After an early season filled with turmoil resulting in him getting on the bad side of his coaches, McComb High School junior Demarcus Jenkins finally may have found the path to keep alive his promising football career.
That could only mean one thing — more playing time for the Tigers’ talented young wing back and even bigger problems for opposing defenses.
Jenkins put early-season disciplinary problems behind him last week, at least for the time being, and had his best game of the season last week. Jenkins compiled 152 total yards offense and scored three touchdowns as McComb scored its first win of the season, 39-21, over cross-county rival North Pike.
Jenkins’ efforts garnered him Enterprise-Journal Player of the Week honors.
Two weeks ago, Jenkins had to sit out the Tigers’ game after he confessed to unauthorized leaving of school grounds for lunch on a school day. Missing that game has apparently made an impact on Jenkins, who said those days are over.
“That taught me to be smarter, not to make the wrong decisions,” he said. “It ain’t that I want to get in trouble. It’s just that I don’t make the right decisions all the time.”
Jenkins made all the right decisions last week against North Pike, when he recorded two receiving touchdowns and one score on the ground in the Tigers’ win. Jenkins’ numbers would have been even more impressive had it not been for two other scores being called back for illegal chop blocks on McComb.
McComb head coach Malcolm Jones said he remembered hearing that Jenkins was a different style runner last season.
“A lot of people told me he was an east-west runner, just going back and forth,” Jones said. “He’s a north-south runner now. He can turn and stop flat on a dime. He can take a play a normal guy would make 7 or 8 yards on and turn it into a 60- or 70-yard touchdown. He’s a special player in the making.”
Jones knows a thing or two about talent. As a veteran coach, he has worked with and tutored some of the finest talent to come out of Mississippi.
Like former McComb quarterback Nico Whitley, who signed on as a defensive back for Mississippi State.
As a coach at Melrose High, Jones taught wide receiver Carlos Armour, who went on to play defensive back at the University of Miami before graduating from college last year. Jones also coached former quarterback/defensive back Trent Willis, who went on to play defensive back at former Division II national champion Western Kentucky.
“I’m telling you,” Jones said emphatically, “if Demarcus works on his craft, people will be here to sign him next year.
“The first to be in here will be (Mississippi State head coach) Dan Mullen,” Jones added. “Then we’re talking about teams like LSU, Tennessee and Ole Miss, because you can’t teach speed. That’s what teams are looking for and that’s what Demarcus has.”
North Pike got a firsthand look at Jenkins’ speed last week. In McComb’s win over the Jaguars, Jenkins ran for a 32-yard touchdown and had scoring receptions of 49 and 16 yards.
Jenkins described himself as an “adventurous” soul and credited Jones for the tough love that helps keep him on the straight and narrow.
“He’s getting me ready for life on and off the football field,” Jenkins said. “Making dumb decisions is over. I’m ready to make good decisions and stay on the football field.”
