STARKVILLE — Cameron Gardner looks down at his phone and sees a text message from A.J. Brown.
The Starkville High School football wide receiver has received text messages from the former Starkville wide receiver before every game this season. The text messages from the Ole Miss freshman have helped boost the confidence of Gardner, who said the encouraging messages help him get his mind right before he takes the field.
“He told me to keep grinding, keep working, and to have fun,” Gardner said. “We mostly talk about football and the games. I look up to him because I want to be like him or even better.”
Brown’s departure opened the door for Gardner to become one of the top targets for the Yellow Jackets. After three games, the junior is getting a feel for what it’s like to play a prominent role and he has shown flashes of being an impact player. He will try to make a mark on another game at 7 p.m. Friday when No. 2 Starkville (3-0) plays at No. 10 Meridian High (3-1) in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 6A game.
As a sophomore, Gardner appeared in three games and had two catches for 23 yards. This season, Gardner leads the Yellow Jackets with 10 catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns. He said he wasn’t happy with his performance in the opener against Noxubee County High, when he had three catches for 21 yards. He had four catches for 112 yards and a touchdown the following week against Oxford.
Starkville coach Ricky Woods said Gardner, who is 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, is a matchup problem because of his size. Woods said Gardner has made a lot of progress since last fall.
“He’s getting more aggressive,” Woods said. “He’s maturing as a player. He’s about where he needs to be. He just needs to keep progressing.”
Brown led Starkville to a MHSAA Class 6A State championship last season with 83 catches for 1,371 yards and 13 touchdowns. He signed with Ole Miss and has four catches for 63 yards and a touchdown in the first two games.
Woods said he doesn’t like comparing players, especially those he has coached, but he feels Gardner has the tools to be a big-time wide receiver.
“I don’t know many people that can be like A.J. Brown,” Woods said. “We’ll just have to see how he climbs because A.J. Brown is in a real small category. He’s improving a lot, he’s a lot better than he was last year, he’s better than when he started, so you don’t know how high he can go.”
Woods said Gardner learned how to play and practice hard from Brown.
Sophomore quarterback Malik Brown, who became the starter against Oxford, said he has seen Gardner make insane one-handed catches in practice and in warmups. However, Gardner turns serious when it’s game time.
Malik said he likes having a tall, talented receiver on the outside.
“He’s a great wide receiver,” Malik said. “He’s aggressive and he catches the ball a lot. I throw it to him every day at practice, and he’s getting better every day.”
Gardner said he learned a lot from A.J. Brown last season. He said the experience of watching Brown prepare was one of the best learning tools he experienced.
“It was amazing,” Gardner said. “He did a lot of great things. He even said if I just grind and keep grinding I can be better than him.”
Gardner said he has to continue to put the work in, give it his all in practice, and improve every day to be better than A.J. He also feels like performing well in the classroom will help him earn a scholarship offer.
Gardner is a team guy first and wants to help the Yellow Jackets win a state championship. But his goal to be the best drives force him every day. Being better than A.J. won’t be easy, but Gardner has the will.
“If you throw the ball up, I’m going to come down with it because that’s how bad I want it,” Gardner said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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