Lafayette Team Preview

LAFAYETTE ENTERS THE 2021 SEASON OLDER AND WISER

By JAKE THOMPSON

Lafayette knows all too well how their 2020 season ended last November and they do not need anymore reminders.

The Commodores had to forfeit their first round playoff game due to a COVID-19 outbreak throughout the program and ending their season without taking another snap.

With last season behind them, Lafayette is primed once again for a run at the Class 5A crown and a trip back to the state championship game for the first time since winning it all in 2016.

Doing so will require the Commodores to adapt to more off-the-field obstacles put in their path with a key injury. Quarterback Tyrus Williams underwent shoulder surgery over the summer and will miss his senior season. With Williams out it means Will Dabney is now the Commodores leader on offense.

The adjustment is not one that will be too daunting as Williams missed spring practices due to playing baseball at the same time. Dabney took most, if not all, of the spring snaps under center which puts the offense mostly on schedule.

With the offense a year older, it will also help with adapting to Dabney taking over at quarterback.

“(The offense) will change a little bit, but it’s not like everything’s back to the drawing board,” said Lafayette head coach Michael Fair. “We were so young in spots last year. We were going into the district championship against Lake Cormorant and we were on the 10-yard line trying to drive in the goahead touchdown in the fourth quarter and just can’t get it done. You look on that field and there’s so much youth and inexperience, even thought it’s towards the end of the year. There’s sophomores scattered all over the field. All the mistakes that were made last year shouldn’t be made this year.”

Most of summer workouts and preseason camp were spent working on fixing the details and the little things that can make a difference in converting a game-winning drive and not.

1 Tyrus Williams Sr. QB 2 Kylan Egerson Jr. DB 3 Kylen Vaughn Sr. WR 4 Mario Wilbourn Sr. LB 5 Jay Reed Jr. RB 6 Alex Jones Sr. DL 7 Derrick Burgess, Jr. Sr. DL 8 Desmond Burnett Jr. RB/LB 9 Jamari Logan Sr. DL 10 Martrell Wilbourn So. OLB 11 D’Camron Lipsey Sr. OLB 12 Will Dabney Jr. QB 14 Braylon Robinson Jr. WR/DB 15 Cooper Mitze Sr. OLB/TE 16 J’Miere Jones So. WR/DB 17 Trevor Dickerson Jr. LB 18 Charlie Fair So. QB 19 Jorian Shaw Jr. DL 20 Jeremiah Tanner Sr. DB 21 Jagger Stovall 22 Trikyus Woodal Sr. ATH 23 Dee Gipson So. WR 24 Lukas Stupal Sr. HB/MLB 25 Makyi Reed-Jones So. WR 26 Campbell Atkinson So. OLB 27 Slayden Mooneyham Jr. DB/WR 28 Colin Christman Jr. DL 29 Devin Tanner So. RB/OLB 30 Luke Hamm HB 31 Emmanuel Wadlington So. RB 33 William Stone So. TE 34 Hastings Norris Jr. TE/DL 35 Kendez Williams So. DL 36 Jamarian Gipson So. OLB 37 Radley Hill Jr. DL 38 Townes Hogue Jr. DB 39 Avery Key Jr. FS 40 Jack Wyatt East So. LS/LB 41 Gage Maness So. DL 42 Brody Breithaupt So. OLB 43 Jamari Moore Jr. DB 45 Bradley Leslie Jr. DB 46 Khyllan Howell Jr. OL 47 Jadamien Clayton Sr. DL 49 Riley Baker Sr. HB 50 Searn Lynch Sr. OL 51 Davion Bell So. OL 52 Derrick Mitchell So. DL 53 Trey Johnson Jr. DL/OL 54 Jaylen Gross Sr. OL 55 John Dukes Sr. OL 58 Chap Liles So. DL 60 Tristan Fiew So. OL 62 Seth Ross Jr. OL 63 Jalvin Woodard So. OL 64 Acy Patton Jr. OL 66 Timothy Booker So. DL 68 JP Swain Jr. OL 71 Cameron Howard Jr. DL 72 Parker Cochran So. OL 73 Andrew Russell So. OL 74 Andrew Jordan So. OL 78 Connor Counts So. OL 81 Braxton Davis Jr. S 86 Andrew Gibson So. FS 87 Kody Connor So. RB 88 Hudson Nelson So. K

The offense has plenty of production returning, starting with running back Jay Reed. Reed is one of many Commodores who has gotten faster and stronger over the course of the offseason.

Kylan Vaughn is primed to be the leader of the receiving corps and someone Fair and his staff is counting on to be a key contributor in order for the offense to succeed this season. As a junior, Vaughn made 43 catches, which is nearly unheard of in an offense that features the ground game more than the passing game.

“Kylan’s got the opportunity to really be dynamic at receiver,” Fair said. “He’s big, strong. He’s really physical out there. He could probably play tight end at a lot of places, but for us he’s a fit out there. He tracks the deep ball as good as anybody we’ve had here in a long time. He caught several last year in some big games.”

Plenty of starters are returning on defense as well, including key contributors in linebacker Mario Wilbourn and lineman DJ Burgess.

Wilbourn made an impact in his junior season and has taken strides to be even better in his final campaign in a Commodore uniform. Lafayette’s leading tackler is being looked at as an anchor for the defense once again.

“Those guys, their attitude and the way they came to work this summer is just dynamic,” Fair said. “We’ve got guys returning on every level that we have a lot of confidence in. Up front with Burgess on the line, we’ve got Alex Jones and Jamari Logan. They played nearly every snap just about last year in the trenches. We’ve got a lot of experience returning.”

With the way Lafayette’s schedule is mapped out, starting with four straight games against Class 6A contenders in Tupelo, Horn Lake, Southaven and Oxford, the Commodores will need the defense to be in midseason form right out of the game.

Lafayette does not have a bye this season, rolling right into region play against West Point following their Crosstown Classic showdown with Oxford.

“We’re going to need to be (one of the top 5A defenses) on this schedule we’ve got,” Fair said. “We need to be one of the top defenses in the state, to be honest, hopefully regardless of classification. I know that’s a big statement, but those guys are going to need to be really good and I feel like they will be.”

Special teams will have a little different look for the Commodores this season with former place kicker Andrew Pugh having graduated in May. Dabney is going to serve as punter as well as handling the quarterback duties.

Lafayette opens the season on Aug. 27 against Tupelo.