct. 12 PelahatchieOct. 19 WEST

OKTIBBEHAOct. 26 Nanih WaiyaNov. 2 WEIR

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TITANS

Justin Williams (Jr.), Curtis Randle Jr. (Soph.)

“We’re going to have a lotof depth,” East OktibbehaCounty High School coachRandy Brooks said. “Oneof the more talented I’vehad.”

Justin Covington (Soph.),Bryton Conley (Jr.)

“We’ve got a great deal ofspeed. This group willimpress,” Brooks said.

Juwan Roberts (Sr.),Bryton Conley (Jr.),Ladavion Cannon (Eighth Grade),

James Brownlee (Fr.)“These guys are prettyfast, in the 4.4-4.5 range,”Brooks said.

Clayton Carr (Jr.), Robert McCarter (Fr.),

Zack Williams (Jr.), Zack McCarter (Soph.),

Laderrick Riley (Sr.)“Will be one of ourstrengths. Just one senior,but we’ll have plenty ofsize.”

Steve Bell (Sr.), Eddie Young (Sr.), Clayton Carr (Jr.)

“Just like our offensiveline, we’ll be strong. We’llaverage 320 pounds.”

Lenathan Brown (Sr.),Justin Williams (Jr.)

“We’ll have two of thebiggest linebackers in allof 1A.”

Juwan Roberts (Sr.),Bryton Conley (Jr.), John Outlaw (Jr.),

Curtis Randle Jr. (Soph.)“They’re quick. They’ll beable to get to the ball inrun support and are goodcover guys.”

Justin Williams (Jr.), Curtis Randle Jr. (Soph.)

“With Justin Williams, weexpect most of his kick-

offs to be touchbacks.Curtis Randle will give usour first placekicker.”


Randy Brooks


Coach Wolf (first year)

QUARTERBACK

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS


LEAKE CO.Aug. 26 W, 54-0

McADAMSSept. 2 L, 55-0

N. PONTOTOCSept. 9 W, 20-9

SEBASTOPOLSept. 16 W, 46-12

At EthelSept. 23 W, 6-0

W. LOWNDESOct. 7 L, 41-18

At NoxapaterOct. 14 L, 41-28

PELAHATCHIEOct. 21 L, 40-14

At W. OktibbehaOct. 28 L, 47-6

NANIH WAIYANov. 4 L, 32-6

At Weir

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

“This year’s grouphas my kind of mind-set and workethic.”

East Oktibbeha CountyHigh School footballcoach Randy Brooks


East OktibbehaEthel

Nanih WaiyaNoxpater




BY DAVID MILLERSpecial to The Dispatch

CRAWFORD —Changing the culture canbe an overlooked elementin building a football pro-gram, especially when acoach enters his third year.

If one were to ask EastOktibbeha County HighSchool coach RandyBrooks, he’d tell you it’sstill a work in process.

The East OktibbehaHigh School football teamwas flying high last seasonafter a 5-1 start. Then, afive-game losing streak inwhich the Titans gave upan average of 40 points agame made everyone for-get about the feverish start.

Sure, East Oktibbeharan into some tough oppo-nents — rivals WestOktibbeha and four play-off teams — but the coreof returning players pointto a loss of confidence as agreat factor for the 2011team’s demise.

Last season, the Titanshad 13 seniors, includingtall, speedy skill playersArthur Gillespie, KodiPetty, and Terrance Rice.It wasn’t enough, though.

“It all went downhill(during the losingstreak),” junior quarter-back Justin Williams said.“We hated the feeling. Itwas like there was nothingwe could do about it.”

Williams and Brooksbelieve the collapse couldhave been avoided if theteam had stronger charac-ter and commitment.Without a strong seniorclass in 2012, Brooks willlean on Williams, a first-year starter at quarter-back, and sophomore run-ning back DestinCovington, who didn’tplay football in 2011.

“I was in the stands alot,” Covington said. “Icame out because Ithought I could make adifference.”

Covington (5-foot-4,155 pounds) and Williams

(6-2, 222 pounds) willcarry the load in a run-heavy offense, there’s aconsiderable gap in expe-rience. Without experi-ence, confidence and com-mitment can be hard tobuild, but Covington does-n’t see the team’s youth asa hurdle.

“Just come to practice,work hard and try to get big-ger, stronger and faster inthe weight room,” he said.“It’s simple. Do all of thatand you’ll do it on the field.”

Despite losses at skillpositions and a dearth ofupperclassmen, Brooksbelieves the tide is chang-ing in players’ attitudes. Ithas showed in the summerweightlifting attendancenumbers. Last year, fourplayers showed up on a reg-ular basis. This summer,Brooks had 17 regulars.

“The last few years, wehad a lot of guys who werefrom the old regime,” said

Brooks, cracking a smile ashis response was drownedout by exuberant players inthe nearby weight room.“They had a mind-set …the guys this year’s grouphas my kind of mind-setand work ethic.”

Brooks’ players areworking harder and buy-ing into his brand of disci-pline and structure, but headmits his influence does-n’t carry as much weightas Covington’s andWilliams’. Brooks hasmolded Williams into a do-it-all athlete; Williams fea-tured at defensive tacklelast season. He’ll see timeat fullback in wishbonelooks and also will playlinebacker this year.Williams, a mild-man-nered, soft-spoken “hoss,”has been tutored byBrooks for the past twoseasons. Williams is moreaccustomed to Brooks’system, and more is

demanded from him thanany other player.

“I believe he’s a greatcoach,” Williams said ofBrooks. “He is kind ofdemanding, but that’s agood thing about him. Youput in the work and it paysoff. If you work, he’ll haveconfidence in you. I gotsome work at quarterbacklast year, but he’s got confi-dence in me to do it this year… that means a lot to me.”

Brooks is steadfast inchanging the culture of theprogram and earning play-ers’ confidence. That’s whyhe’ll require any playerwho joins the team on thefirst day of school to under-go a trial period. Brooksanticipates keeping just 35of the projected 50 playershe’ll have on the first day,partly because of a smallcoaching staff.

“I’ll give them oneweek,” Brooks said, “andif they give me a week of

hard work, I’ll considerkeeping them on theteam.”

Ultimately, success thisseason will hinge greatlyon talent. Despite inexpe-rience, players and coach-es insist this year’s teamhas more talent than lastyear’s team.

“I think we haveenough to finish withseven, eight wins,”Covington said. “We’ll berunning right at peoplethis year.”

Brooks backs up histailback’s feelings.

“Just because youhaven’t heard of themdoesn’t mean they aregood players,” Brookssaid. “We’ve got somespeed in the backfield, andDestin, though he’s only5-foot-4, is a powerful play-er. We’ve got a lot of guysjust like him. We’re goingto surprise some peoplethis year.”

Brooks hopes better attitude triggers reversal

David Miller/Special to The Dispatch Sophomore Destin Covington, left, and junior Justin Williams hope to help the East Oktibbeha County HighSchool football team regain the momentum it had last season when it started 5-1. Unfortunately, the Titanslost the final five games and missed the playoffs.

QUOTABLE

Dispatch File PhotoEast Oktibbeha County High School’s Juwan Roberts.

StrengthContinued from Page 10

“It also representsunity,” Bolton said. “Ithas brought us togetheras a team. “We’re VictoryChristian Academy.We’re going to play likethat this year. You’regoing to see a tremen-dous difference in us thisyear.”

The dog tags appear tohave worked because theseniors don’t hesitate totalk about their desire towin a championship intheir final season. A titlewould be VictoryChristian’s first since2009. To accomplish thatgoal, said the Eagles willrely on their will and con-ditioning to outworkteams that might over-look them.

“It means strength tome,” Spencer said of thedog tags. “It is a fourth-quarter thing, wheneveryone is tired we have

the strength to do whatwe need to get done.”

Said Elliott, “When weget down in the fourthquarter I think we’regoing to remember thedog tags and all of thetraining we had and Ithink we’re just going tocome together and pushthrough and make it tothe top.”

Hamm credits T.J.Meadows, HeathSimpson, and JerryMcCrary for handling theof fseason conditioningand the work in theweight room and condi-tioning. He said the timehas prepared the team forwhat he hopes will be asuccessful season.

Bolton agrees. Eventhough he only has a fewgames of experience as aquarterback, Bolton isconfident the Eagles willbe able to stir memories

of recent VictoryChristian teams thatmade a habit of winningchampionships.

“We’re very young thisyear,” Bolton said.“Usually Victory is a pow-erhouse. Nobody reallywants to play us becausewe had tremendous ath-letes, like Landon (Ellis)and Ben Williams and allof the other players whohave graduated. Thisyear, I believe people arelooking at us more likeunderdogs and thinkingthey’re going to handleus. But they can thinkwhat they want. We’regoing to stick togetherthis year, and leadershipis going to take us a longway. We’re going to playhard. We’re going to givethem a challenge. I reallybelieve we have a goodshot at winning the wholething.”

“Tiberias had 138 totaltackles last year,” Lowreysaid.

Von Smith (Sr.) Lavontae Tate (Sr.)

“Both guys are versatileand great cover corners,”Lowrey said.

n West Oktibbeha will haveto replace wide receiverDwight Quinn, a two-timefirst-team All-state per-former, and Drake Powell(WR/DB), Sharrod Staford(DL), Alex Chambers (OL),and Shun Fair (RB/LB). TheTimberwolves will try topick up the slack left bythose players led by return-ing starters, including VonSmith, a two-time first-teamAll-State performer,Tiberias Lampkin (RB/LB),Donovan Henderson(DE/OL), Johnny Chambers(OL/DL), Jonathan Love(RB/LB), Micheal Graise(DE/OL), and KelseyJefferson (Slot/LB).

n Timberwolves haveimproved their win totaleach year since Lowreytook over in 2008.

n Smith finished second inClass 1A with 2,536 passing yards in 2011.

n Number of seniors whohave played on the varsityteam since the eighth grade.That also is the number ofseniors who have startedevery game since theirninth-grade season.

more than eight sacks inthree years,” Lowrey said.

Kelsey Jefferson (Sr.) Jerell Daniels (Fr.)

“Jerrell has been veryimpressive this summer

and promises to be verygood as a freshman,”Lowrey said.

Johnny Chambers (Sr.)Donovan Henderson (Sr.)

“Donovan will anchor one

side of the defensive lineand is an exceptional passrusher as a stand-up defen-sive end,” Lowrey said.

Tiberias Lampkin (Sr.)Jonathan Love (Sr.)


WEST OKTIBBEHA TIMBERWOLVESMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 1A, Region 3; 2011 Record 7-5

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 SV MARSHALLAug. 24 Montgomery

CountyAug. 31 OpenSept. 6 EuporaSept. 14 NANIH WAIYASept. 21 WeirSept. 28 SEBASTOPOLOct. 5 EthelOct. 12 WEST

LOWNDESOct. 19 East

OktibbehaOct. 26 NOXAPATERNov. 2 Pelahatchie

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

“We’re doing something a lot ofteams don’t do, ordon’t have the talent todo.”

West Oktibbeha CountyHigh School QB

Von Smith

5

Smith, Lampkin will try to powerreturn run to playoffs

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TIMBERWOLVES

Von Smith (Sr.) Rontavious Clark (Fr.)

“Von had exactly 6,900total yards passing overthe last three years,” WestPktibbeha County HighSchool coach Adam Lowreysaid. “I would guess thathis career numbers are bet-ter than anyone in thestate this year, and proba-bly for the last 10 years.”

