By Robert Wilson
Mississippi high school sports fans know about Murrah High in Jackson because of their boys and girls basketball teams, which have won dozens of state championships and had numerous All-Americans.
There’s another sport making noise at Murrah this fall, and the quarterback of the football team made a lot of noise last week.
Senior Justyce Williams completed 19 of 30 passes for 321 yards and six touchdowns to lead Murrah to a 48-45 victory over Holmes County Central Friday night at South Jackson Field.
For his outstanding performance, Williams has been named the Junction Deli/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Football Player of the Week.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Williams completed TD passes of 18 yards to senior Braishun Forbes, 10 yards to senior Jordan Lipsey, 17 yards to Forbes, 8 yards to Lipsey, 9 yards to Forbes and 69 yards to senior Peyton Johnson.
The TD pass to Johnson gave Murrah a 48-45 lead with 2 minutes, 8 seconds to play. Murrah’s defense stopped Holmes on fourth down at the Murrah 3 when Forbes knocked down a pass in the end zone with 4 seconds to play to clinch the win.
Williams has completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 1,377 yards for 19 TDs and only three interceptions and led Murrah to a 6-0 record playing an independent schedule.
“Justyce commands and has led our team through some very stressful moments late in close games,” Murrah coach Marcus Gibson said. “He has been a calming influence his two and a half years as a starter at Murrah. His willingness to work outside of the framework of normal hours has led to much of our team’s success. Several games including Friday night’s, we were down and nobody on offense was worried because we knew we had a bona fide leader willing to sacrifice his body to will his team to a win. He does not say much but has all of his team’s respect.”
Williams is the son of Roneisha Williams. She is a Murrah graduate. Williams has three younger siblings, brother Deandre, and sisters Elaynah and Faith. Williams’ grandfather Robert Williams played basketball at Callaway High in Jackson.
Murrah plays at Perry Central, 3-3, Friday night.
Mississippi Scoreboard selects a football player from Hinds, Madison, or Rankin counties each week. Coaches can nominate a player by text or call to Robert Wilson at 601.506.2276.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
WEEK ONE: Samuel Stockett, MRA
WEEK TWO: Billy Puckett, Jackson Prep
WEEK THREE: James Farr, Clinton
WEEK FOUR: Tyshun Willis, Velma Jackson
WEEK FIVE: Josef Walker, Clinton
WEEK SIX: Caleb Unger, MRA
WEEK SEVEN: Pierce Ingram, St. Andrew’s
