[10/6/05]

So, who are the best players to play in Warren County over the last 50 years?

How would Carl Blue stack up against Brian Darden? How would the great Eddie Ray handle a pass rush from former Vicksburg Gator Michael Myers?

With your help, we will soon find out.

As part of the Mississippi High School Activities Association’s commemoration of 100 years of high school football, we are going back to 1955 to put together teams of the decade.

The plan is to break down our teams into four groups – 1955-1969, 1970-1979, 1980-1989 and 1990-present. Ballots are being prepared with top players’ names and a brief description of their accomplishments.

We want our readers to vote for the best players in each group. After tallying the results, an all-era team will be composed. After all four eras are decided, we will again make a ballot with all the winners to come up with an all-time, all-county team.

The sports staff is compiling the information, but we will have no say in who is the best. It will be entirely left up to you, our readers.

So, any early favorites?

I have heard that Temple High’s William Wooley could throw a football so hard, it could go through a car wash and come out dry on the other side.

I never saw Darden play, but his senior season at Warren Central coincided with my junior year at Southern Miss. In the high school football world then, it was Warren Central and Brian Darden.

Has any runner ever been more electrifying than Larry Warner? Remember the 300 yards on eight carries in the 2004 Red Carpet Bowl?

If any position will demand the most heated debate, it should be running back. Carl Blue and Sylvester Stamps were before my time, but knowledgeable football followers in this area say they were the best. Mike Ray and John Kavanaugh of St. Aloysius rushed for a combined 8,000 yards in their careers.

What a difficult choice, but one we are sure you are up to.

The first ballot will appear in Sunday’s paper and then again on Monday. You will have two chances to vote for each era’s team, and we urge you to vote twice if you so desire.

Ballots can be hand-delivered or mailed to: The Vicksburg Post, 1601-F North Frontage Road, Vicksburg, MS, 39182. Or, readers can e-mail their selections to: sports@vicksburgpost.com, or by faxing them to 601-634-0897.

We certainly hope you embrace this opportunity. Football is such a woven part of this community, it should be known who was the best of all time.

Good luck and happy voting.