Blue Devils Season Ends At The Hands Of Leflore County
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Coaches reached into their bag of tricks for the hook-and-ladder Zae Bradford (top photo) connected with Isaiah Webb, who lateraled the ball to Donalvin Wilson (bottom photo). Wilson took the lateral 36-yards into Tiger territory as time expired in the first half.
WATER VALLEY – On Friday, Nov. 8, the visiting Leflore County Tigers out of Region 3-2A traveled from the Mississippi Delta to Bobby Clark Field to take on the Blue Devils in the 2024 MHSAA Class 2A State Playoffs. The speedy Tigers took advantage of costly mistakes and ended the Blue Devils season to the tune of 36 to six.
The Tigers took the opening kickoff at midfield as the Blue Devils attempted to steal a possession with an onside kick attempt. The Blue Devil defense forced a quick third-and-long, but the Tiger quarterback eluded pressure and ran around right end for the first down. A few plays later the Tigers found paydirt with a 12-yard rush. The Tigers would add the two-point conversion.
The Blue Devils would settle in and start playing better for the remainder of the opening frame. Early in the second quarter, the Blue Devils put together a solid drive thanks to a Zae Bradford to Tyler Richardson 33-yard pass reception.
A few plays later, sophomore running back Tre Adams found the end zone on a 12-yard rush up the middle. The two-point conversion was no good and the score was Leflore County eight, Water Valley six. Playing inspired, the Blue Devil defense forced a tiger punt. However, an errant punt snap went over the head of the Blue Devil punter and gave the Tigers possession inside the Blue Devil five-yard line. The Tigers wasted little time as they capitalized on the costly Water Valley mistake and went up by two scores.
On the ensuing drive, the momentum continued to swing toward the red and white Tigers as they stripped the Blue Devil ball carrier and took it back for a defensive touchdown. After a goal line stand by the Devil defense, Water Valley reached into its bag of tricks for the hook-and-ladder play as Bradford connected with Isaiah Webb who lateraled the ball to Donalvin Wilson. He took the lateral 36-yards well into Tiger Territory as time expired. The tally at the halfway point was Leflore County 22, Water Valley six.
The second half saw pass completions to Isaiah Webb, Tyler Richardson, Miles Buford, Dez Campbell, and Parker Turnage. Defensively, the Blue Devils were paced by junior linebacker J.D. Gooch with 12 total tackles, senior linebacker Reid Burress with 11 total tackles, Wilson who had 11 total tackles and two sacks, and Bradford with nine total tackles and a sack. The Blue Devils as a team rushed for 93 yards while passing for 61.
The senior class of Reid Burress, Tyler Richardson, Kaden Norlander, Isaiah Webb, Donalvin Wilson, Ezaryon Riley, Ethan Walton, Dez Campbell, and Hayden Schurr have contributed a lot to Blue Devil football over the past six seasons and will be missed.
“I think we improved overall. Obviously our record shows that, we won one more game than we did last year with basically the same schedule,” Head Coach Clint Faust reported. “I hope the kids see that too and put in the hard work that it is going to take in the off-season and improve our position next year.”
Faust credited strong leadership from his senior players who led by example during the season.
“Hopefully the guys behind them see how hard they worked and what they did to get themselves to be good high school football players,” Faust added.
The Blue Devils are slated to go through spring tryout drills in April and May and typically participate in a game or jamboree around the first week of May. As always, Blue Devil football and the pride and tradition will return.
Season Tallies
Offense
The Blue Devil offense accomplished some amazing feats this season. Including the Most Rushing Yards in a game in the Maxpreps era with 581 rushing yards at Eupora in week four; and 396 yards by a second player, Zae Bradford.
In week 10, the “Trench Mob” offensive line paved the way for Tre Adams to set a Maxpreps era record with six touchdown runs by a single player against rival Bruce.
Bradford led all ball carriers with 1,472 yards on 176 rushing attempts coupled with 14 touchdowns. Adams added 928 yards of his own, including a team-high 16 Scores.
In all, the offensive line of Jake Griffin, Ezaryon Riley, Hayden Schurr, Donalvin Wilson, Ja’Cameron Elmore, Tyler Richardson, Dez Campbell and Parker Turnage paved the way for 2,853 rushing yards. Junior wideout Gabe Butler led all receivers with 106 total yards, while Derion Gale had the most receptions with nine, and Turnage added both a receiving touchdown and a two-point conversion catch.
“Our offensive line got better as the season progressed, I think they were the strength of our offense,” Offensive Coordinator Rusty Smith reported. Smith also cited Bradford’s 1,472 yards and Adams’ 928 yards as strong numbers.
We had some comebacks that I will never forget like the Eupora game and the Bruce game. Those were some of the best comebacks I have ever been part of,” Smith said.
“I think we got better at what we do, and that is run the ball. We have to try to get better throwing the ball during the off-season,” Smith added.
Defense
Coming into the season, the Blue Devils were concerned about the lack of experience at one defensive line position, and all four defensive back positions. According to Defensive Coordinator Coach Richard Russo, the unit improved.
“I feel as though the inexperienced players got a lot of quality playing time and got better and better as the year went on. A varsity shutout against J.Z. George, holding an athletic M.S. Palmer team to only 12 points, and playing up to our capability the second half of Bruce were some of the highlights,” Russo added.
Senior Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College defensive lineman commit Donalvin Wilson led all Blue Devils with 111 tackles and 15 sacks. Senior Reid Burress was second on the team, despite missing numerous games with an upper body injury, with 82 total tackles. Ezaryon Riley and J.D. Gooch were second on the team with 5.5 sacks each. First year starters Kamauri Page and Channing Freeman led all with two interceptions each.
When senior Isaiah Webb came back from an injury, he infused some experience and leadership into the secondary and tallied 41 total tackles, an interception, and eight pass breakups.
Defensive Line Coach Bryant Mix reported about his linemen, players he has coached since the seventh grade.
“I have seen great improvements and I have seen some guys do some things I was very proud of,” Mix said.
“I thought we had a pretty decent year, we always want to improve. I think we have some young guys who are going to surprise some people next year ,” Mix added.
Special Teams
Junior place kicker Gabe Butler had 31 points on the season with 17 Point After Touchdowns, four field goals including the game-winner at Eupora in an epic comeback-for-the-ages. Butler added 1,888 kickoff yards.
Two-year starting punter Tyler Richardson ended his final campaign with 16 punts for 516 yards and a 32.25 average. Sophomore Alex Spruill took over snapping duties early in the season and offered some stability to the position. Sophomores Derion Gale and Miles Buford led the returners with 224 yards and 123 yards respectively.
