By Staff
From Staff Reports
Dec. 7, 2001
West Lauderdale High School's Carlessio Blanks has been named Most Valuable Player for Division 5-3A.
He was one of 17 players recognized for individual honors by the coaches, while 28 other players were selected to the All-Division 5-3A team and 39 others received honorable mention.
Darryl Mapp of Newton County High School and Kenshay Hunter of Philadelphia shared Best Offensive Back honors, while Reed Myers of Newton County was chosen as Best Offensive lineman.
Fred Stevens of Heidelberg and Rodrick Baskin of Southeast Lauderdale were named Best Receivers.
Jared Parten of West Lauderdale and Curtis Spivey of Philadelphia shared Best Defensive Lineman honors, while the co-Best Defensive Backs were Anselm Henry of Choctaw Central and Raymond Youngblood of Carthage. Terrance Patrick of Newton County was tabbed as the Best Linebacker.
West Lauderdale's Will Mosely was chosen Best Punter, while the Best Kicker was David McConnell of Newton County.
Tyler Threadgill of Philadelphia was named Best Punt Returner, while Robert Billy of Choctaw Central, Travis Reed of Southeast Lauderdale and Marcus Arrington of Heidelberg were named Best Kick Returners.
The Coaching Staff of the Year was from Newton County High School. Jeff Breland is the head coach, while the assistants are Mike Spence, Allen Harrison, Ben Kitchings and Justin Chaney.
Being named to the All-Division 5-3A team from Newton County were defensive lineman Josh Avant, defensive lineman Michael Johnson, linebacker Richard Croft, linebacker Derek Mapp, offensive lineman Luke Castillo, tight end Adam Bout and running back Kendrick Windham.
Chosen from Philadelphia were quarterback Tyler Threadgill, defensive lineman Alan Fox, running back Daniel Puckett, tight end Cameron Tawater, defensive back Blake Peebles and defensive back Landon Dupree.
Representing West Lauderdale were tight end Tommy Hodges, wide receiver Tyler Herrington, offensive lineman Matt Smith, offensive lineman Richie McAlister and offensive lineman Brandon Blake.
From Carthage were offensive lineman Chris Hamm, tight end John Fortenberry, running back Ricardo Smith and running back Demar Gardner.
Running back Giovann Dixon, offensive lineman Andrew McMillan and linebacker Randall Hickman of Choctaw Central all made the team, as did quarterback Ben Reed and linebacker Andy Landrum of Southeast Lauderdale and quarterback Michael Johnson of Heidelberg.
Taking honorable mention honors were: Mark Walker, Derek Cleveland, Trellis Skinner, Dusty Rose and Robby Carey of Newton County; Cedric Love, Mark Coker, Tyler Rounsaville, Matt Corrigan and Desmond Murray of Philadelphia; C. Jay Fountain, Justin Campbell, Brent Boutwell, Caleb Dulaney, Nick Baughman and Clay Pope of West Lauderdale; Kevin Hatch, Jeff Walker, Clarence Davis, Clint Cook, Jerry Triplett and Daniel Holleyman of Carthage; Sam Farve, Marty Briscoe, Jimmy Williams and Bryan Williamson of Choctaw Central; Carlos Larkin, Robbie Ward, Richard Harris, Steven Willis, Josh Clark, and LaPatrick Carlisle of Southeast Lauderdale; and Douglas Ryan, Marcus Barnett, Derrick Turner, Nathan May, Daniel Barnett, Chris Thompson and Raphael Jones of Heidelberg.
Austin Bishop
South team strikes it big
Not only is the South big but they also drew a larger share of the bigger schools.
Arguably the top three teams in the MPSA were Silliman Institute who won Academy AAA at 14-0 along with Jackson Prep and Jackson Academy who met for the AAAA title.
All three teams have two players in the game. Rob Schimmel, a 227-pound tight end, is considered a Division I prospect.
Silliman's Andrew Wicker, 6-5, 255, is one of the top prospective linemen in the game.
The South also got a hand from the smaller schools. Tensas Academy handed them Charlie Kitchen, a 6-4, 298-pounder who is another top linemen.
Then there is Trinity's Chad Ridley who accounted for 45 touchdowns in leading the Saints to the Academy A title.
Ridley scored two touchdowns on runs of 14 and 1 yards in the 14-7 win over Wayne Academy last Saturday at MC's Robinson-Hale Stadium.
Jeff Byrd
Final call for All-Area team
The Meridian Star All-Area Softball Team will be announced in the Dec. 18 edition of The Star.
Today is the last day for nominations to be turned in. Nominations should include as much pertinent data including statistics as possible. Coaches can fax their nominations to The Meridian Star at 485-1275 or e-mail them at sports@themeridianstar.com.
Phone call nominations will be taken at 693-1551, ext. 3234 or 3235 from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. today only.
The following schools have already nominated players: West Lauderdale, Newton County, Louisville, Union, Quitman, Southeast Lauderdale, Clarkdale, Enterprise and Northeast Lauderdale.
No other nominations have been received.
The guidelines for All-Area Football nominations will be published in the Prep Notebook next week.
Austin Bishop
Quarterbacks everywhere
Receivers, backs and quarterbacks are everywhere, but linemen are few and far between. At least's that's how its been for the North All-Stars this week.
Six quarterbacks are on the North roster. Two have been moved to other position. Quarterback Lee Powell, who threw for five TDs in last week's Class AA final, may be the fourth quarterback in the North's rotation.
That's because Wayne Academy's Tom Boszor has installed an option-based offense for the North. Powell is a shot-gun passer.
The South has 11 players over 220 pounds which includes 10 linemen. The North has just eight.
Jeff Byrd
Trojans on the rise
The Northeast Lauderdale High School boys basketball team has jumped off to a nice start with an 8-2 record.
The only losses were to Wayne County (82-60) and West Lauderdale (66-62).
Northeast has posted several quality wins, including two victories over Neshoba Central (79-69 and 76-71) and one over West Lauderdale (78-75).
Other wins for NEL have come over Quitman, Clarkdale (twice), and Southeast Lauderdale (twice).
Northeast plays host to Enterprise High School and high-hopping Cory Boggan tonight and West Lauderdale on Tuesday.
Austin Bishop