Six from Vicksburg sign

Published 8:57 am Thursday, February 2, 2017

The six Vicksburg High School football players gathered in the school library were symbolic of the program the past couple of years — talented and full of potential, but a little overlooked on both fronts.

Nevertheless, there they were with an opportunity to keep going and make the most of their positive attributes.

The six players — defensive backs Devontay Knight, Evan Mobley and Ramses Fultz, wide receiver Raheem Moore and James Allen, and offensive lineman Kenya Cobbs Jr. — all signed letters of intent on Wednesday to play college football.

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Cobbs was the lone player to sign with a four-year school. He’s headed to Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The others signed with junior colleges in Mississippi.

Mobley signed with Holmes Community College. Allen and Fultz signed with Mississippi Delta, while Knight and Moore signed with Jones County Junior College.

“I talk about this group all the time, because it wasn’t an entitled group. They came up through the program and excelled at each level from junior high to varsity. Us being a threat on the state level I attribute to their maturation process. I hate to see them go,” Vicksburg head coach Marcus Rogers said.

Cobbs had a rags-to-riches story that summed up the Gators’ signing class. He was on Vicksburg’s swim team until his junior year, when Rogers convinced him to give football a shot. Within two years, the 6-foot-3, 330-pound lineman had earned a scholarship offer from a Football Championship Subdivision program.

“I’m very glad. It’s working hard every day. Every day you’ve got to get up and put the work in,” Cobbs said. “When you want to quit, you have to work hard and get where you need to be. It’s all about work ethic.”

Cobbs said he picked UAPB because he liked the atmosphere and felt it gave him the best opportunity to develop as a football player.

“They have a nice weight room and their line coaches are highly experienced,” Cobbs said. “When I went on my official visit, they took us around the campus and we got to meet some of the players. I felt at home.”

Moore was the 2016 Vicksburg Post Offensive Player of the Year after catching 77 passes for 1,135 yards and a Warren County-record 20 touchdowns. He said he attended a camp at Jones last summer and was offered a scholarship after running one pass route.

“I did a go route and the coach liked the way I went up and got the ball. He said he’d like to see me doing that in a Jones uniform,” Moore said.

For his part, Moore said he liked the way Jones sends its players to the next level. Fourteen Jones players signed with four-year schools during the early signing period in December.

“I think they signed 17 freshmen and sophomores, and they get their players out early. They have an academic program where they stay hands on. No football player had a GPA under 3.0,” Moore said.

Allen and Fultz will be teammates once again at Mississippi Delta. Allen, a wide receiver who caught 47 passes for 684 yards and four touchdowns last season, said it was the best opportunity for him to play early and get an offer from a four-year school.

“I like the school and the program,” Allen said. “They’ve got a good program as far as getting you out of there. I want to leave in December, and I feel like they can get me there.”

Allen added that he was happy to earn a scholarship to honor his grandmother, Laverne Williams, who died in March 2015.

“I know my grandmother would be proud. Real proud. She’d probably be crying,” Allen said.

For Fultz, Mississippi Delta was an attractive option because of something it doesn’t yet have. He also runs track for Vicksburg, and Mississippi Delta is in the process of starting a track and field program. He hopes to participate in both sports next year.

“They’re going to start a track program, so that’s something to look forward to,” Fultz said. “They said they were struggling and I can be a key player for them.”

Mobley, meanwhile, picked Holmes because they were closest to home. He also had offers from Coahoma County, East Central and Mississippi Delta.

“I just liked the coach and how he was talking to me. I liked the environment. It felt like home,” Mobley said.

WARREN COUNTY SIGNEES:
• Ben Brown, OL (St. Aloysius/Ole Miss)
• Shakee Shaw, DB (Warren Central/Jackson State)
• Kenya Cobbs, OL (Vicksburg/Ark.-Pine Bluff)
• DeMarcus Jones, RB (WC/Northwest Mississippi CC)
• Nathan Hearn, TE/LS (WC/Northwest Mississippi CC)
• Lynn McCay, OL (WC/Southwest Mississippi CC)
• Malcolm Miller, OL (Warren Central/Jones JC)
• Joe Shorter, RB/DB (Warren Central/Hinds CC)
• Jesse Wilson, QB (Warren Central/Holmes CC)
• Trajan Winters, OL (Warren Central/Holmes CC)
• Evan Mobley, DB (Vicksburg, Holmes CC)
• James Allen, WR (Vicksburg/Mississippi Delta CC)
• Ramses Fultz, DB (Vicksburg/Mississippi Delta CC)
• Devontay Knight, DB (Vicksburg/Jones County JC)
• Raheem Moore, WR (Vicksburg/Jones County JC)
• Caleb Boyett, DL (Warren Central/Southern Miss)*
• Terrell Roby, WR (Warren Central/Alcorn State)*
* Accepted offer as a preferred walk-on

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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