Tiberias Lampkin (Sr.)Jonathan Love (Sr.)

Lowrey said Love is afast back who should helpkeep defenses off Lampkin.“Tiberias has great hands,is a dedicated and hardworker,” Lowrey said.“Jonathan is a great com-plement to him.”

Johnny Chambers (Sr.)Donovan Henderson (Sr.)

“Donovan is a true ironman that hasn’t given up

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERSOFFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

FAST FACTS


Adam Lowreyn ASSISTANT

COACHES:Kelvin Cistrunk (defensivecoordinator /offensiveline), Jonathan Hunter(wide receivers / defensivebacks)

2011 ResultsAug. 19 W, 44-36

At Univ. Chr.Aug. 26 W, 50-30

MNTGMRY COUNTY

Sept. 8 L, 36-16 EUPORA

Sept. 16 L, 50-14 At Nanih Waiya

Sept. 23 W, 38-8 WEIRSept. 30 W, 48-22

At SebastopolOct. 7 W, 42-18

ETHELOct. 14 W, 36-30

At W. LowndesOct. 21 W, 40-14

E. OKTIBBEHAOct. 28 L, 41-6

At NoxapaterNov. 4 L, 42-40

PELAHATCHIENov. 11 L, 43-8

At Cathedral

HOME GAMES IN CAPS


East OktibbehaEthel

Nanih WaiyaNoxpater




BY DAVID MILLERSpecial to The Dispatch

MABEN — For the pasttwo seasons, every oppo-nent has known what’scoming. Each game,they’ve struggled to stop it:The Fast Break.

The West OktibbehaCounty High School foot-ball team’s high-tempopassing attack was installedmidseason a few years ago.It caught fire immediately,and two of its igniters areprimed to take the offenseto the next level in 2012.

Senior quarterback VonSmith and senior runningback Tiberias Lampkinhelped the Timberwolvesaverage 38 points a gamelast season and led theteam to its third playoffappearance in school histo-ry. Smith cracked 2,500passing yards — good forsecond in Class 1A — whileLampkin posted 1,000 totalyards of offense.

Lampkin and Smith, likethe majority of their team-mates each year, play bothways. Each year, there’s agreat emphasis on improv-ing defensive play.

“(Defense) wins cham-pionships,” WestOktibbeha fifth-year coachAdam Lowrey said.

Still, the Timberwolvesare unlikely to field enoughplayers to spell the prime-time players of the FastBreak who play both ways,so if the defense doesn’timprove like Lowreyhopes, the Timberwolves'hopes of making a playoffrun may be in increasingtheir scoring average.

“We've got to gettougher on defense,” saidSmith, “but it helps whenwe keep the pace up onoffense. We've got to getother defense's tired andjust keep going at them.”

After three seasons ofbeing one of Class 1A’smost potent attacks — andexpecting teams to devisenew ways to stop it — onewould expect theTimberwolves’ offense tobecome more intricate andcomplex. Lowrey has donethe opposite.

“We have actually takenstuff out,” Lowrey said.“Three years ago, we had10 pass plays; now we havefive. We want to be excellentat a few things. Wrinkleswe've added are one or twopackages with a play or two.I've had other coacheslaugh with me and say, 'Ally'all did was run four passplays' ... and we did.”

Lowrey said theTimberwolves won’t devi-ate much from their usual

plan, opting to keep theplaybook simple with a fewspecial packages installedeach week. Lowrey saidthe next step is balancingthe offense, and it beginswith Smith.

“I think Von is gonna bea much stronger runnerthis year,” Lowrey said.“People were dropping somany on us before thatthey made us have to bemore balanced. He'll run alot more this year.”

Smith, who also will startat cornerback, said he’sready for an increased load.In addition to having a goalof passing for 3,500 yardsand “however many touch-downs it takes” to win eachgame, he’s ready to showhe can do it all. One of hismotivations is attracting the

attention of college coach-es. Smith hasn’t received anoffer, but he has receivedletters from MississippiState University, TennesseeTech University, and EastMississippi CommunityCollege.

“We're doing somethinga lot of teams don't do ordon't have the talent to do,”Smith said. “We just thankGod for giving us the talentand giving us a great coachto develop this scheme. It'sour bread and butter. It'slike we do it for a living.

“At the same time, get-ting a college scholarship isimportant to me. I don’twant to take my eyes andfocus off helping this teamwin, but it also helps that I’llget to everything for us.”

With extra focus on the

running game, Lampkinwill split the extra carrieswith Smith. Last season,Lampkin had 203 attemptsfrom scrimmage and 17touchdowns.

And like Smith,Lampkin, a dynamic andpowerfully built athlete,has his eyes on the nextlevel.

“It feels good, at runningback, to be able to get thoseextra touches,” Lampkinsaid. “In 1A, you can't find alot of corners and safetieswho can stop the pass, soit's great for us to be able tobalance our offense.

“I do feel a little bit ofpressure, but there are a lotof other people on thisteam who play a big part.We are going to make itwork.”

QUARTERBACK

FAST

BREAK

David Miller/Special to The Dispatch West Oktibbeha County High School seniors, Von Smith, left, and Tiberias Lampkins will be the primary playmakers this season for the Timberwolves.

Dispatch File PhotoThe West Oktibbeha County High School defense had one of its best games of theseason against Ethel last year. The Timberwolves will need more performanceslike that this season if they want to get back to the playoffs.

OFFENSIVE LINE

BY THE NUMBERS

QUOTABLE


WEST POINT —Physical.

One look at MarioVirges and you can tell hefeels at home in a weightroom.

In four years, the WestPoint High School line-backer has matured frombeing known as CurtisVirges’ little brother to a“weight-room warrior.” Hehas earned that nicknamefor his prowess in and hislove for the weight room.

This season, Virges hasbulked up and added defi-nition to the 215-poundframe he used in 2011 toplay fullback and line-backer. While it’s unclearif Virges will play as muchof a dual role as he did lastyear, there’s no doubtVirges will be one memberof a large senior class whois focused on returningthe Green Wave to theirchampionship glory.

“Anybody who hasplayed for us knows thatthey’re going to play wher-ever we need them,regardless of what they’regoing to do in college,”West Point High School

football coach ChrisChambless said. “We’reabout West Point footballright now. He has beenreal receptive to do what-ever we have asked him todo. He has lined up at tail-back last year. I know injunior high he playedsome defensive line. Heplayed some defensive endfor us in the spring.”

Coming off MississippiHigh School ActivitiesAssociation Class 5A statetitles in 2009 and 2010,West Point finished 8-5and lost to eventual staterunner-up Starkville in theNorth State playoffs.Virges and the rest of theGreen Wave are focusedon rectifying that abnor-mality.

Virges used the loss toStarkville High as reasonto get back into the weightroom and sculpt his upperbody. The loss wasn’t theonly thing that motivatedVirges. He is used to hear-ing questions about hisbrother and how alike theyare, and said he works sohard in the weight room sohe can carve out an identi-ty that is separate from hisbrother, a redshirt sopho-

more defensive lineman atMississippi StateUniversity.

“I work out a lot,”Virges said. “My determi-nation is to get where he isand beyond that. My goalis to be the best.”

Virges said he hasnever told his brother heuses his accomplishmentsto motivate him. Whetherit is in the West Point Highfield house or at home,Virges said he is workingout to make a statement.

“It is determination towin a state championship,”Virges said. “I havechanged a lot since theninth grade. In the ninthgrade, I broke my (right)shoulder, but that didn’tstop me from doing what Ido. I ran a lot.”

This season, Virgesexpects to patrol middlelinebacker as the generalof the defense. He alsosaid he could see time asfullback on offense. Eachseries will be a chance toerase the memory of see-

ing West Point High sen-iors crying after a season-ending loss to Starkville.

Virges used that loss asmotivation in the weightroom. Judging from hisappearance,

“This team has a lot ofpotential,” Virges said.“Rome wasn’t built in aday, so we have to build it,build it, build it.”

Chambless is confidentVirges and the rest of theseniors will respond tothat call. While he said theseniors will look to leadthe team as a group,Chambless believesVirges will be at the frontof the pack leading thecharge.

“He has worked hard,and we have pushed himand he has helped pushothers,” Chambless said.“That is one thing aboutbeing a good leader, youhave to set a good examplein the weight room.Everything is the right way.You don’t skip sets. He hasdone a good job of that.”

Tez Lane (Sr.), Josh Ewing (Soph.), Jason Burnett (Jr.),

Dason Thomas (Soph.)West Point High School

coach Chris Chambless willlook to replace DeQuintenSpraggins, last season’sstarter, with a talented butinexperienced leader.“It is a pretty good competi-tion,” Chambless said. “Themost experienced guy wehave on the field is TezLane. But just being on thefield is not much experienceat quarterback. They’recatching on pretty good.”

Aeris Williams (Jr.), Roger Thomas (Jr.),

Quincy Starks (Soph.)Williams saw varsity

action last season, whileThomas will play fullback.

TJ Minor (Sr.), Cortez Young (Sr.)

West Point typicallyrelies on its running game,but it has experience at theposition as it tries to fill infor the loss of Will Harrell.

Kadarius Forside (Soph., C),Riley Morton (Sr. RT),

Demondtae Donald (Sr., RG),Bradley Ewing (Sr., LT),

Leandrew Hampton (Sr., LG)The deepest area of the

team always has been asource of strength for theGreen Wave. The effort ofthis group will dictate thesuccess of the offense.Offensive line coach CaseyWelch said the Green Wavealso have a bunch of sopho-mores pushing for playingtime.

Ladarrius Gallion (Jr.),Freddie Reed (Sr.),

Ed Brown (Sr.), Tre Bennett (Sr.),

Tyler Logan (Soph.), Antonio Dent (Sr.) , Lyndon Johnson (Sr.)

Chambless will look for aturnaround from this groupthat usually is a strength ofthe team.“We hope to be a lot morefierce than we were lastyear in terms of beingaggressive (on defense),”Chambless said. “They areshowing that in practice.The defensive line is a verybig strong point for us toget pressure on the quarter-back and to help us stopthe run.”

Mario Virges (Sr.), Davion Bradshaw (Jr.),

Tarrence Orr (Jr.), Eddious Webb (Jr.)

Rashad Jones (Jr.), Jonathan Patterson (Sr.),Anthony Johnson (Sr.),Nelson McIntosh (Sr.)

Eric Lemus (Sr.), Tarrence Moore (Jr.)

Lemus will handle thekicking duties.


SOUTHERN IONICS INCORPORATED

www.southernionics.com

Good LuckGood Luck to ourto our LocalLocal

Teams!Teams!

