Bye Week Recruiting Notes: A Profile in Dedication

In an effort to prove my dedication to you, the legions of loyal followers of Forward Rebels, I sacrificed my Friday night ( I had like a zillion party options - duh) in order to drive down to Olive Branch to take in the OB vs. Tupelo playoff game this weekend. Recruiting guru and first class Beck-bully Theo Holland assured me there were no fewer than six future D-1 players on the field, at least a couple of whom Ole Miss has a legit shot at landing this year.

To be honest I was more than a little fired up about taking in a 5A playoff game between two traditionally strong football schools. The last time me and Theo did something like this, we went to see Olive Branch against S. Panola - I can't remember the year but Chris Strong was a junior I had never heard of when we got there, and I watched him just dominate OB's offensive line the entire night. Two years later when we signed him I sent out a confusing mass text-message that read, simply: Something wicked this way comes. Now I think the guy is a backup DE at like Northeast. Guy signed with the Rebs, Coach O called him the "cornerstone of his class", then he got stuck in the tweener zone (too slow for OLB, too small for DE), then he posted a buckshot GPA, then he left the school having never recorded a single tackle (guessing). So, yeah, I've been wrong before about highschoolers, but I digress.

Like I say, I was fired up about the game. Brought my digital camera along. Thought about bringing pen and pad. Noticeably excited. So much so that when we had to stop for directions at a sketchy Shell station after taking a wrong turn out of a Dodge's Chicken (Theo = big fan of the jojo's), I was probably grinning when I approached the counter. The girl on the other side had a cell phone to her ear, was chewing a piece of gum, and her Shell nametag / pin said her name was Brandy. Brandy was also about 12 months pregnant. Maybe 18 years old.

Me: Hey can you tell me how to get to the game - we're lost.

Brandy: *into cell phone* Shit. Hold own.

Me: Yeah can you tell me how to get to the game.

Brandy: You ain't from here?

Me: No.

Brandy: You from Tupelo?

Me: No.

Brandy: Wait. So you ain't from here or Tupelo, but you goin' to tha game. You from South Panowlah?

Me: No. I think we took a wrong turn off of 305, could you...

Brandy: You ain't with the paper either, huh. I mean, how come you want to come down to Olive Branch to watch a damn football game? Ain't neither one of these teams gone beat Panowlah. Shit. Its Friday. Go do somethin.

Shell: Where taking-a-long-hard-look-at-your-reflection-in-the-dingy-bulletproof-casing-around-the-checkout-area Happens.

Anyhow we eventually made it to the game. Among the players of note:

• Chad Bumphis: Bumphis is listed at 5'10 and could very well be, provided that everyone else on the field was > than 5'10. Regardless of not being the biggest guy on the field, he did provide a few glimpses of big-play potential - the kid's got offers from all over the place but supposedly has it narrowed down to Ole Miss, LSU, Florida, and I believe Bama. He was Tupelo's best athlete, ligning up at WR, KR, Punter and (according to T-Bone) the premier back in some variation of the Wild Cat, though I never saw the formation Friday night. We really got gipped out of seeing him at his best, as he was hobbled with a left ankle injury when we got there. Then in the 3rd quarter (on a play where he fumbled) he appeared to hurt his other ankle. The rest of the game he acted like he could barely walk, though he stayed in the game (it was a very close game to the end). In short, I obviously trust the recruting staffs of the SEC over my own untrained eyes, so even after a sub-par performance, I'd still love to see Bumphis in Rebel gear. Guy is tiny, injury prone, can run some form of the Wild Cat, and tends to put the ball on the ground. Insert Dex joke * here*.
  




• Rod Woodson (seriously)

This guy is going to be a monster. He plays OLB but he probably projects to play Strong Safety like his namesake. Really, he flat out dominated Tupelo's tackles, consistently beating them around the edge to just crush the QB from the blind side. He also had a pick-six. Guy's already built like a tank, and has blazing speed. The bad news is that he's committed to Bama. The silver lining is that its only November. Regardless, it was fun watching him just repeatedly clobber this guy:

• Johnny QB
  

OK I can't remember Tupelo's quarterback's name, but he's committed to LSU. He's a better than good high school QB with a good, quick release and decent mobility. BUT, T-bone doesn't see the guy getting much PT in Baton Rouge, and as you can see, he really pissed off his coach. That said, in a league where Jonathan Crompton, Wes Carrol, and a plethora of Auburn QB's exist, I don't see why this guy couldn't at least get a shot. Also, there was this guy:

• Tree Ent
  

Olive Branch had an offensive tackle that was one of the largest human beings I've ever seen. Again, can't recall his name, but he's committed to UT. T-Bone tells me that he doesn't have an offer from either us or State, which seems odd to me. He did seem a little soft and didn't really dominate nearly as much as someone his size should BUT, with that framework I'm sure he could be coached up. Guy was like 6'6 300. As a high-schooler. Show him some love, Right Reverend.

ed note: A tree ent is a large good guy from Lord of the Rings, for all you non-members of the Fellowship.

Anyhow, on quasi-related notes:
1.) Olive Branch has the sickest high school field I've ever seen. Their turf is the same as the turf at Vaught Hemingway, and their bleachers are all concrete and wrap around the field. Their scoreboard, incidentally, has "Us" and "Y'all" in place of "Home" and "Away". I only mention this because I find it hard to believe that these apparently new facility upgrades didn't have anything to do with Canon Smith's short tenure there. I mean, if the guy's dad (who runs Fed Ex) would do that for a high school that his son attended for one year, think about what he would've done for Ole Miss. Why oh why did you have to catch him with a bunch of beans, OBPD? Just why?

2.) I'm toying with the idea of letting T-Bone join the staff here at Forward Rebels, if only to give recruiting reports. Seriously, the guy probably knows more than Yancy about our recruits, somehow, even though he claims not to surf the webs at work. He would at least remember the guys' names, unlike myself. I've even already chosen a name for his posts: Bone-bits (in re: Yancy's "Tidbits".) I'll keep you posted.