At 6-foot 6-inches, Franklin County defensive end Bo Tillman is almost a head taller than most of his teammates.
Waiting to run onto the field before a game, Tillman’s helmet bobs up and down like a buoy on the high sea signaling what the opposing team is about to face.
Easily being the most noticeable player on the field puts an even bigger target on Tillman.
There are plenty of other reasons for people to focus on Tillman: he’s a top five recruit in the state of Mississippi and he was on the defending 3A state champions. That didn’t bother him one bit; in fact, it made his senior season the best of his career.
“I’m happy the way it is now,” Tillman said. “Everybody wants to see if they can beat the big dog.
“I did more this year than I ever have.”
Tillman was one of a group of Franklin County players that were counted on to bring the state championship back to Meadville in 2007.
His play earned him the Enterprise Journal Player of the Year. It also helped the Bulldogs return to Jackson, where they came up just short of a second consecutive state title.
His senior season presented a problem Tillman was thrilled to have to handle.
“We were down it seemed like every game, either tied up or losing,” Tillman said. “I never quit.”
Tillman made plenty of big plays through the year, whether it was batting down a pass or getting the big sack or just stopping a running play for a loss.
The play of the year may have been his stop of a McComb option play in the second game of the season.
In the first quarter, the Tigers faced a third-and-2 on their 40. McComb quarterback Anthony Daniels ran the option to his right.
Tillman made it outside and past any of the blockers that had a shot at him.
With Daniels running to the sideline and his pitch man staying a couple yards behind, Tillman had his arms outstretched like a farmer trying to corner two chickens.
Daniels didn’t pitch the ball, but Tillman ran him into the pitch man and tackled them both for a 12-yard loss.
It only counted as one tackle, but it was part of Tillman’s return to the stats he had posted as a sophomore. That year he shared the line with his brother and Ole Miss defensive ned Marcus Tillman.
He totaled 85 tackles and 10 sacks in 2007, 84 and nine in 2005. Of course, he played with an Ole Miss recruit this year as well, his cousin Josh Tillman.
The season didn’t just finish his high school career, it finished the contest between the Tillmans that had started with Marcus.
“We had a little competition for a while, me and Marcus started it off and Josh finished,” Bo said. “It was just to see what Tillman is going to get talked about the most.”
If the stats do the talking, Josh won with 15 more tackles and eight more sacks, but at the very least the contest helped keep the blowouts and practices interesting.
After the season finished without a state championship, the disappointment lingered. Tillman said he felt bad into Monday after the state championship game.
By the end of that week, he was already looking back on his favorite game of the year — the state championship.
“Even though we lost, I still had the best time,” Tillman said. “It was my senior year and we made it back to state once again.”