Hebron ChristianHebron Christian

Oak Hill AcademyOak Hill Academy

West PointWest Point

201 Commerce Street | West Point, MS | 662.494.3055201 Commerce Street | West Point, MS | 662.494.3055

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WEST POINT GREEN WAVEMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 5A, Region 1; 2011 Record 8-5

2012 ScheduleAug. 18 South PanolaAug. 24 OpenAug. 31 ColumbusSept. 7 StarkvilleSept. 14 NOXUBEESept. 21 LAKE

CORMORANTSept. 28 HernandoOct. 5 CLARKSDALEOct. 12 SaltilloOct. 19 CENTER HILLOct. 26 OXFORDNov. 2 New Hope

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSERLOOK AT THEGREEN WAVE

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS

COACHING STAFFn HEAD COACH:Chris Chambless


Lee Jay Grisham (offensivecoordinator), KendallPickens (defensive coordi-nator), Casey Welch (offen-sive line), Josh Pulphus(running backs), BrettMorgan (wide receivers),Floizell Wilson (defensivebacks), Rickey Melton(linebackers), Matt Snow(defensive line)

2011 ResultsAug. 20 L, 37-17

S. PANOLASept. 2 L, 35-27 OT

At ColumbusSept. 9 W, 33-12

STARKVILLESept. 16 L, 22-17

At Noxubee Co.Sept. 23 W, 42-14

At Lake Cormorant

Sept. 30 W, 33-22 HERNANDO

Oct. 7 W, 37-19 At Clarksdale

Oct. 14 W, 47-7 SALTILLO

Oct. 21 L, 30-29 At Center Hill

Oct. 28 W, 31-21 At Oxford

Nov. 4 W, 56-20 NEW HOPE

Nov. 11 W, 43-14 At Neshoba Central

Nov. 18 L, 20-14 At Starkville

HOME GAMES IN CAPS




OxfordSaltillo

West Point

NOTE: Top four qualify forplayoffs. Starkville was therunner-up in Class 5A lastseason.

Virges, Green Wave use loss as motivation

TOP: West Point HighSchool senior MarioVirges will be countedon to be a drivingforce in the GreenWave’s defense thisseason.RIGHT: Coach ChrisChambless talks totwo of his players during an early season practice.BOTTOM: MarioVirges (20) and therest of the GreenWave want to reclaimthe state title thatthe program last wonin 2010.

Sam Gause/Dispatch Staff;Dispatch File Photo

QUARTERBACK

LINEBACKERS

Brian McClellan (Jr., LT)It will start up front

with a group that mixesexperience and strength.“They looked pretty goodin the (Red and White)scrimmage,” Merchantsaid. “That is going to beour question mark. If theycan block for these runningbacks, we’re going to havea pretty good year.”

Jacob Dickens (Sr.), Curt Huffman (Jr.)

Blake Henly (Soph.),Dakota O’Bryant (Soph.)

Merchant expects thisgroup to do its share in therunning game and to be onalert to make a big play inthe passing game.“They have to block in thisoffense for us to be suc-cessful,” Merchant said.“Jacob is the leadingreceiver. They all can catchthe ball pretty well.”

Matthew Gwathney(Soph.),

Palmer White (Sr.), Joseph Caskey (Jr.), Cooper Orman (Sr.)

Merchant will rely on anexperienced group to setthe tone on defense.“We have to be physical upfront, and they have done apretty good job of that,”Merchant said.

Drake Riley (Soph.), Drew Riley (Fr.),

Jeb Stevens (Sr.,), Dakota O’Bryant (Soph.)

This group makes up forwhat it lacks in experiencewith speed and athleti-cism.“You probably will see ourlinebackers be our strength,especially at outside line-

backer,” Merchant said.“They are really fast on theedge and pretty good tack-lers up the middle.”

John Willis Stevens(Soph.),

Samuel Harrell (Soph.),Blake Henly (Soph.), Curt Huffman (Jr.), Jacob Dickens (Sr.)

Merchant likes what hehas seen from the group inits ability to come up andprovide run support. Hefeels the entire defenseneeds to improve on itspass coverage.“We’re going to have torely on our defense in thefirst part of the seasonuntil our offense gets click-ing on all cylinders,”Merchant said.


Samuel Harrell (Soph.),Bradley Allen (Jr.), John Willis Stevens

(Soph.), Paxton Trull (Jr.)

Merchant feels Trull willbe a good weapon atpunter, while Willis Stevenswill be the kicker. Allenwill be the long snapper.


OAK HILL ACADEMY RAIDERSMississippi Association of Independent Schools: Class AA, District 2; 2011 Record 0-10

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 Newton

CountyAug. 24 WINSTONAug. 31 INDIANOLASept. 7 ManchesterSept. 14 WINONA

CHRISTIANSept. 21 CANTONSept. 28 LeakeOct. 5 HeritageOct. 12 OpenOct. 19 KIRKOct. 26 Immanuel

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

2011 ResultsAug. 19 L, 18-7

NEWTON CO.Aug. 26 L, 41-6

At Winston Aca.Sept. 2 L, 39-14

At Indianola Aca.Sept. 9 L, 37-0

MANCHESTER ACADEMY

Sept. 16 L, 40-0 At Winona

Sept. 23 L, 40-0 At Canton Aca.

Sept. 30 L, 35-6 LEAKE ACADEMY

Oct. 7 L, 49-0 HERITAGE ACADEMY

Oct. 21 L, 21-6 At Kirk Aca.

Oct. 28 L, 14-12 IMMANUEL CHRISTIAN

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE RAIDERS

Conner Baird (Sr.), Riley Pierce (Soph.),

Dakota O’Bryant (Soph.)Baird returns from an

injury last season to leadan attack that will rely onthe offensive line and run-ning backs. Pierce suffereda broken growth plate inhis hand and will miss fourweeks.“Conner is doing a prettygood job of leading us,”Oak Hill Academy coachDaniel Merchant said. “(Ilike) the way he carrieshimself and (his) poise inthe pocket. He is a goodpasser on the run. He hasa very strong arm and isaccurate with the footballas well.”


Samuel Harrell (Soph.), Jeb Stevens (Sr.)

Merchant doesn’t hidethe fact that the Raiderswill be a “running team,”which means the backswill have plenty ofchances.“Drake is a big powerfulback with goodendurance,” Merchantsaid. “Drew is very strongand he definitely will be ourpower back. Harrell is aspeedster, and Jeb is verypowerful and has gotten alot better and stronger.”

Bradley Allen (Jr., TE),

Matthew Gwathney

(Soph.),

Ben Holcomb (Soph.),

A.J. Isley (Soph., RT),

Palmer White (Sr., RG),

Murray Faulkner

(Soph., C),

Cooper Orman (Sr., LG),

QUARTERBACK

RUNNING BACK

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS

COACHING STAFFn HEAD COACH:Daniel Merchant


Cris Craven (offensive coordinator / receivers/defensive backs), CarlMiddleton (defensive coordinator /offensive-defensive lines), Cody Allen(offensive / defensivelines)

MAISCLASS AA, DISTRICT 2

Canton AcademyImmanuel Christian

Leake AcademyManchester Academy

Oak Hill AcademyWinston Academy


WEST POINT —Football is played withpunctuation.

Whether it’s the crack ofplayer hitting player, thewhoosh of speed or thecrack of strength, or theexplosion of the crowd, noother sport delivers excla-mations that celebrate eachgame like football.

When you’re not havingsuccess, it can be difficultto generate the motivationto play at the highest levels.

Daniel Merchantintends to change that —with an exclamation point.Not only has Merchantbrought a disciplinedapproach to Oak HillAcademy, but he also hasinstilled a new attitude inthe team. Red T-shirtswith the words “WeBelieve!” on the back epit-omize a new mentality.That mantra fueled the off-season weight training andconditioning, and contin-ues to be a source ofstrength through the heatand humidity of preseasonworkouts.

“We have definitelybought into it,” Merchantsaid of “We Believe.” “Wepushed them a lot and toldthem practices were goingto be harder. It is great tosee the team camaraderieand to see them cometogether. I think we’regoing to see some resultson Friday night.”

Daniel Merchantreplaces Benjie Merchant,who spent one season asthe team’s head coachbefore leaving to take a jobas an assistant footballcoach at Raymond HighSchool. He is the school’sfourth head football coachin the past six years. TheRaiders are 7-46 in the pastfive years. The Raiders’ lastwinning season was 2006

when they went 7-4 andadvanced to the playoffs.

Last season, Oak HillAcademy was shut out fourtimes en route to an 0-10finish. For now, though,those memories have beenwashed away in a torrent ofenthusiasm and anticipa-tion. Daniel Merchant feelsthe community is evenmore behind the team thisseason because it sensesthe potential. He sharesthat optimism after seeinghow hard the players haveworked in the offseasonand in the preseason. Hesaid they have respondedto his disciplined approachand look to be in goodshape to start the turn-around.

Merchant spent last sea-son at Nettleton High,where he worked as anassistant baseball coach. Healso worked in the springwith the school’s footballteam as its secondarycoach. Prior to that, he

worked as baseball coachand defensive coordinatoron the football team atImmanuel Christian. Heworked with head coachShawn Gates and assistantcoach Bubba Davis to helplead the Rams to a 6-6record in 2010 and a spot inthe Mississippi Associationof Independent Schoolsplayoffs.

This season, Merchantwill get a chance to face offagainst his old program.He hopes the team’s abilityto erase the memory of a14-12 loss to the Rams lastseason is just another stephe and the Raiders will takeon the road back torespectability.

“He just wants to turnthis program around,” saidsophomore Drake Riley, a6-foot-1, 180-pound tail-back/outside linebacker,who started the last twogames of the 2011 season.“We have been workingreally hard.”

Riley said DanielMerchant is stricter andgets on players when theydo something wrong. Hesaid the demeanor of theirnew coach fits with the per-sonality of this year’s team,and matches the players’hunger to be a part of awinning program. As aresult, everyone has invest-ed in the weight room andhas a new attitude.

Senior lineman CooperOrman said the Raidersworked hard last season,but he also said there was alot of playing around andthat the team didn’t work“near as hard” as it has sofar in the preseason. OnceDaniel Merchant took over,Orman and his teammatesdiscovered they had to fol-low a big list of rules. Hebelieves the Raiders need-ed someone to come inwith that mind-set andchange things.

“We needed to get ourbutt in line,” said. “That is

exactly what we needed.”The same can be said

for the mantra the Raiderswill use to push throughthis season

“He put it on there, butwe believe we’re not going0-10 again and we’re goingto win games,” Orman said.“I have never worked thishard in my high schoolcareer. Coach has pushedus very hard.”

Senior widereceiver/cornerback JacobDickens said he and histeammates hoped a coachwould come in give themsomething they could useas motivation. He admits,though, that no one expect-ed to work as hard as theyhave. Now that they under-stand that level of commit-ment is what it will take toreverse their fortunes,Dickens said “We Believe!”has become the perfect ral-lying cry for a new coachand a new team that hasbig plans.

“He wants to be a win-ner, and that’s what every-body else here wants tobe,” Dickens said. “We’reall glad he’s here.”

Senior quarterbackConner Baird agrees and isanxious to put a new offensethat will be run-heavy intoaction. Merchant, who willcoach the quarterbacks andrunning backs, hopes toincorporate Baird’s athleti-cism and ability to throw onthe run into wing-back/option sets. Bairdlikes what he has seen inpractice and is confident thathard work will carry over tothe regular season and pro-duce results.

“In years past, the firstgame or so, we thought itwas going to be a good sea-son,” Baird said. “After that,we would lose and just giveup. This season, we dobelieve, and I don’t thinkwe’re going to give up. We’rea lot different this year.”

New coach Merchant believes Raiders can change

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffNew Oak Hill Academy football coach Daniel Merchant has instilled a “WeBelieve!” attitude he hopes will help reverse the program’s fortunes.

“I have to work reallyhard and do my best tohelp the team,” Lathamsaid. “I just want to moti-vate the whole team to dobetter than what I amdoing.”

Thomas also under-stands he faces a chal-lenge. From prospect toDandy Dozen selection byThe Clarion-Ledger,Thomas has matured intoa 6-5, 300-pounder wholists Mississippi StateUniversity, the Universityof North Carolina,Vanderbilt University, andStanford University as histop four choices, in no par-ticular order.

