Prep football returns across the state of Mississippi Friday night in the form of scrimmages and jamborees. Here at 228 Sports we will keep you informed several times a week of all of the happenings on the gridiron while focusing our coverage on the 24 members of the Mississippi High School Activities Association in the “The Southern Six” counties in Mississippi of Jackson, Harrison, Hancock, Pearl River, George and Stone.
We will feature a weekly series of three items as our cornerstone coverage: “Friday Night Rewind”, “A Look Ahead” and “Rock’s Locks” along with periodic weekly features on past gridiron milestones achieved in South Mississippi.
With just about all 24 members of The MHSAA in action in scrimmages this week, our first “Friday Night Rewind” will take a look at the Top 20 prospects across The Southern Six heading into the 2022 season.
Top 10 Seniors:
- Bray Hubbard, QB, Ocean Springs: Hubbard was named The Class 6A Player of the year last season as he accounted for 52 total touchdowns and guided the Greyhounds to an undefeated 11-0 regular season. He has committed to play safety at Alabama.
- Donte Dowdell, RB, Picayune: Dowdell was named Max Preps Mississippi Player of the Year as he rambled for over 2,500 yards on the ground in leading the Maroon Tide to the Class 5A state championship. He scored 28 touchdowns and committed to Oregon over the summer.
- Kaden Irving, QB, Gautier: The Gator signal-caller sliced up opposing defenses throwing for almost 3,700 yards and 39 touchdowns and adding eight scores on the ground as a junior. He is an Ole Miss baseball commit.
- Jamarious Brown, DE, Moss Point: The mainstay for the Tigers up front registered 84 tackles and five sacks last season. He committed to Ole Miss recently.
- Duran Parish, WR, Biloxi: The Indian wideout hauled in 41 passes for just over six hundred yards and six scores last year. He is a Vanderbilt commit.
- Jacob Palazzo, QB, Gulfport: The Admirals’ gun-slinger tossed for over 1,800 yards and 15 touchdowns last year while throwing only two interceptions.
- A.J. Phillips, WR, Gautier: The top target of Kaden Iriving, Phillips pulled in 76 catches for just over 1,200 yards and 12 touchdowns last year.
- D.K. Jenkins, QB, St. Martin: The dual-threat newcomer, a transfer from Mendenhall, accounted for over 4,00 yards of total offense over the past few seasons and led the Tigers to five playoff wins in that span.
- Mark Will, LB, Poplarviile: The standout defender eclipsed the magical 100 total tackle mark in a season last year for the Hornets and had an interception as well.
- (Tie) Maurice Travis, RB, Poplarville and Keilon Parnell, QB, Pascagoula: Travis ran for over 1,300 yards and scored 13 times last season. Parnell, a Mississippi State baseball commit, is a rare fourth-year starter for the Panthers in football.
*Honorable mention: Melvin Pickens, RB, West Harrison: Pickens was one of the lone bright spots for the Hurricanes last season running for just over 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns as a junior. However, he will miss his senior season due to a knee injury.
Top 10 Underclassmen:
- Chris Davis, RB, Picayune
- Jeffery Rush, DT, Pascagoula
- Gavin Allen, LB, St. Martin
- Deuce Knight, QB, George County
- Norell White, DB/WR, St. Martin
- Amarion Tyson, LB, Picayune
- Jacob Bradford, DL/OL, St. Stanislaus
- Jamonta Waller, DE, Picayune
- Terry Patton, ATH, Pass Christian
- (Tie) Trace Carter, Lb, Ocean Springs and Keshawn Thomas, DL, Ocean Springs
*Honorable mention: Daniel Pickens, DB/WR, Resurrection
(Oceans Sprigs quarterback Bray Hubbard was the Class 6A Mr. Football last season. Photo by Bobby McDuffie)
