Hard-hitting Barlow kept Porters Chapel D’ flying
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 16, 2003
[12/14/03]Humphrey Barlow’s assignment was simple: roam from tackle to tackle, plug all the running lanes, slow down the opponent’s top running back, and give his team a chance to upset its archrival.
That the back in question, Tallulah Academy’s Cade Marsh, would go on to rush for 1,546 yards and 22 touchdowns this season didn’t matter. Barlow did what he always does his job.
It was something he did better than anyone this season. Barlow, a senior linebacker for Porters Chapel Academy, led Warren County with 140 tackles. He also forced four fumbles, recovered two, and collected two sacks. Now, he’s collected the Vicksburg Post’s Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Barlow is the first PCA player to be selected Defensive Player of the Year, and the first from the school to win a Post award of any kind since quarterback Ben Jernigan was named Offensive Player of the Year in 1996. Barlow is also the first linebacker chosen for the honor since Warren Central’s Eric Payne in 1994.
“It’s nice. It’s a good end to my senior season,” Barlow said. “I didn’t get to play much linebacker last year. I got my chance this year and made the best of it.”
Barlow rotated between the defensive line and linebacker in 2002, and turned in a solid season with 115 tackles and one interception.
This year, he played strictly at linebacker and exploded. He had at least 10 tackles in each of PCA’s 10 games and totaled 13 or more tackles in eight of them.
“It wasn’t bad at all. Just moving a few feet back, that was about it,” Barlow said of the switch from lineman to linebacker. “You get to read plays. You don’t have somebody on you every time.”
PCA coach Bubba Mims said Barlow affected the gameplans of many opposing coaches.
“No doubt, by the middle and end of the year other coaches’ gameplans involved blocking him,” Mims said. “I had one coach tell me one time, ‘I was watching the game against Tallulah and I couldn’t concentrate on Tallulah because I was watching number 44.’ That’s a pretty good compliment right there.”
In that game against Tallulah, a 7-6 PCA win on Sept. 12, Barlow was a human highlight reel. He had 15 tackles, blocked a crucial extra point in the fourth quarter, and even led the team in rushing with 54 yards from the fullback spot.
His defensive play helped PCA beat the Trojans for the first time ever, and allowed the Eagles to hold Tallulah to just 125 rushing yards. For the season, Tallulah averaged nearly 235 yards per game on the ground.
“He had a lot of good (games), so it’s hard to separate, but Tallulah had a potent running attack and his designation was to take anything from tackle to tackle, and he did,” Mims said.
The Tallulah game also highlighted Barlow’s versatility. In addition to his defensive prowess, he was PCA’s second leading rusher with 439 yards and eight touchdowns, and served as the lead blocker on many of the team’s running plays.
Like he was on defense, Barlow was dealing with a position change on offense. A 6-foot-1, 185-pounder, he played on the offensive line in 2002 before moving to fullback this season.
“He can really play anywhere. I think he played all three positions on the offensive line. He’s played fullback, and in our one-back set he actually played tailback,” Mims said.
Now, one of the questions facing Barlow is whether he’ll get to play football again. He was snubbed in the voting for the Conference 5-A defensive player of the year he finished second to Deer Creek’s John Carl Beckwith and was left off the MPSA all-star team in favor of another Deer Creek player.
“I was a little disappointed, because I wanted to see how good the other players were from the other districts and the bigger schools,” Barlow said of the all-star snub. “It’s not a big deal. You just take whatever comes.”
Several small colleges are reportedly showing interest in him, but his future may lie in baseball. He’s a third- and first-baseman for PCA’s defending state champion baseball team and hit .445 with nine home runs last spring.
“It’s more toward baseball, but if I have a good offer I’ll probably play somewhere,” Barlow said.
2003 All-County Defensive Team
Michael Shinn, DL, Sr., Porters Chapel
Casey Younger, DL, Sr., Vicksburg
James Henderson, DL, Sr., Warren Central
Dietrick Johnson, DL, Jr., Vicksburg
Ray Kline, LB, Sr., Vicksburg
Rory Johnson, LB, Sr., Vicksburg
Jesse Pedyfoot, LB, Jr., Warren Central
Chico Hunter, S, So., Warren Central
Jason Williams, S, Sr., Warren Central
Gerald Mims, DB, So., Porters Chapel
Drew Mazzanti, DB, Sr., St. Aloysius
Vaughn Mims, P, Sr., Warren Central
Kenny Simms, All-Purpose, So., Porters Chapel