“It has gone a lot far-ther than I thought itwould go,” Thomas said ofthe recruiting process. “Ikind of thought I wouldget recruited, but not likeStanford talking to me andpeople on such a widebasis talking to me.”

Thomas suf fered amid foot sprain earlier inthe summer, and he saidlast month he neededtime back on the field toget his confidence back.When that happens,Thomas is expected toplay one of the tacklespots in front of quarter-back Trace Lee.

Thomas credits Zach,who played football atColumbus High, for push-ing him when he was

younger. He said theexample his brother sethelped him grow into theplayer he is today. Thatplayer hopes to use thisseason to carve out anidentity all his own.

“I really looked up tohim at the beginningbecause I didn’t want toZach’s little brother. Iwanted to be JakeThomas,” Thomas said. “Idefinitely feel that load. Ifeel all of us in this roomare carrying that load. It isgoing to be the key towhat we end up doing thisyear.”

Thomas admits being asenior leader will be achallenge because hedoesn’t consider himself avocal leader. Even thoughhe is a lead-by-examplekind of player, Stanfordsaid Thomas has elevated

all facets of his game.“Jake has been a

tremendous player for usthe past two years.Everything is kind ofcoming his way. He madethe Dandy Dozen, andanother recruiting serv-ice was in here the otherday to give him anaward,” Stanford said.“He probably grew up inthe shadow of Zach. Hewanted to prove he was abetter player than Zach,and he has done it. He isa top-notch student, andwhen he steps out hereon the field, he is a top-notch student.”

Looking back, Stanfordadmits Thomas probablyshouldn’t have beenmoved up to the varsitylevel as a freshman. Still,Thomas developed with-out a lot of playing timeearly in his career. He saidthe move from tight end tothe offensive line was thebest thing for Thomas

Like Latham, Vancewill try to avoid the injurybug. During track andfield season in the spring,Vance was bothered by ahamstring injury. He saidhe has gone through grad-ual changes up until thisyear and is prepared totake on a bigger burdenwithout Jones.

“I have to step up to theplate,” Vance said. “In thepast years, I had people in

front of me to guide me onthe way, but now that Idon’t have those people, Ihave to work hard. If yourteammates see you workhard, they’re going towork hard.”

That comment echoesLatham’s feelings andshows the seniors are onthe same page when itcomes to 2012. The tricknow is for all of them toanswer the call when it istheir time to shine. If theydo, good things are boundto happen for the entireteam.

“It is a big step,” Vancesaid. “Deontae was theguy. If you needed him foranything, he was there. Igot to fill those shoes.They were telling me thatlast year. Now that I don’thave him, I can’t be tiredor hurt or complain. Ihave to be there. If coachwants me to do it, I haveto do it.

“It is very exciting.People aren’t expectinganything out of us becausewe lost all our seniors. Butonce we put our shoulderpads and helmets on, wehave to show the peoplewhat we have. We had apretty good season lastyear, finishing 7-4. Wehave to take it up a levelthis year. Coach alwayssays we can’t go mediocre,we have to go all the wayout, all the time.”


PHEBA — These days,nine years is an eternity iscoaching.

But when your kidshave gone to a school andyou enjoy staying involved,there really isn’t any reasonto leave.

So when Tri Nason IIIs t e p p e ddown ashead footballcoach atH e b r o nC h r i s t i a nSchool afterone seasonto take a

position at Center Hill HighSchool, school officialswere fortunate to findsomeone who had beenthere all along through ahandful of coachingchanges.

This year, David Fosterwill take what he haslearned in his nine years asan assistant coach and willlead the Eagles as headcoach in their second yearas an independent.

“The main thing I haveto get used to is controllingthe game,” Foster said. “Ifeel confident about it. I amglad to have the opportuni-ty. I care a lot about thekids. I have had them sincethey were in the fourthgrade, when I startedhere.”

Foster will have 14-16players when HebronChristian plays host toStrider Academy on Aug.17. The game is the first of10 scheduled for theEagles, who moved from11-man to eight-man beforethe start of the 2011-12school year. The moveforced Hebron Christian todrop out of the MississippiAssociation of IndependentSchools Eight-Man divisionto play as an independent.Last year, the football teamstruggled to put together aschedule at such a late dateand finished 4-3.

Foster said a group of fiveseniors, that includes WillCorben Rogers, TaylorCoggins, Jacob Ware, andRyan Moore, will lead theteam. He said the relation-ship he has built with thekids will help everyone as hetransitions to head coach.

“I expect when we goout to play that we play witheffort,” Foster said. “I don’tlike to lose, but if I geteffort from everybody andwe get beat, I am going tobe OK.”

Foster’s son, Hearne,

who played football atHebron Christian, willwork as an assistant coach.Foster said he won’tchange much from whatNason instituted and antici-pates adding some twists tothe mix. Due to the factthat some of his playerswere still involved in othersports during the summer,Foster wasn’t sure in lateJuly what he would imple-ment. He did say, though,that he had a good core ofplayers regularly attendconditioning and weighttraining.

“We’re going to do what-ever we can to put a footballteam on the field,” Fostersaid. “Our numbers at theschool are probably goingto be as good as they werelast year, with some of thembeing elementary kids.”

That being said, Fosteradmits finding offensivelinemen will be a challenge.He said he has pretty good

numbers in the freshmanclass to go with three soph-omores and a junior, so hewill have to mix and matchat key positions.

Moore could play any-where from guard toreceiver. Despite the uncer-tainty about his positions,he is confident the Eaglescan have another winningseason.

“It is similar to last yearwhen we had to pick upgames. It was hard,”Moore said. “We lost some

seniors, but we picked upsome good younger guysto replace them. We’re kindof a small team, but I thinkwe can do it.

“I think we can have apretty good season. We didpretty good last year, eventhough we had to go downto eight, but we know howthat works now.”

Foster agrees andpoints back to the effort asa key. Last season, Fostersaid defense was a strengthin that the Eagles allowed

more than 28 points onlytwice. Both of those gameswere losses. KemperAcademy beat HebronChristian 28-26.

This season, Fosterhopes the defense returnsto form.

“We did a real good jobon defense,” Foster said. “Ifwe can play defense, westress that, (we should beall right). I have a lot ofthose guys returning, so Iam looking for a strongdefense.”


HEBRON CHRISTIAN EAGLESMississippi Association of Independent Schools: Independent; 2011 Record 4-3

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 STRIDERAug. 24 Victory

ChristianAug. 31 CALVARY

CHRISTIANSept. 6 Clinton

ChristianSept. 14 MT. SALUSSept. 21 CENTRALSept. 28 KEMPEROct. 5 Flint Hill

ChristianOct. 12 CalhounOct. 19 HUMPHRIES

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

2011 ResultsAug. 19 L, 34-16

At StriderSept. 2 W, 42-8

At Calvary Christian

Sept. 9 W, 36-16 CLINTON CHRISTIAN

Sept. 23 L, 52-50 At Park Place

Sept. 30 L, 28-26 At Kemper Academy

Oct. 7 W, 52-6 FLINT HILL

Oct. 14 W, 24-6 CALHOUN ACADEMY

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

“I feel confidentabout it. I am glad tohave the opportunity.I care a lot about thekids. I have had themsince they were infourth grade, when Istarted here.”

Hebron Christian coachDavid Foster

Foster

Foster ready to move from assistant to head coach

TOP: Hebron Christianfreshman Brian Euddystays focused as heworks on his biceps inthe school’s weight room,while RIGHT freshmanJessie Moore, standing,spots for freshmanChanning Tapley on thebench press and RyanMoore does biceps curls.First-year coach DavidFoster, who has workedwith the program as anassistant coach for thepast nine years, may nothave a deep roster, buthe says the Eagles aregoing to try to build ontheir 4-3 finish last season.

Luisa Porter/Dispatch Staff

Dispatch’s PrepPlayer of Week

Every Tuesday, TheDispatch will recognize astandout prep performer.

If you would like tonominate a prep player ofthe week, call us at 662-327-1297 or e-mail us [email protected] 5 p.m. Saturday.

Be sure to give us areason why you are nom-inating the player, and besure to give us as manystatistics from the pastweek’s action.

We also are compilinga list of former local highschool athletes. If youknow of any former localhigh school athletes play-ing a sport in college, callus at 662-327-1297, 662-241-5000 or 1-888-329-8937 or e-mail us [email protected].

ColumbusContinued from Page 3

“I have to work reallyhard and do my bestto help the team. Ijust want to motivatethe whole team to dobetter than what I amdoing.”

Columbus High Schoolsenior Quan Latham

HarmondContinued from Page 9

“As coach will tell you, Iam not the biggest, I am notthe strongest, I am not thefastest, but I work harderthan everybody else andeventually I am going tobeat you,” Harmond said.

Immanuel Christian foot-ball coach Greg Watkinssaid Harmond’s attitude hasinfected the team. He saidhis senior captain sets thetone in training and has cre-ated a positive vibe on theteam that has everyonestriving to be great.

“As I coached him, I havelearned he is not just goingto the extra mile, but he hasthat competitive naturewhere he almost competeswith himself,” Watkins said.“When you have an athletewho pushes himself beyond,he is going to excel.”

Williford credits Sherryand Charles Harmond fortheir support. Will echoesthat thought by praising hisgrandmother for believingin him and not allowing himto get away with anythingbecause she knows he issmart.

Looking back Willifordand Chandra Brandel areamazed at how Harmondhas matured.

“He has gone from aquiet, withdraw child whohad maybe one or two closefriends to someone who hasbecome a very outgoingyoung man who is very con-fident and shown leader-

ships skills we weren’t see-ing when he was in ninthgrade,” Brandel said. “Icouldn’t be prouder of theyoung man he has devel-oped into and the guidancehe has had the past fouryears.”

Harmond wants histeammates to follow hisexample this season. In hisfinal year at the school,Harmond isn’t going toallow any of his teammatesto cheat him out of a reward-ing season. His hope is thata unified front will help theRams have a year to remem-ber. For Harmond, it alreadyhas been a transformationfor the ages and one that willleave a legacy of what some-one can accomplish if theyput their mind to it.

“There was never anyquestion about his academ-ic ability,” Williford said.“He is a great student and asmart young man. I knewhe could do that. It was amatter of changing and re-directing his attitude andsometimes managing hisanger and getting thosepointed in the right direc-tion. It is so exciting to seea young man to go fromthat frustrated and havingsome anger to being a foot-ball player who works real,real hard to excel in theclassroom and being elect-ed to student council. Hiswas a tremendous turn-around.”


ABERDEEN BULLDOGSMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 3A, Region 2; 2011 Record 7-6

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 ColumbusAug. 24 ShannonAug. 31 AMORYSept. 7 NOXUBEE

COUNTYSept. 14 West BolivarSept. 21 LOUISVILLESept. 28 MantachieOct. 5 NETTLETONOct. 12 MoorevilleOct. 19 WATER

VALLEYOct. 27 South

Pontotoc

HOME GAMES IN CAPS


AberdeenMantachieMoorevilleNettleton

South PontotocWater Valley

NOTE: The top four teams makethe playoffs.

