Editor’s Note: This is the first installment in a series that will feature some of the area’s top prep football players. These players are expected to receive the most attention from college coaches/scouts. The Dispatch will profile a player each day leading up to the start of the regular season on Friday, Aug. 17.
MACON — Kyziah Pruitt feels better.
The Noxubee County High School standout looks different, too. He has lost about 10 pounds from last season to ensure his body is prepared for the marathon of his final prep football season.
“I’m in way better shape,” Pruitt said. “My demeanor and my approach to the game, I think that is going to be the biggest difference this year.”
For someone who isn’t known as a big talker or self-promoter, Pruitt’s declaration is scary. He delivers the answer to the question with a quiet confidence that serves as a warning to all of the Noxubee County opponents in 2018: Be ready because Pruitt is coming primed to do damage.
“If I look at my 10th-grade and 11th-grade years, I had a slow start last year,” Pruitt said. “I missed (last) summer because of a groin injury. That just made me think go hard and pushed me to get myself in the best shape possible so I can compete at the highest level.”
Despite recovering from the injury, Pruitt said his mind was “here and there” a year ago, which he feels affected his focus. He said he started to pick it back up as Noxubee County won its final 10 games to secure another state championship.
Pruitt had five carries for 47 yards and 10 catches for 162 yards and a touchdown in Noxubee County’s 41-35 victory against East Central in the Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A State championship game Dec. 2 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford.
A first-team performer on The Dispatch’s All-Area team, Pruitt had 23 carries for 136 yards and three touchdowns. He paced the Tigers with 83 catches for 1,230 yards and 13 touchdowns. All told, he had 19 touchdowns.
Pruitt, who has given a verbal commitment to play football at Mississippi State, started out slowly in 2017 do in part to a groin injury. As a result, Pruitt said he worked harder in the offseason to make sure he returned to practice in better shape. At 6-foot, 188 pounds, he has lost about 10 pounds from last season and he feels more prepared to have an even better season.
Noxubee County High football coach Tyrone Shorter has been at the school for 20-plus years. He has seen many of the Tigers’ greats throughout the years, like Patrick Patterson and Vincent Sanders, just to name two, and he believes Pruitt has the potential to put his name with those leaders.
“We expect a lot from him on both sides of the ball and on special teams,” Shorter said. “His role is going to be very, very, very special to us this year. We are going to try t o get him a lot of touches. He is a game-breaker. We are going to use him in all three phases of the game this year.”
A year ago, Shorter didn’t use Pruitt on defense as much in an effort to keep him fresh for offense. He said Pruitt could see more playing time at safety this year depending on the opponent. On offense, though, Shorter hopes to maximize the talents of Pruitt because he feels it will help open things up for other weapons like Ja’Qualyn Smith, who rushed for 1,039 yards last season, Maliek Stallings, and Kaiyus Lewis.
Shorter said the attempt to capitalize on Pruitt’s skills includes a bigger package of plays for him that will allow him to make things happen from multiple positions.
“He is just an explosive, dynamic player,” Shorter said. “We are going to center our offense around him.”
Shorter said Pruitt came to him about having an expanded role on the team. Initially, Shorter said Pruitt inquired about playing quarterback, but he said the coaches opted not to move him there. However, he said the Tigers will have packages for Pruitt at quarterback.
Shorter said Pruitt’s desire to do more this season didn’t surprise him. He said Pruitt is a “humble kid” who didn’t take on a more aggressive role as a sophomore or as a junior in part because he deferred to older players like wide receiver Rashad Eades, who had 59 catches for 1,223 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Expect Pruitt to have a different mind-set this season.
“In the past, we tried to preserve him more and not have him take so many snaps at the beginning of the year,” Shorter said. “But this is his senior year and he is bigger, stronger, and more mature. We are going to turn him loose this year.”
Pruitt said being included in the same sentence as players like Patterson and Sanders motivated him throughout the offseason. As one of the senior leaders on this year’s team. Pruitt said his goal is to help set the tone to make sure no one slacks off and the Tigers have the best chance possible to go 16-0 and win another state championship.
“The senior class I came up to the high school with helped me a lot,” Pruitt said. “Jeffery Simmons (now a junior at Mississippi State) showed me the way a lot in high school. He showed me how to approach things. We talk a lot. He really helps me a lot. He was one of the greats to do it, so I feel like I want to be in those shoes, too, and have people to look up to me. I listened to him and put my own little twist to it. It is going good right now.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
