SCOOBA — Justin Cox is ready to take on a different role.
After two years of playing quarterback and being the one everyone looked to to set the tone, the former West Point High School standout and Mississippi State signee has shifted his focus to defense.
This season, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Cox will be part of a reconstituted secondary the East Mississippi Community College football team hopes anchors a new-look, aggressive defense.
“We”re going to play as well as any defense in the state this year,” EMCC associate head coach/defensive coordinator/linebackers William Jones said. “We have some unbelievable players on our defensive front, I couldn”t be happier with our secondary, and I am going to coach the linebackers as hard as I can and get them as good as we can be.”
Jones gushed about the depth of talent on defense Monday at EMCC”s annual media day. The event took an added significance in that it was at the school”s new $4.7 million 5,000-seat Sullivan-Windham Field.
The facility will come to life at 7 p.m. Sept. 1 when EMCC plays host to defending MACJC state champion Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. in the season opener for both teams.
Cox, Shaquille Fluker, a freshman from Meridian, Jeremy Cannon, a sophomore from West Point, and Franklin Richardson Jr., a freshman from New Hope, are in the top two rotations one week before the coaches have to trim the 74-player roster released Monday down to 55 (10 practice players) by next week.
Cox plans to be in that group and on the field Sept. 1. After not qualifying academically to play at MSU, Cox said he plans to take advantage of the opportunity to improve on and off the field so he can finish his college career as a Bulldog.
“It is a big difference,” Cox said. “You have to ball even harder. Playing free safety right now is a big difference from playing high school quarterback.”
Cox, who also played in the secondary in high school, helped lead West Point High School to back-to-back Class 5A state titles. He was named The Dispatch Large Schools Player of the Year following his senior season, and was ranked the No. 22 player in the state by Rivals.com and the No. 23 player by Scout.com. He was 28-2 as a quarterback and a cornerback in his final two seasons.
Cox led the Green Wave to a 14-1 record in 2010 by rushing for 1,274 yards and 17 touchdowns. He was 80 of 153 passing for 1,131 yards. He was one of the three finalists for Mr. Football in Mississippi by The Clarion-Ledger, and was a first-team pick to the newspaper”s All-State from all classifications.
The Mississippi Association of Coaches selected Cox as first-team All-State quarterback in Class 5A. He also was chosen for the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star Game and started at left cornerback in the December game.
As a junior, Cox had 1,248 passing yards and 12 touchdowns. He ran for 622 yards and nine touchdowns.
This season, though, Cox will lead from the back. He said he still is getting used to the fact that it is “his team” in a different way. He said he is excited to play with a talented group of teammates, and is eager to how he can be an impact player on defense.
“I have been trying to work hard every day and probably go to State after this,” Cox said. “I am just trying to work hard and get better. It was a disappointment (not getting to go to MSU this season). But it just happened for a reason. I just want to get bigger and stronger and faster and go on to play in the SEC.”
The Lions said Monday that their defense this season is different from last season in that it was a “swagger.” Jones agrees and said it is hard to miss that group”s talent and potential. He said it will be just as important to keep that unit healthy after suffering through a season in 2010 in which injuries wreaked havoc on rotations and depth.
“I think everybody realizes all of the ability we have,” Jones said. “The injury bug hit us at multiple times last year. We never could get a healthy defense on the field for any of our games. It really handicapped us as far as the things we wanted to do.”
Cox plans to change that look with a sprinter”s speed. At 6-2, Fluker also has impressive size, while Richardson Jr., Jason Yarbor, a 5-11, 185-pounder from Meridian High, and Cannon had solid builds and are hard hitters who will make receivers less willing to come across the middle.
“I know I am very fast, so I am just going to come out here and ball,” Cox said. “I am just going to try to get some interceptions and make big plays.”
Jones hopes all of the competition he saw in the offseason and in the weight room and the fights he sees in the preseason will carry over to the regular season.
“I think the fact the kids know we are four deep at every position has driven them all summer,” Jones said. “We had 17 people at one point who had injuries, and those people got repetitions. Most of them stepped up and took advantage of those opportunities. The competition was unbelievable. It has been great really.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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