2011 ResultsAug. 19 L, 31-14

COLUMBUSAug. 26 W, 22-14

SHANNONSept. 2 W, 14-7

At AmorySept. 9 L, 16-6

At Noxubee Co.Sept. 16 L, 28-22

W. BOLIVARSept. 23 L, 14-6

At LouisvilleSept. 30 W, 40-0

MANTACHIEOct. 7 W, 43-7

At NettletonOct. 14 W, 34-20

MOOREVILLEOct. 21 L, 20-14

At Water ValleyOct. 28 W, 63-0

S. PONTOTOCNov. 4 W, 39-6

VELMA JACKSON

Nov. 11 L, 20-0 At Charleston

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE BULLDOGS

Josh Williams (Soph.)Williams started last

year as a freshman andwill head up a veteranoffensive unit this season.“Josh worked harder thanany player we’ve got dur-ing the offseason,”Aberdeen coach MarkBray said. “We expect bigthings from him.”

Justin Lucas (Sr.),Chico Harrison (Jr.)

Lucas was a starterlast year and Harrison sawaction as a freshman butwas ineligible last season.“Both are big strong kidswho run well,” Bray said.

Sammie Burroughs (Jr.),Cap McMillian (Sr.),

Jeremy Brandon (Sr.), Trey Mims (Sr.)

All four players startedMims started at widereceiver last season.Burroughs also handledthe Wildcat chores.“They complement each

other and in addition tobeing well disciplined, allthree run good routes andcan catch the ball.“Trey hit the weight roomand really bulked up thisseason.”

Brandon Hodges (Sr.),

Bobby Ward (Jr.), Tavarus Eckford (Jr.),James Randle (Jr.), Jahrel Wilson (Sr.)

All but Wilson star tedlast season. Hodges andWard will be at tackle,Eckford and Randle atguard, and Wilson at center.

“The strength of our offen-sive unit,” Bray said.“They’re not overly big,but they have great quick-ness. The key to ouroffense.”

Zavia Forshee (Sr.),Theodore Boyd (Jr.),

Devontae Walker (Jr.)Forshee is the only

returning starter amongthe three down linemen. “Big, physical kids whorely on their great quick-ness more than anythingelse,” Bray said.

Rodarius Smith (Sr.), Trey Mims (Sr.),

Justin Lucas (Sr.), Tyree Carothers (Sr.)Lucas is the only veter-

an returning, as Carothersdid not play last year.“All four are pretty goodsized kids who like to playphysical and all four runwell,” Bray said.

Jeremy Brandon (Sr.), Cap McMillian (Sr.),

Sammie Burroughs (Jr.),Tamarkus Payne (Jr.)Brandon and McMillian

double as wide receivers,while Burroughs andPayne started last year.Bray said both run welland could see action atlinebacker.“Jeremy and Cap are phys-

ical kids and good coverguys,” Bray said.“(Burroughs and Payne)love to come up and hityou.”

Bray said senior JeremyBrandon will handle thelong snapping duties. Heis undecided about whowill be the team’s punterand kicker.

n Mark Bray was an assis-tant on last year’sAberdeen High squadunder head coach ChrisDuncan, who once playedfor Bray at Vardaman andlater served as an assis-tant under Bray for threeyears before coming toAberdeen.

n Despite a 7-6 finish,Aberdeen outscored itsopponents by almost 10points per game, 24.2-14.3 (315-186).n Four of Aberdeen’s sixlosses were by 10 pointsor less.

QUARTERBACK

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINEDEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS


Mark Brayn ASSISTANT

COACHES:Alex Williams (offensivecoordinator), SammieBurroughs (defensive coordinator), CorneliusGilleylen (running backs),Thomas Clay (widereceivers / defensivebacks), Drew Summerford(offensive/defensive lines)

BY DON ROWESpecial to The Dispatch

ABERDEEN — Comingoff an uncharacteristicallymediocre 7-6 season, thebiggest concerns for theAberdeen High School foot-ball program in the offseasonshould have centered aroundreplacing a successful headcoach and a well-respecteddefensive coordinator, not tomention the loss of 15 regu-lars, including highly recruit-ed defensive linemanChanning Ward.

But those problemsturned out to be inconsequen-tial after the State Departmentof Education took theAberdeen school system overearlier this year after it wasdetermined Aberdeen was inviolation of 31 of 37 stateaccreditation standards.

In the wake of the takeoverof the school system, it wasrumored for months that theschool’s athletic programwould receive the so-called“death penalty” from theMississippi High SchoolActivities Association(MHSAA), the governingbody for high school sports inMississippi. The Bulldogsdodged the proverbial bullet,however, when the DOEplaced Aberdeen on probationrather than stripping the sys-tem of its accreditation.

“That decision was huge,”said first-year Aberdeen headcoach Mark Bray. “Had welost our accreditation, theMHSAA would not haveallowed us to participate inany sport against any otherschool, and that would nothave been fair to the kids.After all, the kids didn’t doanything wrong. It was theadults who caused this prob-lem, and it would have beenunfair to punish the kids forsomething the adults did ordid not do.”

Bray, who took over theprogram following the depar-ture of Chris Duncan, feelsthe community reaction to thetakeover was one reason thestate opted for probation asopposed to withdrawal.

“Sports have alwaysplayed a big role here inAberdeen, and the communi-ty at large was concerned theschool faced the possibility ofnot playing this year,” Braysaid. “I have no doubt a largemajority of Aberdeen’s citi-zens did not like the waythings were done, and theyknew that a change in leader-ship would be the only way tosolve our problems. As aresult, the community cametogether in a positive manner,and I think their response wasone of the deciding factors inthe department’s decision toplace us on probation.”

But the months of uncer-tainty took its toll on the mem-

Bray wants to focus on football after uncertainty

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffVeteran coach Mark Bray, who was an assistant coach to Chris Duncan last season, talks to his players Tuesdayat practice. Bray is focused on helping Aberdeen High School bounce back from a turbulent offseason.

bers of this year’s squad.“No doubt the kids were

all concerned whether wewere going to be able to play,”Bray said. “The kids asked alot of questions because theywere hearing a lot of falseinformation, but nobody real-ly knew for sure what the out-come would be. The hardestpart for all of us was not real-ly knowing what was going tohappen.”

As a result, Aberdeen’sspring workouts had moredistractions than a normalspring would have had.

“We didn’t have what youwould call a ‘regular’ spring,”said Bray, an assistant on lastyear’s squad. “Because wedidn’t know for sure what

was going to happen, it wasmore of a last-minute type ofthing. We didn’t play in a jam-boree, but we did have anintra-squad game, and I reallythink we got more out of thatthan we would have a jam-boree.”

Now that the cloud ofuncertainty has beenremoved, Bray can concen-trate on the more mundaneproblems that surface fromyear to year, things likechoosing an offensive anddefensive coordinator; facingthe same non-conferenceschedule as last season(including Class 2A statechampion West Bolivar,Louisville, Noxubee County,Amory, Shannon, and

Columbus); and replacing 15graduating seniors — noless than seven of whomstarted on defense.

“We lost 15 seniors whoplayed quite a bit, but thebiggest hit was defensively,”Bray said. “We only have fourplayers who started ondefense coming back.Normally, the defense isalways ahead of the offense,but we are just the opposite.Our offense is way ahead ofour defense.”

Gone from last year’sdefense, which held oppo-nents to 16 points or less ineight games, are ChanningWard (who signed at theUniversity of Miss), BraxtonAnderson, Demario Wilson,

Jalen Bell, Brandon Walker,and Elliott Johnson, amongothers, according to Bray.

“We’ve got a lot of holes tofill defensively,” Bray said.

Unlike last year when theBulldogs struggled onoffense in the first half of theseason, four returningstarters up front, three veter-an wide receivers, a sopho-more quarterback with ayear’s experience, and a vet-eran running back shouldgive Aberdeen a solid attack.

“Last year, we wereloaded with defensive veter-ans who played a big role intwo straight state champi-onship game appearances,”Bray said. “Offensively,though, we were youngeverywhere, and with a fresh-man quarterback we strug-gled a lot, especially againstthe bigger schools the firsthalf of the season. But whenyou are a 3A school playingup in classification, that is tobe expected.”

Once the offense gainedexperience, Aberdeenrebounded from a 2-4 start towin five of its next six byoutscoring opponents 231-56before a 20-0 loss to eventualstate-champion Charlestonended the season in the sec-ond round of the Class 3ANorth State playoffs.

In addition to re-toolinghis defense, Bray’s mostpressing concern is a lack ofdepth. “We probably gotabout 22 players I can counton,” Bray said. “A lot of ouroffensive line will also seeaction on the defensive line,so it’s crucial we find somefolks who can give ourstarters a rest.”

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffAberdeen High School coach Mark Bray is expecting big things from quarterbackJosh Williams. The sophomore started last season and has worked hard toimprove, Bray said.

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffChico Harrison tries to tear away from the grasp of a teammate in practiceTuesday. Harrison is expected to team with Justin Lucas to give Aberdeen HighSchool a one-two punch at running back.

FAST FACT

BY THE NUMBERS

also start on the offensiveline, while Coleman is alsoa two-way starter.“This group is going tohave to play well and couldturn out to be as good aslast year’s bunch oncethey gain some experi-ence,” Weeks said.

Silas Gill (Sr.), Deion Howard (Sr.),

Michael Roberts (Soph.)

Middle linebacker Gill

and outside linebacker

Howard started last year.

“All three are tough kids,”

Weeks said. :Good overall

experience, and I feel good

about them as a group.”

Cole Richardson (Sr.),

Quinshay Heard (Jr.),

Pallas Fair (Jr.)

Richardson and Heard

are two-way starters at cor-

nerback, while Fair, who

also played linebacker last

season, will play safety.“Cole and Quinshay canplay man-to-man defense,”Weeks said. “Their experi-ence as starters last yearis a big plus for us. Pallashas great speed and he isstrong enough to come up

and help against the run.”

Cole Richardson (Sr.),

Seth Dement,

Tanner Dement,

Deion Howard (Sr.)

Tanner Dement and

Deion Howard will handle

the kicking duties, while

Richardson will be the long

snapper. Weeks said his

kickers are relatively

untested and inexperi-

enced.

“A key position (long snap-

per), and I’m sure Cole will

do us a good job,” Weeks

said.

n Starting quarterback

Quinshay Heard is the

brother of last year’s start-

ing quarterback Zarrat

Sims. Outside linebacker

Michael Roberts is the

brother of former Hamilton

High great and Mississippi

State running back Kenny

Ray Roberts.

n Hamilton scored 28

points or more in 10

games last season. In its

two losses, it scored 26

points.

Tanner Dement (Soph.)Richardson started last

season, while Colemanand Dement saw spotduty.“All three run good routesand have good hands,”Weeks said. “Who fills thesecond spot depends onwho develops as the bestblocker.”

Jeremy Lindsey (Sr.),

Dominique Dobbs (Jr.),Evan Phillips (Sr.), Dusty Bryan (Sr.),

Cole Williams (Soph.)Lindsey and Dobbs,

both guards, are the onlyreturning starters. Bryanand Williams will man thetackle spots, while Phillipswill start at center.“Dobbs could be our bestlineman, and Lindsey is agreat athlete,” Weekssaid. “Both will anchor the

offensive line are expectedto help bring the moreinexperienced playersalong.”

