On a warm October night in Jackson, Vicksburg High’s playoff hopes were hanging by a thread. The Gators held a one-point lead on Callaway late in the fourth quarter, in a game where the winner would clinch a postseason berth.

Vicksburg linebacker Nick Anderson, surveying the situation, overheard a snippet of conversation between a Callaway player and coach about how to block him on the next play.

Anderson’s brain immediately processed the information and knew what it meant. He quietly tipped off a couple of teammates that the Chargers were about to throw a screen pass, and directed them into position to take full advantage of it. Anderson avoided the block he’d been alerted to, intercepted the pass and raced 28 yards to the end zone for a crucial touchdown in the Gators’ 29-21 victory.

“When we watched film, Callaway loved to run screens,” Anderson said. “So it’s third and long and the coach told him to come block me, but then I remembered the way that he came and blocked me that it was a screen based on watching film the whole week. The quarterback threw it out there and I jumped out there and took it back.”

It was the kind of play made possible by hours of film study and preparation. It was the kind of play Anderson was able to make because of his deep knowledge of the game and his opponent.

It was the kind of play only a player of the year could make.

Anderson, the senior linebacker for the Gators, is exactly that. The interception return against Callaway was only one of many spectacular and excellently routine plays he made all season long on his way to earning The Vicksburg Post’s Defensive Player of the Year award for the second year in a row.

Anderson is the seventh two-time winner of the award, which was first handed out in 1987.

“When I found out, I started jumping up and down and running down the hallway. I was excited, because this is a major accomplishment with the support of my teammates,” Anderson said. “We had a good year with the circumstances, but for us to do what we did this year I dedicate this to my coaches, my teammates and my family, but most importantly to God. Without him, none of this would be possible. Back-to-back? I feel like (Michael) Jordan in ’96 and ’97. It’s a good club to be in.”

Anderson’s overall stats were down slightly this season from last — he had 114 total tackles and 13 for loss compared to 136 and 19 in 2016 — but he made up for it with a newfound knack for generating game-changing takeaways.

Anderson forced eight fumbles and had two interceptions. In addition to the one against Callaway, he returned another for the go-ahead touchdown in a win over Ridgeland. Those two victories were crucial for the Gators as they rallied from an 0-5 start to win five of their last six games and finish third in Region 2-5A.

Vicksburg had one shutout and didn’t allow more than 21 points in any game during its stretch run, after allowing 27 or more in each of the first five games.

“Both of those (interceptions) were clutch for us in the stretch. It’s something we’ve always talked about. I can remember when he was in 10th grade and I was the linebackers coach, we used to work that drill every day. I told him, ‘If you drop in that zone, you’re going to eventually get a pick,’” Vicksburg head coach Lorenzo Breland said. “It hadn’t happened before, but he ended up catching not just two, but two pick-sixes.”

None of Anderson’s accomplishments were the result of luck or coincidence. The 6-foot, 230-pounder can bench press nearly 350 pounds and run a 4.6-second 40-yard dash, but his greatest moments were the result of putting in extra time on the weekend and in the film room.

Anderson and a handful of teammates often worked together after practice or on Sunday when most of the team went through a light workout. He also obsessively watches game film at home, after he’s done the classwork required to maintain his 4.5 GPA.

“I’ve been watching film since the first time I got HUDL as a freshman. That’s just one of my hobbies,” Anderson said. “Since we’ve been out of season I’ve been watching what I’ve done wrong so I can fix it going to the next level. I like to critique my game. When I get to a couple of plays where I did good, I smile because not only God but it’s me knowing the game and coaches preparing me.”

Anderson credited his work ethic to his family. His grandfather is Vicksburg mayor George Flaggs, and his parents Emmarie and Stephen Anderson famously pulled him off the freshman football team after he made a single “B” in Spanish class.

“I love my mom. She keeps her foot on me 24-7. Without her, I would not be the man I am today,” Anderson said. “Seeing her go through the things she’s gone through in life, she’s a strong woman. It makes me want to be there for her and my little brother and sister. And then my grandfather has been there all my life. I’ve got so much love for my grandfather, because he’s been that dominant role model in my life for so long. I love my family.”

With his high school career now over, Anderson is starting to turn his attention to college. He’s received scholarship offers from Central Arkansas, Alcorn State, Memphis, Mississippi State and South Alabama. A half-dozen other four-year schools and junior colleges are showing interest.
Anderson isn’t yet sure where he’ll sign in February.

“Whatever God brings me, I’m grateful. I’m going somewhere,” he said.

Breland said wherever that is, they’ll find themselves grateful to have a player like Anderson.

“Some school is going to be lucky to have him,” Breland said. “You take a kid like Nick, he’s a great kid and a great leader on and off the field. He does everything you ask him. He’s a strong kid. Good with his academics. He’s just an ideal kid. He’s what you look for in a player and a leader. It shows all the hard work he’s put in over the years, and he’s starting to reap the benefits.”

Vicksburg Post Defensive Players of the Year
2017 – Nick Anderson, LB, Vicksburg
2016 – Nick Anderson, LB, Vicksburg
2015 – Jomon O’Neal, DL, Vicksburg
2014 – DeArius Christmas, LB, Warren Central
2013 – DeArius Christmas, LB, Warren Central
2012 – DeArius Christmas, LB, Warren Central
and Derrick Thomas, LB, Warren Central
2011 – Devon Bell, P, Warren Central
2010 – Lee Douglas, LB, Central Hinds
2009 – Mitchell Hoskins, LB, Port Gibson
2008 – Carlos Williams, LB, Vicksburg
2007 – Carlos Williams, LB, Vicksburg
2006 – Dekores Branch, LB, Vicksburg
2005 – Willis McGowan, DB, Vicksburg
2004 – Chico Hunter, DB, Warren Central
2003 – Humphrey Barlow, LB, Porters Chapel
2002 – D’Eldrick Taylor, DB, Vicksburg
2001 – D’Eldrick Taylor, DB, Vicksburg
2000 – Thad Henderson, DT, Warren Central
1999 – Thad Henderson, DT, Warren Central
1998 – Jason Myers, LB, Vicksburg
1997 – Josh Morgan, DB, Warren Central
1996 – Ivan Martin, DL, Warren Central
1995 – Chris Rainey, LB, Vicksburg
1994 – Eric Payne, LB, Warren Central
1993 – Michael Myers, DL, Vicksburg
1992 – Michael Myers, DL, Vicksburg
1991 – Chris Henderson, LB, Vicksburg
1990 – Ronnie Taylor, LB, Vicksburg
1989 – Robert Winters, LB, Warren Central
1988 – Robert Winters, LB, Warren Central
1987 – Jack Muirhead, LB, Warren Central