Junior High Arrows showing promise
By Datti Jinkiri
Friday nights in the fall are notable for their important place in the hearts of football fans in Clinton. Countless Arrow football standouts and future professionals have made their mark on the gridiron over the years. However, the talent pipeline doesn’t start from scratch. The Clinton Junior High football team deputizes as a de facto developmental team for the Friday night heroes. On Tuesday nights, fans can catch an early glimpse of future Arrows who will soon hope to join the ranks of the Clinton greats.
The CJHS Arrows, which are coached by Preston Hebert, Mark Hoskins and Lee Martin, currently have a 1-3 record this season. A resounding 44-22 victory over Olde Towne Middle School was followed by losses to Brandon, Warren Central and Vicksburg. In fact, the team’s last two losses were only by a combined four points, meaning a 1-3 record could easily be a 3-1 record. Despite the close losses, Coach Hebert believes this group of players has a great deal of potential.
“The team has a good mix of skill players on both sides of the ball that will help us on the high school team in a few years,” he stated.
“The team has potential to be good, but we need to be more consistent to beat good teams.”
The team has run into some adversity, due to an injury to standout Jaydann Hollins, but Hebert has been pleased with players who have stepped up.
“An injury to Jaydann hurt our big play ability on offense, but Logan Garner, Aiden Knox and Wes Ambrose have stepped up to help fill that void,” Hebert said.
“Josef Walker is our quarterback, and he has done well with distributing the ball and making plays in the run game.”
In addition to Garner, Knox, Ambrose, and Walker, Erich Johnson, Dez Minor and Tyler Brown have paced the Arrows’ offense this season. Defensively, the team has been led by standouts Jaiden Jefferson, Jaquaris Hill, Davion Ferrell, Cailton Rankin, Ashton Nichols, Donovan Shaifer and Jayden Lewis.
In addition to the talent shown by the players, Coach Hoskins has been pleased with their work ethic.
“The team started working hard this summer to be the best team in the area,” Hoskins said.
“They’re coming to work every day with focus on being a great team and getting better.”
That work ethic should carry the Arrows through the remainder of the season. The team will finish out the year with games against Germantown, Madison Middle and Pearl.
The Madison Middle School game, which will be played on September 28, is the team’s last home game of the season. For those wanting to watch the game, kickoff from Arrow Field will be at 6 p.m.