Jeremy Lindsey (Sr.),Dominique Dobbs (Jr.),Sequintis Coleman Sr.),Cole Williams (Soph.),

Rudy Trimble (Jr.)Lindsey and Dobbs are

the only returning startersand, along with Williams,


HAMILTON LIONSMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 2A, Region 2; 2011 Record 9-3

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 SmithvilleAug. 24 HoulkaAug. 31 KOSSUTHSept. 7 HATLEYSept. 14 HOUSTONSept. 21 WalnutSept. 28 William

SullivanOct. 5 EuporaOct. 12 JZ GEORGE Oct. 19 EAST

WEBSTEROct. 26 Ackerman

HOME GAMES IN CAPS


AckermanEast Webster

EuporaHamilton

J.Z. GeorgeWilliams-Sullivan


A CLOSER LOOK AT THE LIONS

Quinshay Heard (Jr.)Heard started at full-

back last year, but hasquarterback experience onthe junior varsity level andin junior high.“Quinshay is a good ath-lete with good speed and agood arm,” Hamilton coachRay Weeks said.

Silas Gill (Sr.), Deion Howard (Sr.),

Pallas Fair (Jr.)Howard has been a

starter since ninth grade,while Fair will providedepth at tailback. Gill, aspot starter last year, willline up at fullback.“Three solid running backswith different skill sets,”Weeks said. “Deion hasgreat field vision andmakes a lot of defendersmiss, while Pallas is thefastest player on the teamand is a threat to go all theway any time he touchesthe ball. Silas is a good,hard-nosed, punishing-typerunner.”

Cole Richardson (Sr.),Sequintis Coleman (Sr.),

QUARTERBACK

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERSOFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS


Ray Weeksn ASSISTANT

COACHES:John David Hartley (quar-terbacks / linebackers),Emmanuel Buchanan (full-backs / free safeties), TreySpencer (wide receivers /cornerbacks), VictorCunningham (tailbacks /linebackers)


SMITHVILLEAug. 26 W, 36-8

HOULKASept. 2 L, 34-20

At KossuthSept. 9 W, 31-18

At HatleySept. 16 W, 28-26

At HoustonSept. 23 W, 39-13

WALNUTSept. 30 W, 54-12

WILLIAMS-SULLIVAN

Oct. 7 W, 32-6 EUPORA

Oct. 14 W, 43-0 At J.Z. George

Oct. 21 W, 52-7 At E. Webster

Oct. 28 L, 41-35 OT ACKERMAN

Nov. 4 L, 8-6 SIMMONS

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

BY DON ROWESpecial to The Dispatch

HAMILTON — Prior tothe start of the 2011 season,there was quite a bit of talkfrom seniors on theHamilton High School foot-ball team concerning theirdesire to match or to exceedthe exploits of the JimmieMoore-led Lions back in the1970s and early 80s.

Moore, the school’s mostsuccessful football coach,was at the helm during athen state-record 51-gamewinning streak (since brokenby Class 6A powerhouseSouth Panola High).Incredibly enough, one of histeams in that period didn’tallow a point in the season —an almost unheard of featthen or now, for that matter.

So it was a stretch tobelieve the Lions had anychance to return the glorydays to the Hamilton pro-gram, especially since theLions’ last winning seasonwas in 2005.

But the senior class want-ed to prove the critics wrong,and that’s what they did, bolt-ing to a 9-1 record (4-0 divi-sion mark) before twostraight setbacks at the endof the year cost them a divi-sion championship andended their season in thefirst round of the Class 2ANorth State playoffs.

Along the way, the Lionsoutscored their opponents bymore than 300 points andaveraged nearly 40 points pergame. Defensively, Hamiltongave up an average of a littlemore than 14 points pergame, and held six of their 12opponents to eight points orless, two of which didn’tscore.

“I think when we got to 9-1, a lot of people wereshocked,” said Ray Weeks,who is entering his ninthyear as the Lions’ coach.“Even though Hamilton hadnot had that kind of successfor a number of years, we(the coaches) knew we had achance to have a pretty goodfootball team.”

Hamilton opened the sea-son with lopsided winsagainst Smithville (42-0) andHoulka (36-8) before drop-ping a heartbreaker toKossuth after being tied at20-all with three minutes toplay.

Undaunted, Hamiltonreeled off seven consecutivevictories before Ackermansquashed its division titlehopes with a 41-35 win. An 8-6 loss to HollandaleSimmons in Hamilton ruinedan evening in which it hadmore than 300 yards of total

offense to just 110 forSimmons.

“Looking back on theseason in which we snuckup on a lot of folks, the gamewhich I think made believ-ers out of everyone was theHouston game (a 28-26 vic-tory in week five),” Weekssaid. “I don’t think manypeople gave us a chanceagainst a 4A school on theroad, especially since we gotbehind by 10 points early inthe game.”

“But we blocked a fieldgoal with about three sec-onds left and came awaywith a win on the road. Itturned out to be a huge win,and the kids fed off that

game and went on to win fivestraight before losing thosetwo to end the season.”

Those two losses serveas a reminder to this year’ssquad just how quicklythings can take a turn for theworse and, according toWeeks, have been the driv-ing force behind this year’soffseason workouts.

“For the most part,things just fell into place forus in nine of our first 10games last year,” Weekssaid. “But we know we didn’tfinish the year like we want-ed, and that has providedthe motivation for our play-ers to do what it takes tobecome a better football

team.”For that to happen,

Weeks must replace 10starters, five on each side ofthe ball. Offensive lossesinclude running backCojuante McMillian, quar-terback Zarrat Sims, widereceiver Austin Welch, andoffensive lineman KyleDahlem, along with tackleTyler Jones.

Defensively, McMillian,Sims, Welch, and Dahlem allstarted, as did Cedrick Bell,so, in reality, Weeks lost justsix players.

“We lost six quality play-ers, but on a positive note wereturn six starters on eachside of the ball,” Weeks said.

Weeks’ biggest concernsentering this season aredeveloping depth on theoffensive and defensivelines, replacing three skilledplayers (McMillian, Sims,and Welch), finding capablespecial teams personnel, andbreaking in a new coachingstaff that features three ofhis four assistants in theirfirst year of coaching highschool football.

“It’s typical small-schooltype stuff for us this year,”Weeks said. “We’ve got a lotof guys going both ways forus again, and that takes itstoll on the bigger playerswho man the front lines.We’ve got some good line-men in reserve, and they’regood kids who are workinghard to get better, butthey’re not battle-tested.”

The same goes for hiscoaching staff, according toWeeks.

“I have four assistantsand they are all doing a goodjob,” Weeks said. “They’reall hard workers, and as theseason progresses, so willthey in terms of experience.”

As for the punters andkickers, three inexperiencedLions are in the hunt, butWeeks hopes a foreignexchange student will showup.

“We’ve had some goodones (exchange studentswho could kick) in the past,and we’re hopeful there’sanother one in the pipelinethis year,” Weeks said.

Weeks wants to keep momentum despite key losses

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffHamilton High School ninth-year football coach Ray Weeks hopes his players gained confidence from a nine-win season in 2011 that ended with back-to-back losses, including an 8-6 loss to Simmons in the playoffs.

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffSenior Deion Howard, who has started since the ninth grade, will look to have abreakout year to help replace a number of key graduation losses.

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffJunior Dominique Dobbs will anchor the offensive and defensive lines for theHamilton High School football team this season.

FAST FACTS


MACON — JavancyJones has harbored champi-onship dreams ever sincehe was in middle school.

Back then, it was com-mon for up-and-comingplayers to tell their class-mates what they were goingto do when they got toNoxubee County HighSchool.

Now a senior, Jones hasone more shot. Perhaps herealizes 2012 will be his finalchance as he looks at hisleft hand and talks wistfullyabout the missed opportuni-ties in his first three sea-sons.

“I don’t have a ring,”Jones said. “That has been agoal since ninth grade ...and we still haven’t accom-plished that yet. But thisyear is our year.”

With eight returningstarters on defense and 23seniors on the roster, thesigns again point toNoxubee County being acontender to win theMississippi High SchoolActivities Association Class4A state title. Last year, thatjourney ended prematurely,at least as far as the Tigersare concerned, with a 21-20loss at Amory. Led byJones, Dillon Bradley,Jeremy Hunt, JavorisGlenn, and the rest of ahard-charging defense, theTigers are ready to claimwhat they feel is theirs.

“I don’t have a ring onmy hands,” Bradley said. “Ihave been closer and closerevery year. This year, I feelit is time to make a changeand to bring another cham-pionship to NoxubeeCounty, and I feel goodabout an undefeated seasonlike in ’08.”

A banner honoring the2008 team that went 14-0and won the school’s firstfootball state championshiphangs in the fieldhouse andwatches over the players asthey lift weights and dissectfilm. The 2008 squad

recorded seven shutouts enroute to the crown.

The 2009 team faredeven better, recording 10shutouts, including six inrow to end the regular sea-son. But that season endedwith a loss to ItawambaAgricultural High in thethird round of the Class 4ANorth State playoffs.

In 2010, a loss toLafayette in the Class 4ANorth State title gameended Noxubee County’shopes. All that is left now isfor the Tigers to rallyaround their dreams and toswarm like the program’sbest defenses.

“A lot of these guys nowwere in junior high andremember (the state cham-pionship team),” NoxubeeCounty coach TyroneShorter said. “They are gladthey are being compared tothat team. They look at itthat they can win a statechampionship. I havestressed to them the reason

we won a state title wasdefense. I let them know nomatter how bad we playedlast year in the playoffs, ifwe had come up with thatlast stop, we still would havewon the ballgame.

“This group is handlingit well. They are glad to becompared to that team.They want to get better.Some of them have askedme how many shutouts thatteam had. They want to beatthat record. I told them theyhave their work cut out forthem.”

A return to health byBradley, a 6-foot-1 1/2, 235-pound lineman, from shouldersurgery, and Jones, a 6-2, 207-pounder, from a hip pointershould make the Tigers eventougher. Both playersacknowledged the injuriesbothered them all season,even though they had 13 and17 sacks, respectively.

Hunt, who likely will playmultiple positions, andGlenn, a lineman/line-

backer, also will createhavoc in a variety of spots ina defense that will featureplenty of speed and aggres-siveness.

“They believe they canwin a championship,”Shorter said. “They felt likewe got out of the playoffstoo early last year. Theyrealize that anybody can getbeat on any given Friday.Not taking anything fromAmory. They are a goodfootball team. But our kidsand us coaches thought wewere a better football team,but we weren’t a better foot-ball team that night. Theyrealize you have to come toplay every Friday night.”

Shorter has been coach-ing the seniors ever sincethey were in the seventhgrade, which is why hewould love to see them wina championship. As defen-sive coordinator for M.C.Miller on NoxubeeCounty’s 2008 title team,Shorter is very familiar with

the recipe for defensivedomination. He feelsBradley and Jones would fitright in with that team.

But Bradley and Joneswould prefer to beat therecords set by the 2008team, not go back in timeand play with that group. Ifthey can lead the 2012Tigers’ defense to that level,special things might awaitin Jackson.

“We were expecting togo into Amory and blowthem out,” Bradley said.“We also had to learn noone is going to lay down foryou on the field. Looking at2008, we see them in thestreet and we see themcoming home from school,they tell us, ‘You have to getout there. If you want it, youhave to be hungry for it.’

“Last year, we were hun-gry, but we weren’t hungryenough. With eight starterscoming back, this defenseshould be one of the best inthe state, if not the best.”

Deangelo Ballard (Sr.),Jessie Bryant (Jr.)

