Although college football teams within close proximity to Southwest Mississippi experienced mixed results the first three weeks of the season, it cannot be denied that local athletes have performed well in Division I competition.
Most notably, Mississippi State senior defensive lineman A.J. Jefferson — a 2012 North Pike graduate — already has 17 tackles and three sacks this year.
Jefferson was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after a 27-14 home win against South Carolina in Week 2.
The Bulldogs are off to a 1-2 start, but their most recent loss was 23-20 at LSU — the No. 18 team in the AP rankings.
I have no doubt Mississippi State will be competitive each week if Jefferson continues to play at such a high level. Even if the Bulldogs do not have a good year, Jefferson’s individual success is setting him up to have a chance for a long NFL career.
Southern Miss is off to an impressive 2-1 start after coming from behind in the season opener to win 44-35 at Kentucky followed by a 56-0 home win against Savannah State. The Golden Eagles lost 37-31 at home to Troy last Saturday but had a chance to win down the stretch.
Two local athletes have been strong contributors to USM’s success.
Senior left tackle Jacob Fleming, a 2013 North Pike graduate, is getting his first chance to start for the Golden Eagles.
Fleming played for Copiah-Lincoln Community College his freshman and sophomore seasons and moved on to play for Southern Miss. He saw significant action as a swing tackle, which is a left and right tackle, as a junior.
Now, he is just at left tackle as a starter and part of an offense that has scored 31 or more points in every game.
Tyre’oune Holmes, a 2013 Tylertown graduate, who played quarterback in high school, is a junior wide receiver for the Golden Eagles. He missed the 2014 season after an injury in fall camp and played in just two games in 2015. However, he had what could be seen as his breakout game in 2016 with four receptions for 56 yards against Troy.
Jackson State is off to a 0-3 start and is not showing promise of getting better anytime soon.
The good news is freshman Juwan Adams, who graduated from North Pike this past spring, may be the Tigers’ quarterback of the future.
JSU lost 35-14 at home to Grambling State on Saturday, but Adams came into the game late and threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Miquel James with 6:56 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Based on watching Adams play up close in high school and interviewing him several times, I can say he is a great athlete and has an excellent attitude about everything he does. Those things usually translate to some form of success.
Our local athletes are playing well, and I look forward to seeing what they do in the coming weeks.
