1 of 6

Warren Central defensive linemen, from left, Ronnie Blossom, Tekarius Qualls and Larry Reynolds Jr. are the 2024 Vicksburg Post Defensive football Players of the Year in Warren County. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central defensive linemen Tekarius Quallis (5), Larry Reynolds Jr. (8) and Ronnie Blossom (18) are the 2024 Vicksburg Post Defensive football Players of the Year in Warren County. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central defensive lineman Ronnie Blossom (18) tackles Brandon's Joseph Ford and forces a fumble. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Tekarius Qualls (5) blocks a punt off the foot of Pearl's Kingi McNair (2). (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Larry Reynolds Jr. sacks Pearl quarterback Dylan Story and forces a fumble. (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High running back Cedrick Blackmore (7) can't escape warren Central defenders Larry Reynolds (8) and Tekarius Qualls (5). (Walter Frazier/For The Vicksburg Post)

There wasn’t a single play that symbolized Warren Central’s defense this season. It was a steady beat of them, piled up over the course of 13 weeks, that made the unit one of the best in Mississippi high school football.

There wasn’t one player who stood head and shoulders above the rest, either.

It was actually three.

Linemen Tekarius Qualls, Larry Reynolds Jr. and Ronnie Blossom were fearsome pass rushers and hole-plugging run-stoppers on a defense that powered Warren Central to the MHSAA Class 6A semifinals.

The trio combined for 96 tackles for loss, 26 sacks, and 10 takeaways, as well as one Vicksburg Post Defensive Player of the Year award.

“It feels good to know that I’m getting acknowledged. I haven’t really gotten that many,” Qualls said. “We said in the beginning of the summer that we were going to come out and be a trio. It’s a big honor that all three of us got it.”

It’s the first time in the 37-year history of The Post’s postseason football awards that three people have shared a Player of the Year award. The performances of Qualls, Reynolds and Blossom made it impossible to separate them as individuals, however.

Blossom led Warren Central with 96 tackles, but Reynolds had the most tackles for loss (39) and sacks (11.5), and set the school’s career record in the latter category. Qualls tied Reynolds for the team lead with four forced fumbles, and finished with 76 tackles and five sacks.

Blossom was selected to play in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game and also earned Class 6A All-State honors with Reynolds. Reynolds was the Region 2-6A overall MVP.

Qualls was snubbed for the All-State team, but did share the Region 2-6A MVP Defensive MVP award with Blossom and has signed with Holmes Community College.

The trio has played football together for nearly a decade, ever since their days on the Warren County Ravens youth team. Sharing so many postseason accolades in their senior season was a great way to end that era, they said.

“Not only is this good that I got it, we all three of us got it,” Reynolds said. “People just see the stats, but they don’t see us coming out here on the field together when we’re out here working. It just shows us that the work we put in paid off.”

Reynolds also praised the fourth member of the Vikings’ defensive line, senior Allen Oliver. Oliver only had 32 tackles and did not get the recognition the others got, but Reynolds said he made everyone’s job easier by the role he played on the front four.

“You can’t leave out Allen,” Reynolds said. “All three of us, our get-off is fast so we were going to make most of the plays. But if you look, he was the one who was doing all of the dirty work — taking the double team, clogging the hole and everything else. Without him handling that stuff it wouldn’t work.”

Qualls, Reynolds and Blossom agreed that there were several secrets to the line’s dominance, and all of it was tied together.

Physically, all three are smaller but faster linemen who are quick off the snap. Getting the first step on their opponents was a skill that wasn’t just a natural gift, it was carefully honed.

It helped them account for 96 of the Vikings’ 163 tackles for loss. Reynolds had 39, Qualls had 31 and Blossom 26.

“Compared to other D-lines, we’re not the biggest. The way we’re going to win is leverage, technique and speed. Our get-off plays a major role in how we dominated everything,” said Reynolds, who had 81 total tackles. “From the point of attack, you can’t do nothing if your O-linemen can’t get off the ball. We dominated from the point of attack and everybody in the backfield can’t do nothing.”

The second component was a brotherhood that could only be gained through years of friendship and playing together as a unit. Besides their time with the Ravens, they’ve all been multiple-year starters on Warren Central’s defense.

“We’ve been together since little league days, so we already know what it feels like to win. We’ve already got that connection together,” Blossom said. “We’ve been playing together for a long time. We’re brothers with different mothers. We’re all fighting with each other for the same thing. I leave it all out on the field for those boys.”

Warren Central’s defense had a couple of uneven moments during its five non-region games, but figured things out by the halfway point of the schedule. Over the last eight games — five against Region 2-6A opponents and three in the playoffs — the Vikings allowed an average of 199.4 yards and 7.3 points per game.

In 13 games total, the Vikings’ defense was on the field for a total of 680 plays. Of those, 333 — nearly half — resulted in a tackle for loss, sack, takeaway or an incomplete pass that netted zero or negative yards for the offense.

“Special doesn’t describe them — not just as individuals, but also as a collective group,” Warren Central coach Josh Morgan said. “They are really talented. They play the game the right way. They love football, and that helps. They have been good for us. They have been fun to watch, fun to coach, and there are a lot of coaches around the state that are proud they’re graduating.”

Warren Central has long prided itself on playing tough, hard-nosed football, especially on the defensive side. The 2024 squad earned its place in history as among the best in a long line of great players and teams, and was proud to carry that tag.

“It feels good, like we earned it,” Blossom said. “All the years we’ve been together, we’ve been putting in the work for it and you see what it came to.”

Qualls said it was something the trio aspired to for their entire high school careers.

“It’s a lot of good people that came through here. To be named one of the best D-lines to ever come through Warren Central, it’s special. It’s special,” Qualls said. “You grow up and want to come play for them. Now kids are going to grow up and be like, ‘I want to be like TK, I want to be like Ronnie, I want to be like LJ.’”

Vicksburg Post Defensive Players of the Year
2024 – Ronnie Blossom, DL, Warren Central; Larry Reynolds, DL, Warren Central; and Tekarius Qualls, DL, Warren Central
2023 – Julien Demby, LB, Warren Central
2022 – Demarcus Johnson, DL, Vicksburg
2021 – Demarion Robinson, LB, Vicksburg
2020 – Taylen Smith, DL, Warren Central
2019 – Malik Sims, LB, Warren Central
2018 – Lamar Gray, DB, Warren Central
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

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.

More by Ernest

More Sports

Terry tops Missy Gators in holiday tournament game

Who’s Hot: Janiah Caples

2024 All-County Football: Warren Central’s Josh Morgan is the Coach of the Year

2024 Warren County football stats