Noxubee County High

School coach Tyrone

Shorter said Ballard, a

three-year starter, has

become more vocal and is

taking charge. He said he

showed Ballard tapes of

all the Mississippi High

School Activities

Association state title

games from 2011 and

pointed out the winning

team’s quarterback was

the best player on the

field. He said that has to

happen for Noxubee

County to go deep into the

playoffs.“He is being the quarter-back we always wanted

him to be,” Shorter said.“He is taking command ofthe offense, has a lotmore confidence than thepast couple of years, andis being the leader weneed. We think he is thekey. We have to have bet-ter quarterback play.”

Darrell Robinson (Sr.),Jarvis Taylor (Sr.),

Eric Hunt (Jr.), Javancy Jones (Sr.)

Last season, Robinson

teamed with Ladarrell

Hunt to form one of the

area’s most potent duos.

Unfortunately, both run-

ning backs were hurt for

stretches, which prevent-

ed them from being as

dangerous as they could

have been. With Hunt now

at Itawamba Community

College, Shorter said it is

Robinson’s time to shine.

Taylor will play a variety of

roles to add a dimension

to the offense, while Hunt

and Jones will provide

added wrinkles.

“We feel like he is one of

the best running backs in

the state,” Shorter said of

Robinson. “We’re going to

ride him. Last year, he had

more than 1,000 yards

rushing and he shared it

with someone else. He has

a goal to rush for 2,000

yards, and I think he has

that capability.”

Jessie Bryant (Jr.),

Charles Hughes (Sr.),

Fernando Phillips (Sr.)

The Tigers will miss the

speed and playmaking abil-

ity of Terrence Barron, but

Shorter feels his top three

receivers will provide a dif-

ferent dimension.

“They have really big

shoes to fill,” Shorter said,

“but they are all over 6

feet tall and are 190

apiece. They are not as

fast as Terrence, but

they’re bigger, so we’re

going to use them in dif-

ferent ways. They will be

more possession

receivers. ... I don’t think

we will be able to stretch

the field like we normally

do, but we will be able to

play the possession game

with them.”

Martive Mitchell (Sr.),Jonathan Orr (Sr.),

Jercoveie Stewart (Sr.),Ivan Goodwin (Sr.), Jared Farmer (Sr.),

Tamarcus Williams (Jr.),Traon Young (Jr.)

All five starters returnfrom last season to paveholes for Robinson and toprotect Ballard.“We feel really good aboutour offensive line rightnow,” Shorter said. “Weare rotating seven guysthere. I think that is thekey for us. If they playwell, we’re going to scorea lot of points. If theydon’t play well, we’re notgoing to score a lot ofpoints.”

Dillon Bradley (Sr.),Javancy Jones (Sr.),Javoris Glenn (Sr.), Jose Moran (Jr.),

Anthony Skinner (Sr.)Bradley, Jones, and

Glenn make up one of thestate’s most dominatinglines. Bradley and Glennhad 13 sacks apiece lastseason, while Jones had17.“We think we have a gooddefensive front with every-body returning from lastyear,” Shorter said. “If wecan stay healthy, I thinkwe have a chance. We feelthis is one of the bestdefensive lines that wehave had in a while.”

Antonio Ryland (Sr.),Jeremy Hunt (Sr.),

Eric Hunt (Jr.)

The back end of the 5-3

defense provides speed

and punch, two traits of

Shorter’s defense in his

time at the school.

Jeremy and Eric are

brothers.

“All three of these guys

can run and are physical,

and when they get there

they are going to hit

you,” Shorter said.

“Sometimes our lineback-

ers say they get bored

because the defensive

line makes all of the

tackles. Our linebacker

group communicates with

each other and really

plays great together.”

Antravion Jamison (Jr.,),

Mahlon Robinson (Soph.),

Wesley Bush (Soph.)

The Tigers lost three

starters from this posi-

tion, making it the most

inexperience group by far

on a team with 23 sen-

iors.

“Jamison was hurt in the

second game of the sea-

son, but he came back

and played good,”

Shorter said. “He is the

only one with experience

coming back.”

Deangelo Ballard (Sr.),

Eric Hunt (Jr.),

Antonio Ryland (Sr.)

Shorter said Ballard

and Hunt will handle the

punting duties, while

Hunt, Ballard, an Ryland

will take care of the kick-

ing duties. Anthony

Skinner and Javancy

Jones are the long snap-


GOGOTIGERS!TIGERS!

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15842 Hwy. 45 • Macon, MS 39341 • 662-726-4705

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NOXUBEE COUNTY TIGERSMississippi High School Activities Association: Class 4A, Region 4; 2011 Record 10-3

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 StarkvilleAug. 25 CRAIGMONTAug. 31 NEW HOPESept. 7 AberdeenSept. 14 West PointSept. 21 KEMPER

COUNTYSept. 28 KOSCIUSKOOct. 5 Leake CentralOct. 12 HOUSTONOct. 18 LouisvilleOct. 26 Caledonia

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

n Number of seniors onthis year’s team.

23

CLASS 4A REGION 4, DISTRICT 4

CaledoniaHouston




2011 ResultsAug. 19 W, 33-20

STARKVILLEAug. 27 L, 24-20

At Spain Park (Ala.)

Sept. 2 W, 45-29 At New Hope

Sept. 9 W, 16-6 ABERDEEN

Sept. 16 W, 22-17 WEST POINT

Sept. 23 W, 42-18 At Kemper Co.

Sept. 30 W, 33-0 At Kosciusko

Oct. 7 W, 52-13 LEAKE CENTRAL

Oct. 14 W, 21-0 At Houston

Oct. 20 L, 14-12 LOUISVILLE

Oct. 28 W, 36-7 CALEDONIA

Oct. 28 W, 42-6 N. PONTOTOC

Nov. 11 L, 21-20 At Amory

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE TIGERSQUARTERBACK

RUNNING BACKS

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS

COACHING STAFFn HEAD COACH:Tyrone Shortern ASSISTANT

COACHES:James Patterson, GeorgeRicharson, HeywardAshford, Joey Sanders,Gary Naylor, Montez Miller,Michael Ashford, EdSquare, Joe Badford

BY THE NUMBERS

Final shot at title plenty of motivation for seniors

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffFrom left: Noxubee County High School seniors Javoris Glenn, Javancy Jones, and Dillon Bradley have theirsights set on a state championship. The banner of the program’s first state title reminds them every day ofthe standard they need to live up to.


MACON — It’s nevertoo late to try somethingnew.

Bobby Bowman hasworked in so many roles inmore than 30 years as acoach and as a teacher.From football to baseball tobasketball, Bowman hadcoached numerous sportsand taught a variety of sub-jects in schools in Georgiaand in Mississippi.

Up until 2012, Bowmancould say he had nevercoached eight-man foot-ball. Now, the former coachat Vardaman, Durant,Noxapater, and NanihWaiya can add another lineto his résumé. This year,the 60-year-old coach islearning about the world ofeight-man football as thenew coach at CentralAcademy.

“This right here is a chal-lenge,” Bowman said. “I amfired up. You kind of get in arut if you do the same thingyear after year after year. Infootball, like other sports, itchanges, so you have tochange with it. ... This is abig change, going from 11-man to eight-man. Thenumbers are small, so it is achallenge juggling thosethings. It is exciting to seewhat things are going to belike.”

Bowman worked lastyear as defensive coordina-tor of the Vardaman HighSchool football team. Healso served as a substituteteacher at the school. Heworked as a substitutebecause he retired frompublic schools the yearbefore last.

At Central Academy, hetakes over for RonnieSciple, who led the Vikingsfor the past four seasons. In2010, Central Academyadvanced to theMississippi Association ofIndependent Schools EightMan title game, where itlost to Kemper Academy.

Last season, led by sen-iors Drew Pearson andCole Newman, CentralAcademy lost to FranklinAcademy in the first roundof the playoffs and finished8-3. The Vikings lost nineseniors from that squad,but Bowman is familiarwith coaching at smallschools, so he isn’t afraid ofturnover. He spent two sea-sons as defensive coordina-tor at Durant High, fiveyears as head footballcoach at Noxapater High,and 15 years as head base-ball coach and defensivecoordinator at Nanih WaiyaHigh. He also worked atCarthage High on twooccasions and worked foreight years at a school inGeorgia.

Bowman said he wasinterested in the CentralAcademy job in 2011, buthe took the position atVardaman before CentralAcademy decided what itwas going to do. Sciple

opted to stay on as coachfor one more season, eventhough he had a job inAlabama, so he could bewith the seniors.

Bowman said the factthat Sciple helped moldCentral Academy into acontender in each of hisseasons as head coachmakes his transition easier.

“You go into a place, andfortunately I haven’t had todo that, that hasn’t won,then that is a new thing youhave to get into theirmind,” Bowman said. “Ihave seen teams that havehad exceptional talent butdidn’t know how to win.When you go into a placethat the kids know how towin — and expect to win —that is a big thing.

“I know the attitudehere is we expect to win.”

Bowman acknowledgesit might take time, though.With no seniors and lessthan 20 players on the ros-ter, Bowman said it couldtake some time for theyounger players in the pro-gram to mature.

“There is some talenthere,” Bowman said.“There are lot of youngkids who are unproven yet,so I can’t say (how we’lldo). You don’t really knowhow the kids are going tobe until you start to play.

“We have some youngkids I can really see a lot oftalent in, but I heard a col-lege coach — I forget who

it was — say, ‘Potential getsyou fired and performancekeeps your job.’ Hopefullyall potential turns into per-formance, but sometimes itdoesn’t.”

Juniors T.J. Colemanand Russ Taylor saw play-ing time last season andwill be two of the leadersBowman looks to in hisfirst season. Both playerssaid not much has changedin the transition fromSciple to Bowman.

“All of the young kidsthat we have are talentedand they will be good nextyear, so this will give thema lot of experience,”Coleman said. “Just think-ing back on all of the sea-sons we have been suc-cessful it gets us pumpedup, and I believe we can doit again this year.”

Said Taylor, “We’regoing to do the best withhat we got and give it ourall, like every year.”

Bowman said it is tooearly to tell what to expectfrom this team. The playersare confident the Vikingswill be able to surprise peo-ple, in part because peoplewill look at their graduationlosses and take them forgranted.

Bowman, who will teachsixth-grade History and sci-ence, eighth-grade science,high school health, and ele-mentary physical educationat Central Academy, knowsthe ups and downs pro-grams suffer all too well.Despite the ebbs and flows,Bowman said he has mel-lowed from his earlier days,but don’t think that he stillisn’t passionate about whathe does.

“I am very enthusiasticabout the game of football,”Bowman said. “When Iscream and holler, I don’tmean anything personal, I

don’t mean anything per-sonal about you. I just getexcited.

“I have a great love forthe game, and it is going toshow on the field.”

Bowman said he willremain in coaching andteaching as long as it is fun.If ever there was some-thing that could be fun, ithas to be moving from 11-man to eight-man footballfor the first time. Bowmanhas watched plenty ofvideotape to get a betterunderstanding of the game.Beside the fact there arefewer players and a lotmore open space, teamsstill have to block and tack-le to be successful.

As long as teams contin-

ue to do those things,Bowman said you likelywill find him on the side-lines in the fall.

“I am not ready to stopyet,” Bowman said. “I feel Ihave several more years. Iam not going to do a BobbyBowden or a Joe Paternoand stay in it forever, but Istill love the game, I stilllove coaching, I still loveteaching.

“People keep askingme, ‘When are you going toretire completely?’ I say,‘When it is not fun any-more.’ It is still fun, and mywife (Kathy) is still work-ing, so I am going to workat least until we both canretire and we can spendmore time together.”


