Parklane finds itself just 48 minutes away from claiming back-to-back state championships, as the Pioneers (10-1) are currently gearing up for their MAIS 4A D-II title bout against Heritage Academy (10-2) on Friday, with the game set for a 7 p.m. kickoff from Jackson Academy.
Ahead of the marquee matchup, head coach Ron Rushing joined his staff, linebacker Jace Jones, tight end Kyle Rushing, quarterback Braxton Hughes, offensive lineman Arrocus ‘Roc’ Baskin Jr. and defensive end Telvin Jefferson for the MAIS’ annual Media Day on Monday in Jackson.
Déjà vu
“It’s good to be back.”
Those were the words of Kyle Rushing, emphasizing how special it is for this program to be making its second straight state-title appearance.
“We took care of business last year, so we know how it feels and can hopefully do it again,” he added.
‘Taking care of business’ translates to Parklane dropping 70 in a championship win over Leake Academy last season. That gaudy point total may be tough to come by this time around, but the Pioneers have a veteran squad that will do its best to replicate that legendary performance.
All five of the players that traveled for the MAIS’ Media Day were seniors, representing a core group that has propelled the team forward this fall.
“These seniors took on some challenges earlier in the year, but they took the bull by the horns to help get us to this point,” defensive coordinator Robert Young said. “And they play so hard right alongside the underclassmen.”
With veterans like Camp Lott, Jax Toler and JD Dumas having graduated in the spring, the team was in search of other vocal presences to lead the charge. Luckily for Rushing & Co., a strong foundation has been put in place, and new leaders quickly stepped up for the 2025 squad.
Of course, those leaders also like to poke a bit of fun at one another too:
“Rocc likes to scream because he thinks he’s big and bad, and Kyle is committed to a D-I so he thinks he’s cool too,” Jones explained with a grin. “But really all of us here have stepped up and put our voices out there to help the younger kids.”
That tangible camaraderie has played a large part in Parklane producing such a dominant campaign, but according to receivers coach Brinson Wall, the group has always had its eyes on reaching this point.
“This was the whole team’s ultimate goal,” Wall explained. “So even though Mondays and Tuesdays could sometimes be headaches on us coaches, we knew that on Friday nights this group was going to be able to get things done.”
A Special Staff
Young and Wall are key cogs in the machine that is the Parklane coaching staff.
Rushing has been fortunate to keep most of his assistants in town throughout his five-year tenure, as continuity in football is becoming a rarity nowadays despite the obvious benefits.
And from weekend meetings to the grind of fall camp, these coaches spend just as much time with each other as the players do. In other situations, that may create some rifts, but the Pioneers’ coaches are as well-connected of a group as you’ll find.
“We’re all friends outside of football, so I think that’s a big part of it,” defensive line coach Ryan Bradford said of the staff. “There’s not a lot of guesswork because I usually know what these guys are thinking from the time we spend together.”
And that chemistry trickles down to their players, as Parklane’s athletes all seem to be in-tune with one another no matter what position group they belong to. Much of that can also be attributed to the fact that the Pioneers’ junior high program is utilizing the same schemes that the varsity squad is, making it a seamless transition for athletes when they graduate from under the tutelage of head coach Austin Helus.
“The first thing about this team is that they play for each other. They really hold each other accountable,” Young said. “And we built this defensive system five years ago, so it’s pretty easy when they’re doing the same stuff in junior high under Coach Helus. It just becomes plug-and-play.”
Helus also acts as the defensive backs and strength and conditioning coach at Parklane, making him a true Swiss Army Knife for the program. And with him leading the junior-high team, Helus is able to develop strong bonds with his players over multiple years.
“I’ve had these guys since the seventh or eighth grade, so I know what they all can do,” Helus said of his unit. “Eli Chandler makes the calls, but they all already have a lot of game experience. So I just love coaching them each day.”
