CLINTON — Two players from Louisville and one from Nanih Waiya have been chosen for the Bernard Blackwell North-South All Star Football Classic. Rosters for the North-South game and for the Mississippi-Alabama All Star Game were announced last week during a press conference at the Mississippi High School Activities Association office.
Louisville will be represented by quarterback Bryandrea Shoemaker, who was chosen as an athlete, and linebacker Kristian Hopkins. Shia Moore was chosen from Nanih Waiya. He plays linebacker and running back for the Warriors, and was selected for the 42-man team as a linebacker.
Players for both games were chosen from nominated players after coaches spent many hours watching game films.
Shoemaker completed 69 of 119 passes for 995 yards and seven touchdowns and carried 63 times for 157 yards and seven TDs in the Wildcats’ first six games. He shared quarterback duties last year when Louisville won the 4A state championship, totaling 1,547 yards and 17 TDs running and passing.
Hopkins leads Louisville with 67 tackles, including 10.5 for losses and 3.5 sacks. He had a team high 146 tackles last year, 26 for losses and 9.5 sacks.
Moore also played a key role in a state championship last year when Nanih Waiya won the MHSAA Class 1A State Championship. He ran for 1,809 yards and 24 TDs and had 89 tackles, with 12.5 for losses and 5.5 sacks.
Through the first four games this year he had 27 tackles to go along with 44 carries for 369 yards (8.4 average) and four TDs. Minor injuries kept him out of the lineup for games five and six.
The North-South game will be played Dec. 21 at Joseph Milner Stadium in Gulfport, with an 11:30 a.m. kickoff. Head coaches will be Clinton Gatewood of Greenwood for the North and Tony Vance of Hattiesburg for the South.
It’s the 71st game in the series, but the 67th with the North-South format. From 1989 to 1992 the game pitted 4A and 5A schools against 1A, 2A and 3A schools.
The South leads 33-28 with five ties. One of the ties was last year, 0-0 in heavy rain.
The game will be televised by Mississippi Public Broadcasting stations.
The 33rd Mississippi-Alabama game at the University of Southern Mississippi’s M.M. Roberts Stadium kicks off at noon Dec. 14. Alabama holds a 22-10 lead in the series, but Mississippi has won two in a row, three of three of the last four, and the only two played in the Magnolia State.
Union coach Brad Breland is the head coach for the Mississippi team. “I'm really excited,” he said. “We (coaching staff) went out and tried to get the best 40 players in the state of Mississippi at this time, and I feel like we have kids who play hard. They are good kids with good character. Those are the properties we were looking for.”
The Mississippi-Alabama game will also be televised by MPB.
