Vicksburg High’s football season started with a winning streak and ended in the playoffs. Now, one Gator still has a chance to showcase his talents among the best players in the state.

Wide receiver Te’Darious Brown will play for the North team in the Bernard Blackwell Mississippi All-Star Classic Saturday in Gulfport. The senior finished the season with 70 receptions for 1,006 yards and nine touchdowns, and averaged 14 yards per catch.

He’s one of two Warren County players participating in the game, along with Warren Central safety Byron Galvin.

“It was real great news. I was very excited because it was one of the goals I set this season,” Brown said. “I look at it as a great opportunity, I can’t wait, I think it’ll be fun and I think I’ll preform pretty well.”

Brown has wanted one more shot to extend his season since the Gators lost in the first round of the playoffs to eventual Class 5A runner-up Oxford. He feels he had his best game of the season that night, as he didn’t drop any passes and finished with 11 receptions for 147 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for a touchdown in the 35-21 loss.

Brown finished his high school career as Warren County’s all-time leader in receptions, with 123, and is second on the career receiving yardage list with 1,832. Brown was also just the sixth player in Warren County history to have 1,000 receiving yards in a season.

Heading into the all-star game on Saturday, Brown is relaxed and feels that the spotlight he’s been put in validated him as a threat to other teams.

With this being his last game as a Gator, the game is very emotional for him.

“I didn’t want this to be the one that I had to depend on after the playoffs. I take good pride in it and I plan on showing out for my hometown,” Brown said.

Brown feels his speed makes him special as a receiver. He ran a 4.38-second 40-yard-dash in a summer camp at Mississippi State and then ran another 40 in 4.44 seconds at Mississippi College on July 9.

Vicksburg coach Marcus Rogers said Brown was the right choice for the all-star game because he’s everything a coach looks for in a player. In the classroom, Brown has a 3.8 GPA and 19 ACT test score.

“He’s one of the top six receivers in the state. After you go with your big name guys, then you got to go straight to him,” Rogers said. “He had a great year as far as statistically on the field.”

While Rogers has always seen the potential in Brown, he said he always needed a push to reach his peak performance level.

“He’s matured tremendously, talent wise,” Rogers said. “He’s fast, he’s strong and he just needed a little more motivation.”

Rogers said with Brown coming into his senior year, trying to get to college and play in an all-star game was the motivation needed to unleash his talents.

Rogers has talked with Brown about the all-star game’s magnitude and told him to do what he’s supposed to do to stand out.

“I told him that it’s bigger than him,” Rogers said. “What I need (Brown) to do is go down there and represent Vicksburg, the city, the community and your family.”

Brown’s nine receiving touchdowns led the team and teammates looked to him as a leader and motivator. He was a leader by example with the way he made plays and the effort he gave on the field.

“He’s a quiet leader, he goes about his job on the field,” Rogers said. “He still has some stuff on the field to work on like anyone else, but as far as him being a 17-year-old student-athlete that’s about to go to college, you can’t ask for anything else.”