BRANDON – East Webster senior Steven Betts played primarily on offense as the Wolverines’ quarterback, but was chosen for the North team at the Bernard Blackwell North/South All Star Game as a linebacker.
He made the choice look good as North Defensive MVP in a 16-10 loss last Saturday at Brandon High School. “It feels great not playing defense all year and coming to an all star game and playing defense. The coaches put me in a situation and I made plays,” he said.
Betts’ performance did not surprise East Webster coach Ron Price. “Seven is a football player. For East Webster, he was so valuable at the quarterback position he was very limited in his opportunities to play defense.”
In eight games, Betts passed for 807 yards and seven touchdowns and ran for 1,152 yards and 12 TDs. In his limited time on the other side of the ball, he was credited with eight tackles, including two sacks.
“He played defense in critical situations when we needed a big play,” Price said.
Betts hopes to continue playing at the next level, but doesn’t know where that will be.
“A lot of college coaches wanted to see him perform at linebacker,” Price said. “I am very thankful that he stepped up to the challenge and had a good football game.”
In fact, Betts received his first offer -- from Southwest Mississippi Community College -- the evening of the all star game. “Hopefully that will be the first of several that are going to come in now that they saw him perform against a bunch of really good football players.
“Some schools are looking at him on defense. Some schools are looking at him as an H-back or tight end. Steven has to look at his options and see what is best for him. He has told every coach who has come to see him that he will do whatever it takes to play at the next level.”
There were no official stats for the all star game and Betts did not know how many tackles he made. “He had somewhere close to 10. He may have had more than that,” Price said.
The key to the South’s victory came in a sequence of plays in the final three minutes of the third quarter.
The North trailed 10-3 but had the ball at midfield. Antonio Harmon of Kosciusko was open behind the defense on a deep route but the pass from Zy McDonald of Ridgeland came up short and Margro Perkins of Raleigh intercepted it at the 10.
Two players later, the South faced third-and-15 at the 26. Alan Follis of 5A champion West Jones hit Cayden Bridges of 4A champion Magee streaking down the sideline for 68 yards – longest play of the game – to the North six. Courland Harris of 6A champion Oak Grove scored on the next play for what proved to be the winning margin.
The North abandoned a nonexistent ground game – six net yards – in the fourth quarter and scored its only TD to cut it to 16-10 with an 82-yard drive, all through the air on seven completions by Jake Weir of Tupelo. The score came on a 17-yard pass to Reid Flanagan of Hernando.
The North got the ball back at the South 48 with 5:40 left, but three plays resulted in a loss of two yards. With 4:15 on the clock and two timeouts, North coach Chris Cutcliffe of Oxford elected to punt. Joshua Griffin of Warren Central was in punt formation, but was replaced by Weir, who went to a knee to field a low snap, giving the South the ball at the North 37.
With runs of 9 and 13 yards by Robert Henry of 1A champion Lumberton, the South was able to run out the clock.
The North took a 3-0 lead on its first possession when Griffin drilled a 26-yard field goal. The lead held up until Follis threw a 17-yard TD pass to Tyrese Keyes of 2A champion Taylorsville with 11 seconds left in the half. A 29-yard field goal by Tres Ladner of Gulfport in the third quarter make it 10-3.
The South finished with a 242-162 edge in offense.
Follis was South Offensive MVP with 125 passing yards. He was also MVP in West Jones’ 5A championship game victory over West Point.
Other MVPs were Jalen Wells of Scott Central for South defense and Weir for North offense.
The South has a 34-29-5 lead in the series that began in 1950.
The game has been North vs. South except for the four-years of 1989-92, when a 4A/5A all star team played a 1A/2A/3A team.
