Clarksdale High School football coach Henry Johnson will get to coach senior Kevin Smith one last time in the 2018 Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Game for seniors at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17 at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.
The game will be televised on Raycom Network.
Johnson has been an assistant coach in the Mississippi/Alabama All-Star Game, an assistant coach twice in the Bernard Blackwell North/South All-Star Game for the state of Mississippi and the head coach in the Bernard Blackwell North/South All-Star Game.
Coaching Smith (6 feet, 2 inches, 190 pounds) is something Johnson is looking forward to.
“It’s a great experience for me getting to coach Kevin in an all-star game, in a major all-star game, too,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be great. Kevin is a super kid. He played for me for four years.”
Smith has been a cornerback, safety, outside linebacker, inside linebacker, defensive end, running back, wide receiver and long snapper for the Wildcats.
Johnson plans to start Smith at outside linebacker – the position he will likely play in college.
Smith finished his senior season with 94 tackles, three sacks, four pass deflections, four fumble recoveries, two caused fumbles and three touchdowns.
The Wildcats advanced to the second round of the Class 4A playoffs and Smith said his best game came in a 49-8 win at Cleveland Central. He returned a fumble recovery 51 yards for a touchdown, recovered another fumble and capped off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown reception.
Smith is looking forward to playing for Johnson one more time.
“He’s been a big impact on my life, like all the coaches, but especially him,” Smith said. “I can’t let this man down.”
The all-stars will arrive Dec. 12 and each team will have 40 players on the roster.
Johnson said everyone will have a chance to play and the schemes will be simpler as both sides can only run certain formations.
“These guys can play,” Johnson said. “These guys are very talented. These guys are four- and five-star athletes, Division I signees. The main thing we’ve got to do is go over and implement a scheme. We’ve got five days to implement a simple scheme, but these guys will be coached up. They’ll be very talented.”
Johnson said Alabama has won more of the all-star games, but Mississippi has been victorious in three of the last five.
“It’s going to be fun,” he said. “You get a chance to get a lot of different kids from different schools and to represent Mississippi against Alabama, so it’s going to be a great experience.”
Smith appreciated the opportunity to play in the game.
“It just means I’m blessed,” he said. “I played with a group of young guys who wanted it as bad as I wanted it and we dedicated the season on discipline.
“I just want to make plays and help Mississippi win.”
Both Johnson and Smith were optimistic about their football futures.
While the Wildcats have been a playoff team during all six years of Johnson’s tenure, the achievement he was most proud of was helping athletes earn college scholarships.
The Wildcats will have to replace senior quarterback Cameron Matthews and linebackers next year.
“We’re still just striving for that state championship,” Johnson said. “I think we made improvements this year. I think we’ve just got to keep building on what we’ve got and it’ll happen for us sooner or later.”
Smith said his senior class helped built a foundation for the players coming behind them.
Northwest Mississippi Community College, Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Coahoma Community College, Jackson State University and Southern Miss are all interested in signing Smith to play college football. He plans to become a social worker and guidance counselor.
In addition to the positions he played in high school, Smith was a quarterback and free safety playing for the Riverside Eagles in peewee football and was a tight end and defensive end.
The only positions Smith said he never played were offensive and defensive tackle.
“I just played anywhere my team needed me to play,” Smith said. “I’m a team first player. It could be anywhere. Let me make a play.”
Smith’s peewee coach, Fred Norris, helped him all the way through high school.
“He’ll be talking to me every time,” Smith said. “He’ll be like I’ve got to make plays and I know I’ve got to make plays. He’s the one that built me to this point.”
Smith will not forget where he came from.
“Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat,” he said.
