This is the final installment of the Enterprise-Journal’s 2011 All-Area football team.
By Searn Isabella, Enterprise-Journal
TYLERTOWN — With eight months until the start of the 2012 high school football season, Tylertown coach Walter Denton is throwing out his strongest endorsement for his quarterback.
“We’d like to see him as a Dandy Dozen but we’re small-town Tylertown in Southwest Mississippi and there are very few Dandy Dozens,” said Denton of quarterback Tyre’oune Holmes. “But we feel like he’d be one.”
Holmes’ praise is certainly well deserved. The junior signal caller, which some teammates refer to as a human highlight reel, put up eye-popping numbers in 2011.
Holmes racked up 2,246 total yards — 895 passing and 1,381 rushing — and 29 touchdowns.
His explosiveness and ability to make big play after big play earned Holmes the 2011 Enterprise-Journal Player of the Year.
The transformation of Holmes into a star was somewhat unexpected, to say the least.
“Last year, I wasn’t even a full-time starter, and I’m the starting quarterback now,” he said. “To have the year that I had it was just a blessing. It really was.”
Holmes’ impact for Tylertown went beyond peeling back the first layer of statistics. It was his mere presence that helped Tylertown average nearly 350 rushing yards per game and 42.7 points per game.
When teams made a distinctive effort to stop Holmes from running, Holmes gladly handed off to running backs Chris Jones and Peyton Denton. The two combined for 2,157 yards and 35 touchdowns.
More and more teams planned to stop Holmes as the season progressed, so his numbers tailed off. While it may have been frustrating, Denton and Holmes considered it a sign of respect.
“They have to stop the running game,” Denton said. “You can’t let people run the ball down your throat. If you do, then you are going to get beat.”
After recording only one 100-yard game in the Chiefs’ first four contests, Holmes had his coming out party in a loss to Bassfield. He ran for 182 yards and two TDs and threw for 86 yards and another two scores.
“He was young, he was foolish, undisciplined, but as he grows and matures, like all kids, he’s going to become a better leader,” Denton said. “The leadership role was what we questioned most about him. Is he going to be a leader or is he just going to be a player? Well he stepped up and became a leader. That was a big plus for us.”
Including the Bassfield game, Holmes strung together five consecutive standout performances to set the tone for Tylertown’s season.
Holmes rushed for a whopping 890 yards and 11 TDs and was also 34 of 51 (66 percent) for 495 yards and six scores. His best game came against Lawrence County when he rushed for 282 yards and three TDs.
“I feel like I can score every time I touch the ball, no matter where we are at,” Holmes said. “I’m an explosive player like coach said.”
Holmes carefully admitted he likes the role of quarterback and being in the spotlight. The coaching staff at Tylertown, along with Holmes’ teammates, have made sure the short term fame doesn’t give him a big head.
“I wanted to be the quarterback at Tylertown. It’s a big responsibility and a great role,” Holmes said. “You have a lot of people looking at you.”
At this time last year, Holmes was happy to be playing football. Now he has his sights set on his future.
Holmes has garnered some interest from in-state schools and other small colleges but he hopes to follow in former Tylertown quarterback Jameon Lewis’ footsteps. Lewis, who led Tylertown to a state championship in 2009, just finished his redshirt freshman season at Mississippi State.
Holmes’ biggest obstacle won’t be his production in 2012 but rather his size. He is 5-foot-10, 160 pounds soaking wet. He said he’d like to get up to at least 175 or 180 pounds.
It’s rare for a Division I quarterback to be that small, but Holmes would like to stay at quarterback for as long as he can.
“This season showed me I can be a player at the next level. I knew I could do it before the season, but I thought my size would play a major factor into it,” he said.
Denton and Holmes both agreed he must improve his passing if he wants to stay a quarterback.
There is no telling how good Tylertown’s offense can be next season should that happen.
“To make our offense really go, we’ll have to open it up some and throw the ball,” Denton said. “We have confidence in him, and I think that’s going to happen.”
Holmes thinks he has a shot at 2,000 rushing yards next season but said he has learned 75 percent of what it takes to be a quarterback.
If he grasps the remaining 25 percent between now and August, opponents should take notice.
“It’s gotta be scary,” Holmes said with a smirk. “It’s gotta be scary.”
