Player Spotlight: Alex Sanford

SANFORD

SET TO EMBRACE NEW ROLE ON CHARGER DEFENSE

By JARED REDDING

Oxford Eagle

Alex Sanford still recalls Oak Grove quarterback Kabe Barnett beating him along with other Charger defenders to the pylon, setting up a successful two-point conversion to end Oxford’s hopes of winning back-to-back state championships in Class 6A.

It is because of this that Sanford will do whatever it takes to help his team get back to Jackson, even if it means playing a whole different position.

“I’ll be wherever the coaches need me to be, like now. I can play anything, I just want to win,” Sanford said.

At 6’3”, 235 pounds, Sanford’s gifted physical traits will be utilized to anchor the defensive line this season with the loss of Jamarri Sims on the edge.

“I’m handling it pretty well,” Sanford said. “It’s different, but at the same time, it’s not something that I’m not used to. It’s just adversity and that’s something you have to get used to as you progress.”

In his team’s spring game against Southaven back in May, Sanford was quick to judge himself despite the sudden move.

“Defensively, I want to improve on my mental game,” Sanford said. “In the spring game, I made a lot of mental mistakes, reading an offensive line better, not jumping offsides and stuff like that… even after one bad play. I’m harder on myself than our coaches are harder on anybody. They look at me as a leader. If you look at a leader that is holding himself accountable, that’s what they’re going to do too.”

It didn’t take long for his teammates to accept him being an alpha male in the front seven last season, racking 116 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, four sacks, four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two blocked punts en route to all-state honors at linebacker.

In year two as a defensive starter and with a complete offseason under his belt, Sanford took the initiative to get to know a few new faces at linebacker along with returning players expected to step up and fill gaps as needed. Transfers Ben Goubeaux and Martavious Blackmon are expected to make an immediate impact at linebacker while guys like Elijah Wadley, Demonte Mitchell, Malaki Pegues, Ryan Kirkwood, Chris Herring and Lucian Giles are expected to step up to help out he and

Keegan Wilfawn on defense.

“Ben (Goubeaux) came in right off the bat and got things together quickly. If he sees the ball, he’ll go get it. Martavious (Blackmon) fits in perfectly because he’s a pure athlete. I think we’ll be okay with our secondary. They work hard enough to where they know what they have to do for this season because they didn’t play a whole lot last year. Our sophomore defensive line, they’re going to be really good simply because of Coach (Isaac) Boose. E.J. (Elijah Wadley) reminds me a lot of Tristan (Shorter), but more of a quiet leader and his play.” Sanford said.

It’s no secret that the Chargers will have their hands full early and often with a schedule rivaling few in the state of Mississippi in terms of sheer difficulty. Regardless, it is nothing his team can’t handle, particularly his class of players according to Sanford.

“My class is just full of dogs,” Sanford said. “Everybody. All we know is go, never backing up. You saw us through the season keep our energy up even when things weren’t going our way. We just have to continue having that dog mentality.”

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