Clarksdale High School senior Jordan Allen and head coach Henry Johnson will both be in the 2021 Bernard Blackwell Classic All-Star Football game.
Players from teams in the north part of Mississippi compete against players on teams from the south end of Mississippi. The game is at 11:30 a.m. December 18 at Milner Stadium in Gulfport.
Allen will be a linebacker and Johnson will be the scout coach.
The Wildcats are 5-2 and 2-0 in district and Allen has 40 tackles, two sacks and a couple of tackles for losses.
“My goal in the game is just to play hard, make every play to come my way,” Allen said.
He hopes to keep winning during the regular season and playoffs.
Allen learned he would be in the All-Star Game last week.
“Coach Johnson told me two days before the initial release of the players of the game,” Allen said. “It just felt good to know that my hard work is kind of paying off.”
Allen has a 3.6 GPA and has been an honor student since fifth grade. That played a role in him earning a spot on the team.
“He (Johnson) told the whole team to make sure you take care of things off the field,” Allen said. “That will help you get in the game also.”
Allen does not lose his focus on football or academics.
“Pay attention in class and then when I come to football practice, I’m focused on football,” he said. “When it’s time to come home, I do my little work and make sure everything is in order.”
Allen is considering playing college football at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, University of Louisiana-Monroe and a couple other community colleges.
This will be Johnson’s sixth All-Star Game. He was the winning head coach in the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Game in 2018. He has been a coach in the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Game twice and the Bernard Blackwell Classic All-Star Football game three times. He is 1-1 as a head coach and 2-1 as an assistant for an overall 3-2 record.
This year’s All-Star Game will be Johnson’s last and he hopes to end his career above .500.
“We need to win this one,” Johnson said.
Johnson did not plan to coach in another All-Star Game after 2018.
“Actually, when I won the Mississippi/Alabama game, I said I wasn’t going to coach anymore all-star game, but one of my best buddies got selected for the head coaching position, Tyrone Shorter, and he asked me to come coach this year,” Johnson said. “So I’m only his scout coach. I’m not going to be actually coaching on the field. I’m just going to be a scout coach. I’ll go scout the other team.”
Shorter is the Louisville coach. Louisville beat Clarksdale in the playoffs in 2018.
“I want to be Tyrone, too,” said Johnson referring to when Clarksdale goes against Louisville.
But the two friends will be on the same side December 18.
“We’re on the same side, but when we line up against each other, I want to win that game,” Johnson said.
As a scout coach, Johnson will study the other team’s plays and scheme.
“I just basically go watch the other team practices and then I bring those notes back to the head coach and let them know what they’re doing,” Johnson said.
Allen and Johnson are happy to be on the same team in the All-Star Game.
“It’s just a feeling of comfortability knowing my coach is there, someone I can look up to and ask questions that I have a real good relationship with,” Allen said.
Johnson concurred.
“It’s awesome,” Johnson said. “Anytime you get a chance to coach your own kids in an All-Star Game, you can’t ask for anything better than that.”
