Both the Lady Blue Devils and Blue Devils lost on Senior Night on Friday in the WVHS gym to South Panola. The Lady Devils fell behind in the first half and never recovered as they lost 58-35, while the Blue Devils’ early first-half lead didn’t stick late as they fell 43-39 in the nightcap.

For Blue Devils coach John Sherman, the loss came down to turnovers, too many for his team and not enough for the Tigers, who were down 11-1 to start the contest. (February 6, 2012, Page 4B)

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The announcement show at Irie on the Square gave the area’s top football players a nice platform to not only announce their college choices, but to also be recognized by the community for their excellence on the football field.

With so many commitments from Oxford, Lafayette and Water Valley — and the crazy 24 hours that was regarding Ole Miss’ recruiting efforts — we decided to combine all the articles (in their entirety) in the space below for your convenience:

Conard, Jackson headed to Itawamba I.C.C.

OHS Chargers trio picks Northwest

Itawamba, Holmes garner commits from ‘Dores

QB Beathard flips to Iowa; Judon switches to football (and Rebs pick up former UCF commitment)

‘Geaux Tigers, Baby’: ‘Dores Liggins makes his call for LSU

Photo gallery of QB Jeremy Liggins announcement

Photo gallery of RB Demarkous Dennis, LB Jamel Dennis and K/P Tyler Jackson (January 31, 2012)

The cornerback and linebacker have been integral parts of Water Valley’s “Wrecking Crew” defensive unit for the better part of four seasons.

“You hear about cornerstones, well, they’ve been the cornerstones of our defense for the past four years and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” WVHS defensive coordinator Richard Russo said. “I don’t care where they go, they’re going to be successful and continue to grow.”

Head coach Brad Embry echoed his coordinator’s thoughts.

“Obviously God blessed them. That’s the main thing,” he said. “They have the physical abilities, but it’s good to see them do what you ask of them and watch them grow not only as a football player but as a young man and to see things turn out well for them. I’m proud of them and I know they’ll do well.

“I look forward to watching them at Itawamba.”

After being recruited by a majority of the state’s community colleges, Conard and Jackson settled on the Indians following their official visit.

“When we first walked on the campus of ICC, the campus just stood out to us,” Conard said. “Everything is real nice. They have real nice facilities.”

Because of the demolition of the traditional protection zones for junior colleges, schools from across the state were free to dip into traditionally off limit schools.

“It was real tough with coaches calling every night, coming to basketball games and seeing you had a dozen missed calls from the guys,” Conard said. “When you make a great bond with someone you don’t want to let the other guys down, but you just have to make the right decision.”

The WVHS duo to see playing time immediately for the Indians.

“Corners get a reputation as being receivers that can’t catch, but Chris is a very physical corner and that’s going to help him if someone plays him in the correct scheme that allows him to be physical up at the line of scrimmage,” Russo said.

Some schools were recruiting Jackson at safety, but the linebacker said ICC offered a chance to play immediately at the position he’s most familiar with.

“They wanted to play me at linebacker. They didn’t see me much as a safety and that’s OK, some do and some don’t,” he said. “I feel like playing linebacker is something I’ve been doing my whole life. I might not be the biggest typical linebacker, but I think it’s all about the heart.”

Jackson later joked: “I pray I hit a little growth spurt so I can get a little taller and a little quicker.”

More blitzing
Russo expects ICC to utilize Jackson the same way the Blue Devils did.

“ICC is going to use him a lot like we did, play him at linebacker but also use him on some blitz schemes,” he said. “He could be very, very special.”

As seniors, Jackson and Conard recorded 157 and 77 tackles respectively.

Jackson also rushed for 428 yards and eight touchdowns on 53 carries this season.

Conard and Jackson will sign National Letters of Intent with ICC on Wednesday. (January 31, 2012, Page 10)

Water Valley’s guest speaker will be former Ole Miss baseball and football legend Jake Gibbs. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased from any baseball player or by calling (601) 624-1142 or (601) 473-2468. (January 30, 2012)

The Blue Devils played the Tigers even the rest of the contest, but ended up falling 53-48. WVHS (5-11 overall, 2-3 in Region 2-3A play) was led by E.J. Bounds’ 11 points.

Jonathan Kirkwood had 10 points, while K.J. Lee also scored 10 points.

Both Water Valley varsity teams will be back in action Friday at North Panola. (January 26, 2012, Page 7)

Houlka ended up defeating the Blue Devils 50-39 after outscoring them 24-13 in the fourth quarter. C.J. Jackson led WVHS with 18 points, while E.J. Bounds scored nine points. The 5-10 Blue Devils returned to action tonight at Nettleton. (January 24, 2012, Page 9)

The Troopers’ run ended up erasing a two-point lead for the WVHS boys and resulting in a 45-35 lead just before the start of the fourth quarter. Water Valley did go on a 10-2 run in the fourth to get within two points (49-47) of the Troopers, but the Blue Devils never could get over the proverbial hump. The end result was a 67-52 victory for Mooreville, which is now in second place in the region. (January 23, 2012, Page 3B)

Have questions or comments? Don’t hesitate to e-mail us at patrickochs@oxfordeagle.com or johndavis@oxfordeagle.com. You can also tweet us at @patrickochs and @oxfordeaglejd. (January 20, 2012)