Arrow football hires two assistant coaches from Madison Central

By Danny C. Davis

Clinton High School will have two new assistant football coaches on the sidelines this fall. The positions were opened up after then-head coach John Carr resigned in February. Soon after Carr left, CHS offensive assistant Tyler Peterson left to join Carr at Starkville. Then, the other position opened up when defensive coordinator Hamer Morgan was named as the Arrows’ new head coach in March.

     Replacing Peterson will be Madison Central offensive assistant Ben Shelton, who will be the offensive coordinator. Shelton is no stranger to the Arrow football program, having coached football on the Arrow staff for three years, from 2013-15. Sheldon was a wide receiver for Vicksburg High and coached for the Gators two stints and most recently before joining the Madison Central staff. He and his wife and children reside in Clinton.

     “I am very excited about returning to coach at Clinton,” said Shelton, a Mississippi State graduate. “I just live about a mile away from Arrow Field.”

     Shelton said he will stay with the fast “up tempo” offense that the Arrow offense ran last season under Carr.

     “I think the players really bought into the fast tempo offense last season, and we are staying with what they had a lot of success with last year. We are not even going to change the terminology, but keep everything very simple and stay with they are familiar, with what they understand. We have changed just a few things, formations and personal. They already know how to play the speed of the game with the fast tempo offense.  I am just now catching up with them on the speed of the game.”

     “We are excited about our offense and the pieces we have coming back,” said Shelton. “We have both quarterbacks and three really good receivers and a very good running back coming back. So, we know there will be big expectations for our offense this season.”

     Shelton said he feels it is a real asset coming to Clinton from Madison Central.

     “I have coached against the same opponents that Clinton plays multiple times, and I feel that has prepared me for the position of offensive coordinator.”

     The Arrows also picked their new defensive coordinator from the Madison Central staff. Longtime Madison Central defensive coach Britt Rowell will be the Arrow’s new defensive coordinator, replacing Morgan.

     Rowell played football for Brandon High School and graduated from there in 1998.  He said he and Arrow head coach Hamer Morgan have a similar defensive philosophy.

     “We have known each other a long time, and we run very similar defensive schemes. Just the verbiage is different. But you will look out on the field and see a lot of similarities,” said Rowell.

     Rowell spent his first two seasons with the Petal Panthers and then spent six seasons as the defensive coordinator for then-head coach Toby Collums at Northwest Rankin. Then he followed Collums to Madison Central to coach outside linebackers and defensive ends.

     Rowell said he will run similar defensive schemes to what Morgan ran.

     “We will switch back and forth on defense between a 4-3 alignment and the 3-4 alignment,” said Rowell.

     “We will work hard this spring to find guys that we need to step up to play on the defensive line. We have just about all our linebackers back, and we have four guys vying for a start at safety and the other defensive back positons,” said Rowell.

     “I think we have a chance to really be very good this season on the defensive side of the ball.”

     CHS will conclude spring football drills with a spring scrimmage at Ridgeland High School on May 15.