Davis sparks South in comeback victory

Published 5:00 am Friday, July 20, 2007

CLINTON — Wesson quarterback Micah Davis capped off his highschool career in fine fashion Thursday night in the 52nd AnnualBernard Blackwell Mississippi High School All-Star FootballClassic. Before an estimated 4,000 fans at Mississippi College’sRobinson-Hale Stadium, Davis ran for a touchdown and got two keyfirst down in the final drive, leading the South to a 21-13comeback win over the North.

With the win, the South continues to lead the series 26-23-4.The North defeated the South 14-7 in last year’s game that was heldat Madison Central.

Davis, (6-1, 180), a Copiah-Lincoln Community College footballand baseball scholarship signee, had racked up the Defensive MVPhonor in the Class 1A/2A/3A All-Star Baseball Game in June as ashortstop. He added the football game’s Most Valuable OffensivePlayer title to his trophy case. He had 136 yards of total offense,including 114 in the air, going 10-14-1.

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

“We just wanted to come out and win,” said the soft-spoken Daviswho was surrounded by his father, Co-Lin head football coach GlennDavis, and friends. “This football MVP award feels better than thebaseball one. This feels awesome.”

The North held the South on its opening possession, received theensuing punt and promptly marched 88 yards in 165 plays. The Northused a 8 minutes and 27 seconds off the clock and scored on a3-yard run by Provine’s Anton Taylor with 1:09 left in the firstquarter. The PAT kick failed and the North owned a 6-0 lead.

Disaster hurt the South on its next possession. A fumble byTaylorsville’s Antione Agee set up the North’s second touchdown byTaylor, just 27 seconds into the second quarter. Taylor’s 1-yardjaunt and the PAT kick by Parker Ware of Northwest Rankin gave theNorth a 13-0 advantage and it looked like the start of ablowout.

The South, coached by Durwood Anderson of Raleigh, refused tofold. On the ensuing kickoff, the South struck quickly. Using 2plays and 54 seconds off the clock, an 84-yard pass by wideoutWilbert Lee of Puckett found Brandon’s Demario Davis alone for atouchdown. Clayton Seymour of D’Iberville tacked on the first ofhis 3 extra points kick and the South trailed 13-7.

Key play on the TD strike was a Davis lateral pass to Lee, whostanding 5 yards behind Davis on the right side, threw the bomb toDemario Davis.

“We wanted to have a balanced attack of run and pass,” saidMicah Davis. “This was a good group of guys to play with.”

The South took its first lead of the game with 18 seconds leftin the third. McComb’s Demorrius (Short Dog) Stewart, a 5-foot-9,205-pound Alcorn State signee, bulled his way into the end zonefrom a yard out. The South led 14-13 after the 9-play, 82-yardscoring drive which consumed nearly 4 minutes of the clock.

Davis closed out the scoring with 41 seconds left to play. A16-play, 74-yard drive concluded with Davis weaving his way 6 yardsfor the TD.

“I just wanted to come out and make plays for the team,” saidDavis, who made a pair of third-and-long runs to keep the drivemoving. Key play in the drive was a pass from Davis to DemarioDavis on third and 11.

“Micah wanted to come in and play well because he thought he gotoverlooked a lot in high school,” said his father, Glenn Davis. “Hefelt like he had a lot to prove in this game.”

The South also had the game’s Most Valuable Defensive Player inJeremy Veasley of Laurel, a Jones County Junior College signee.West Point running back Travis Walker won the Bill Stewart MemorialAward for sportsmanship. Bannon Luckey of Raleigh received the gameball for selling the most ads.