Courtney Hall of Hazlehurst and David Brunt of Copiah Academyhelped make an impact on offense for their respective team.

Hall helped Hazlehurst win the MHSAA Class 3A state footballtitle, shutting out Charleston 14-0. Brunt sparked Copiah to thechampionship game of the MPSA Class AA where the Colonels fell 14-7to 3-time defending champ Simpson County.

For their accomplishments this year, Hall and Brunt have beennamed The DAILY LEADER’S All-Area Co-Offensive MVPs.

The All-Area Team is selected by members of the DL sports staff,with input provided by area high school and college coaches.

Joining Hall and Brunt in the offensive backfield are ChrisAbron of South Pike and Otho Smith of Wesson. The quarterbacks areKelsey Island of South Pike and Damien Anderson of Hazlehurst.

Making up the offensive line are Bruce Issac of McComb, PhillipFreeman of Wesson, Emmanuel Muhammad of Franklin County, NickJackson of Lawrence County, Warren Smith of Parklane and EldricChristmas of Hazlehurst.

Derrick Ross of South Pike is the wide receiver. Parklane’s BenWall is the return specialist. Les Mulkey of Parklane is theplacekicker. The tight end is Keyun Daniels of McComb.

Working at the all-purpose position are Taebyus Smith ofLawrence County and Bobby Moore of Hazlehurst.

Mulkey, Freeman and Muhammad are repeaters from the 2004team.

Courtney Hall (5-10, 190, jr.) finished theseason with 154 rushes for 1,409 yards and scored 18 touchdowns,including six PATs, for 120 total points.

“It fees great,” said Hall. “I’d like to go back next year andwin it again. I’d like to thank God.”

David Brunt (6-1, 195, sr.) played running backfor the Colonels and ended his year with 229 rushes for 1,249 yardsand 15 touchdowns.

“Brunt was a great football player for us on both sides of theball,” said Copiah head football coach Mitch Mitchell. “He startedas a 9th grader on defense. He was our major offensive guy. He dida good job for us.”

Kelsey Island (5-11, 190, sr.) powered theSouth Pike offense, completing 94 of 214 passes for 1,494 yards and27 touchdowns. Island rushed the football 88 times for 388 yardsand scored 10 TDs.

Damien Anderson (5-11, 120, jr.) was instrumentin leading Hazlehurst to the MHSAA Class 3A state crown. Andersoncompleted 28 of 48 passes for 553 yards and 8 touchdowns. On theground, he rushed 52 times for 527 yards and scored 7 TDs.

Chris Abron (5-5, 180, sr.) played running backfor South Pike. Abron finished the year with 1,093 yards on 154carries and scoring 10 touchdowns. He also caught 19 passes for 323yards and three touchdowns.

Otho Smith (6-1, 175, jr.) carried the load forWesson at running back with 163 rushes for 1,091 yards and 14touchdowns.

Bryce Issac (5-11, 230, sr.) used his size andstrength on the offense line to help McComb in the state 4Aplayoffs.

Phillip Freeman (6-6, 270, sr.) was a leaderfor Wesson at offensive tackle. Freeman started for the Cobrasthree-straight years and was named MAC All-State Class 2A SecondTeam.

Emmanuel Muhammad (6-5, 305, sr.) is on to theSecond Team All-State Class 3A as offensive lineman from FranklinCounty. Muhammad was a key to Franklin County’s success.

Nick Jackson (6-3, 200, jr.) was a hard-hittinglineman for Lawrence County and will return next year to help theCougars.

Warren Smith (6-1, 265, sr.) played offensiveguard and defensive tackle for Parklane. Smith was named to theMPSA All-Conference team.

Eldric Christmas (6-0, 235, sr.) was anoffensive lineman for Hazlehurst.

Derrick Ross (6-2, 180, jr. ) played widereceiver for South Pike, catching 39 passes for 743 yards andscored 15 touchdowns.

Keyun Daniels (6-2, 200, sr.) played tight endfor McComb who came back strong in the second half of theseason.

Taebyus Smith (6-0, 200, sr.) overcame a brokenleg in August to play runningback for Lawrence in the final fourgames of the season. Smith rushed 67 times for 326 yards and ranfor a pair of touchdowns.

Bobby Moore (6-0, 175, jr.) was anotheroffensive threat for Hazlehurst. Moore rushed the football 147times for 1,246 yards and scored 14 touchdowns.

Ben Wall (6-0, 165, sr.) was named AllConference at Parklane where he played defensive back. He runs a40-yard dash in 4.5.

Les Mulkey (5-10, 180, sr.) worked aplacekicker and running back for Parklane. Mulkey kicked 25 extrapoints and seven field goals including kicks of 54, 53, 52 and 50yards. At running back, he rushed for 1,597 yards on 223 carries.Mulkey played for the MPSA South All-Stars and was named MVP inClass AAA.

According to Coach Charlie Newlon, Mulkey is being looked at asa kicker by Ole Miss, LSU, Auburn, Southeastern Louisiana andSouthwest Community College.