Earned In The Trenches
Names like Davis Carruth, Tanner Kyzar and Brennan Ellison usually steal the headlines when it comes to Parklane’s offensive success, but the guys doing the dirty work up front have been the lynchpin to the unit’s production.
Baskin has already been noted as a leader of that group, and he emphasized that communication among the five is at the forefront of everything they do.
“We always wanna be able to know where everybody’s going, use our double-teams to our advantage and get that push to the second level,” Baskin said. “It’s all about communicating and sticking together as a unit.”
Grayson Hewitt is the offensive line coach for Parklane, and he shed some light on why this group has become such a player-led unit.
“The biggest thing for me is always forming good habits. So I make those guys eat with each other and just be around one another all the time,” Hewitt said of his O-line. “But they make it so much easier on me with how they’re able to absorb information and take hard coaching.”
To Hewitt’s point, the Pioneers’ linemen have evolved throughout the season to the point where their coach just lets them go about their business at times.
“They’ll speak a language that I don’t even know when they get on the field,” Hewitt explained. “So they’ve taken what I’ve given them and ran with it, because I tell them all the time that I’ll give them the tools for the toolbox, they just have to be able to pull out whatever they need.”
And of course, having one of the most physical running backs in the MAIS can always help set the tone up front.
“When you turn around and see Tanner [Kyzar] just running through people, it gets you pumped up to go get that extra push or extra yard,” Baskin said.
Conversely, it’s safe to assume that iron has truly sharpened iron at Parklane, because Young’s defensive line has also been ferocious all season long. There’s quality depth and experience at each spot, and it’s a pick-your-poison when it comes to which rusher to focus on.
“Paw [Forrest] mostly closes down the run but he can get after the QB too, and Wick [Lindsey] does both really well,” Jefferson said. “Our coaches just preach to us about closing around the quarterback, and even the linebackers do a pretty good job at getting after him.”
What Lies Ahead
Now, all that’s left is for Parklane to finish the job.
The Patriots are a battle-tested team in their own right, and while the Pioneers have largely been dominant this season, games of this magnitude tend to take on a life of their own.
Thus, a potential key for Parklane will be to get out to a fast start. Rushing has spoken at length about playing a complete four quarters this season, and after his team had to pull away from Starkville Academy in the second half last Friday, jumping out of the gates will be a talking point leading up to this one.
“A great week of preparation will be key, and I know we’re gonna have a lot of good stuff game-planned,” Hughes said. “We’ve had a good season in terms of being a second-half team, because the defense has kept us in some games early and we’ve fed off them. But getting off to a faster start Friday will be huge.”
A victory would obviously mean plenty for the 2025 squad, but Hughes also made a point of highlighting what it would mean for the program and its state-wide perception.
“Winning the first one is always going to be special, but winning two would be even more so,” Hughes said. “Because we’d be showing off what we’ve built around Parklane and what Coach Rushing and the staff have done.”
In the end, there is plenty of support at the back of this team, and win or lose, these Pioneers have already become another point of pride for the area.
“It would be huge for our community, because the school is really behind us right now,” Young said. “I feel like our fan base is going to provide great support at Friday’s game, and Heritage is a really good football team. So it’s just going to be an exciting event because there’s two really strong teams going at it.”
Coaching Catch-Phrases
Per the unspoken rules of media days, I also wanted to throw in a light-hearted question.
So, I made a simple request of Parklane’s players: Share some of the best quotes your coaches have said this season.
The results are as follows:
- “Sometimes when we mess certain things up, they’ll say we remind them of ‘50 First Dates.’” (Referencing the 2004 Adam Sander movie and how they seem to ‘forget’ how to play football at times)
- “If we mess up on something small, they’ll just say ‘A thimbleful of football knowledge is all we’re asking for.’”
- Helus will often act as a scout-team quarterback for his defense. When he does, he apparently refers to himself as viral sensation ‘Chad Powers.’ (AKA, Eli Manning and Glenn Powell’s fictional QB character)