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CENTRAL ACADEMY VIKINGSMississippi Association of Independent Schools: Eight-Man North District 1; 2011 Record 8-3

2012 ScheduleAug. 17 CALVARY

CHRISTIANAug. 24 CalhounAug. 31 DELTASept. 7 MarvellSept. 14 KEMPERSept. 28 Russell

ChristianOct. 5 NORTH

SUNFLOWEROct. 12 FRANKLINOct. 19 Calvary

Christian

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

2011 ResultsAug. 19 W, 22-14

At Calvary Christian

Aug. 26 W, 24-22 CALHOUN

Sept. 2 W, 34-26 At Delta Academy

Sept. 9 W, 22-20 MARVELL ACADEMY

Sept. 16 W, 28-26 At Kemper Academy

Sept. 23 W, 44-0 VERITAS

Sept. 30 W, 16-14 RUSSELL CHRISTIAN

Oct. 7 L, 42-6 At N. Sunflower

Oct. 14 L, 24-12 At Franklin Academy

Oct. 21 W, 55-14 CALVARY

Oct. 21 L, 28-16 FRANKLIN ACADEMY

HOME GAMES IN CAPS

MAIS Eight-Man

North District 1Calhoun Academy

Calvary Christian SchoolCentral AcademyDelta Academy

Kemper AcademyNorth Sunflower Academy

Russell ChristianVeritas School

Bowman ready for new challenge of eight-man

Sam Gause/Dispatch StaffNew Central Academy coach Bobby Bowman talks with some of his players during the school’s media day July24 in Macon. Bowman takes over for coach Ronnie Sciple.

Cole Phelps (Sr.)Trip Janssen (Jr.)

Rivers Robinson (Sr.)Trey Richardson (Soph.)

Colin Atwell (Jr.)Phelps and Janssen bring

experience, while the restof the line will be a work inprogress.“Our biggest struggle offen-sively will be in the offen-sive line," Terrill said. "Wewill be trying to developthree new faces. Trip andCole are two really goodhigh school football players.Trip is from Ackerman andCole is a three-year starter.That is where we start andthen we build off that withsome other talented playerswho will have to step up”

Hunter Bolin (Sr.)Kirby Cox (Jr.)

Brandon Lane (Soph.)Austin Frayser (Soph.)Bolin and Cox are the

anchors of a group that willbe asked to make minorcontributions to a run-ori-ented offensive unit.“Hunter and Kirby willanchor our receiving corps,"Terrill said. "You really likethe leadership that theybring and the example theyset for our younger players.We are excited aboutBrandon and Austin, bothare sophomores. Austin hasbeen the biggest surprise ofcamp. He is going to be atremendous football player.”

Bailey Newell (Jr.)Campbell Dodds (Sr.)

Cole Phelps (Sr.)Trip Janssen (Jr.)

Lane McClendon (Sr.)Phelps and Janssen will

anchor this line as well.“We are searching for anadditional defensive end,"Terrill said. "We had twoends last year and lost oneof those. The rest of theline returns and playedquite well last year. Ifwould could find an addi-tional end of two, it wouldmake us feel about ourdepth over there.”

Stephen Robertson (Sr.)Drew Harrell (Soph.)

Mike Miller (Jr.)Jake Griffen (Jr.)

This ball-hawking groupshould enjoy the return ofRobertson, as its undisput-ed leader.“Stephen Robertson is sucha great leader (at) line-backer," Terrill said. "This isa position where we havesome depth. We are excitedabout some of the youngerguys who are going to stepinto the mix.”

Hunter Bolin (Sr.)Kirby Cox (Jr.)

Colby Runnels (Sr.)Zach Slaughter (Sr.)

Austin Miles (Sr.)John McReynolds (Soph.)

Joel Ray (Soph.)Hunter Peeples (Soph.)Several newcomers will

be asked to bolster thisgroup.“We have good depth in thesecondary, so we should beable to rotate some of ourtwo-way players and nothave them on the field asmuch," Terrill said. "This isanother area where we arecounting on some sopho-mores to step in and makecontributions.”

Johnathon Burton (Jr.)Mike Miller (Jr.)

Stephen Robertson (Sr.)Burton, the kicker, and

Miller, the punter, returnfrom a very strong kickinggame of a year ago.Robertson will handle kick-offs.“Our specialists are all verygood. Johnathon handledour extra points and fieldgoals last year and wasvery solid," Terrill said."Mike Miller is a qualitypunter. Drew Pellum haspunted in a game for usbefore. Stephen Robertsonhas really improved hisgame as a kickoff man. Weare looking for a deep snap-per. We should be strong inspecial teams.”

Darius Grayer is one of thefastest players we have onthis roster, and we feel wehave several guys there wecan get the football to,”Mitchell said.

Kirk Kinard, Sr.

Jalen Henderson, Sr.

Josh Kitchens, Sr.

David Duck, Jr.

Bradley Roberson, Jr.

Brandon Lindsley, Jr.

Maurice Reed, Jr.

A.J. Smith, Soph.

Antonio Hinton, Soph.

Maleke Bell, Fr.

Kyle Kinard will protect

Myles’ backside as the

starting left tackle, but

the interesting element

could be the presence of

255-pound freshman

Maleke Bell as the start-

ing right guard. The Yellow

Jackets will be young, but

very big, at this spot.

“(Bell) is such a talented

kid as a freshmen, and I’ve

been here three years and

he’s the first freshman

remotely close to playing

at the varsity level,”

Mitchell said. “He is that

guy, and we knew in

eighth grade he was big

enough, strong enough and

physical enough to handle

it.”

Jawon Johnson, Sr.

Kyle Jones, Jr.

Terrell Dailey, Jr.

Travez Brewer, Jr.

Justin Ware, Jr.

Deonte Brooks, Jr.

A.J. Smith, Soph.

The key is whether

Starkville can afford to

have Johnson play on just

the defense If it can, he’ll

be fresh throughout the

game, which should help

the 295-pound nose tackle

build on his 18 tackles

last season.

“We’re committed to doingjust one side of the ballwith Jawon because wethink we can be really tal-ented and athletic on thedefensive front,” Mitchellsaid.

David Fair, Sr.Leeward Jefferson, Sr.

Marlow Rogers, Jr.Taylor Johnston, Jr.Chris Rogers, Soph.

After suffering throughan injury-plagued juniorseason, Fair is determinedto have a stellar final sea-son at Starkville High. Fairis the son of formerMississippi StateUniversity running backDavid Fair Sr. He likely willbe the Yellow Jackets’leading tackler.

Johnny Smith, Sr.

Jacoby Smith, Sr.

Devonte Davis, Jr.

Raphael McClain, Sr.

Jerry Johnson, Jr.

Taylor Johnston, Jr.

Smith and Davis will

lead the back four. Smith

led the team with three

interceptions and three

forced fumbles in 2011.

“Just like on offense, we

feel like our skill position

guys on defense are going

to be very solid with really

good ball skills and are

smart about the way they

play both the run and the

pass,” Mitchell said.

Charlie Henderson, Jr.

Taylor Wise, Soph.

Michael Godley, Soph.

Michael Sullivan, Soph.

After the Yellow Jackets

missed seven field goals

and seven extra points in

2011, Mitchell has

brought in three sopho-

mores to challenge for the

kicking and punter duties

this season.


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Looking for local players in college

The Dispatch will feature a former local highschool athlete who has gone on to play a sport incollege every month.

If you would like to nominate a college for us tofeature, call us at 662-327-1297 or email us [email protected] [email protected].

Be sure to give us a reason why you are nominat-ing the player, and be sure to give us as many statis-tics from the past week’s action.

We also are compiling a list of former local highschool athletes. If you know of any former localhigh school athletes playing a sport in college, callus at 662-327-1297 or e-mail us at [email protected].

StarkvilleContinued from Page 13

OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS

Mitchell said. “He isgoing to touch the ball andbe the focal point of whatwe do on every play.”

Mitchell is encouragedby the number of the skillposition athletes Mylesshould have available thisseason. Starkville returnsfour of its top five rushersfrom last season, and threeplayers who had at least 12catches last season.

“I really think on bothsides of the ball we’regoing to be really impres-sive on the outside withour speed,” Mitchell said.“Not a lot of teams aregoing to be able to catch usif our playmakers get theball in the open field.”

If it wasn’t for the tragicshooting death of DevinMitchell on New Year’s Dayand the severe knee injuryto senior wide receiverJimmy Saulsberry,Starkville would have nearly100 percent of its offensiveproduction back from lastseason.

The loss of Mitchellwon’t be forgotten.Starkville High intends tohonor Mitchell’s memorywith the help of his familyin the season opener Aug.17 against NoxubeeCounty. Starkville Highcoaches even are consider-ing playing the first play ofthe game with 10 playersin Mitchell’s honor.

Saulsberry, who suf-fered the injury beforespring practices, is expect-ed to return in Septemberto give Myles anotherweapon.

The defense, whichloses its leading tacklerand its top two pass rush-ers, could be just as formi-dable with 295-pounddefensive lineman JawonJohnson playing just onone side of the ball.

In the secondary,Johnny Smith, one ofStarkville’s leading tack-lers last season, returnsand will join juniorDevonte Davis. That duowas a primary reason whyopponents completed only37 percent of their passeslast season.

Mitchell has empha-sized the importance ofspecial teams this season.Last season, Starkvillemissed 5 of 9 field goalsand eight extra-points.The Yellow Jackets’ third-year coach has brought infive kickers to competefor the punter and kickerduties this season. Hesaid it will go down to thefinal week of the presea-son to see who earns thejob.

As Starkville and WestPoint contend to be thefavorites in the North Halfof Class 5A football in thestate of Mississippi, theYellow Jackets are deter-mined to have a better tripto Jackson in December.

“I found out I don’t liketo go out like that,” Mylessaid. “We’re all determinedas a team to make sure thatwon’t happen again. Ilearned what leadership isall about from that experi-ence, that’s for sure.”

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE YELLOW JACKETS

RECEIVERS

OFFENSIVE LINE

DEFENSIVE LINE

LINEBACKERS

SECONDARY

SPECIAL TEAMS

A CLOSER LOOK AT THE VOLSVolunteersContinued from Page 14

as one. A large group ofsophomores also will beasked to contribute. ForBolin, Slaughter, and theother seniors, it is their jobto lead by example.

“We have to help leadand help teach,” Bolinsaid. “The sophomoreswere on a really good jun-ior high team. Now, wehave to show them how tobe successful on the varsi-ty level. We will have a lotof depth this year, and weare counting on several ofthose guys to step in andmake contributions thisseason.”

Defensively, Terrillsaid the squad shouldhave enough returneesand talented newcomersto build on last season. Ayear ago, the Volunteersgave up less than 12points per game.

“The most importantthing (on defense) is cre-ating some depth,” Terrillsaid. “We feel good aboutmost positions.Offensively, we are look-ing for some more consis-tency. The biggest ques-tions are the of fensiveline, where we will belooking at as many asthree new faces.Hopefully, that will comealong quickly.”

Slaughter feels theVolunteers should be ableto come along quickly.

“The hard work isthere,” Slaughter said.“The coaches havepushed us harder than wewere pushed last year. Ididn’t think that was pos-sible. Everybody on theteam is excited. This is anew year. We are teachingthe younger guys what isexpected on this level.

“They see what wereable to do last year. Thechallenge is to continuethat success. We don’twant people looking downat us anymore. We aregoing to work hard tomake sure we keep win-ning.”

High School Football Preview 2012

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