Jeff Rushing of Brookhaven Academy had an outstanding gameFriday night against Centreville Academy. The junior strong safetyaccounted for 18 tackles as the Cougars edged Centreville 14-13 toremain undefeated in seven games.

That performance has earned Rushing The DAILY LEADER’s DefensivePlayer of the Week award.

Brookhaven Academy head coach Herbert Davis said Rushing has plentyof football skills. “Jeff has a knack for being around the ball.He’s intelligent and understands what we are doing defensively. Healways plays hard.”

Davis said Rushing was in the right place at the right time in BA’shomecoming game against Centreville. “Their blocking schemes forcea safety to make a tackle. He and Gage (Posey) both had a goodnight,” in the secondary.

Rushing, a 5-foot-10, 150-pounder, plays football with a passion.He moved from his regular position of free safety when his olderbrother, Mark, suffered a broken collarbone in the Central Hindsgame three weeks ago.

Brotherly advice: “Mark told me to ‘Do your reads right andeverything will work out fine for you.'”

An honor roll student, Jeff’s favorite subject is math. He isconsidering a future career in accounting. Rushing also playsbasketball for the Cougars and he’s a member of the golfteam.

His parents are Paula and Dr. Richard Rushing. He has five brothersand two sisters. They are Will, John, Matt, Mark, Seth, Mary Annaand Sara Kate. Seth is a sophomore who plays on BA’s kickoff teams.They all are devoted Ole Miss fans and faithfully follow theRebels.

Rushing said Davis and defensive coordinator Kenny Williams workovertime preparing a game plan each weekend. “I love our coaches todeath. They prepare us. I’ve never seen them spend so much timewatching film. They have practice set up perfect and a gameplan.”

Jeff was playing strong safety Friday night when Centrevilleauthored an all-out effort to knock off the Cougars. He said,”Centreville is a power running team. We have to stop the run. Ouroffense wasn’t clicking and our defense had to step up.”

Hungry for action on the gridiron? Rushing said, “You get a lotmore tackles at strong safety. They run a lot more plays to thestrong side.”

Working in the secondary with Rushing are Bubba Keene and JenningsMills at cornerback and Jennings Mills at free safety.

The Cougars cruised to an historic 15-0 record and an MAIS Class AAstate championship last season. They have won 22 straight games,the longest current winning streak in the Magnolia State.

Asked about a successful title defense, Rushing said, “We have agood chance to repeat. We have to work hard in practice every dayto have a chance.

“Our defense is a little bit better on rush defense and our passdefense is pretty good because our secondary is experienced,” saidRushing.

He and his teammates host another unbeaten team Friday night whenthe defending Class A state champion Natchez Trinity Saints invadeR.M. “Red” Stuard Field. “Trinity will be a hard team to coverbecause they have so many good backs.”

Both teams are 7-0 entering the contest.