By Robert Wilson
Callaway hasn’t beaten a non-Jackson Public School team from the highest class in the MHSAA since 2013.
But Friday hight, the Class 6A Chargers took a three-hour bus ride to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and came away with victory over MHSAA Class 7A Harrison Central.
And a player who started the season as a long snapper and third-string linebacker played a huge role in the win.
Junior Aayden Spires made the second start of his high school career and had 13 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, had 2 sacks, and broke up a pass on a key fourth down play to lead Callaway to a 21-14 victory.
For his outstanding performance, the 6-foot, 180-pound Spires has been named the Taste Restaurant/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Football Player of the Week.
Spires was only a manager on last year’s team, but decided to try out for the team this year. He started out as starting as the long snapper and was a third-string linebacker, but gradually got more playing time and last week, made his first start against Mendenhall.
And then this week, he not only started, he was the defensive star in a historic game for Callaway.
“Aayden has worked hard and improved every week, playing junior varsity and relentless on the scout team defense and then cracked the starting lineup last week,” Callaway coach Montra Edwards. “He flys around. Aayden was sideline to sideline on defense and special teams. He made plays in the backfield, he ran down screens, filled the gaps on leads, and knocked down passes. The reason for his success is because he is so coachable.”
“Aayden consistently shows up with a great attitude so we gave him a chance,” Callaway linebacker coach Rikardo Tripp said. “Since this year started, we’ve developed a relationship and he has truly bought into Coach Edwards’ plan, which is simply work hard and focus.”
Callaway dressed about 40 players, around 30 less than Harrison Central. And the Chargers had about a third of the number of coaches as their opponents.
“We didn’t have the best of conditions, we were away from home and had a lot less players, but the ones we had, fought hard, gave great effort and continued to battle the whole game,” Edwards said. “Aayden was one of those guys who gave incredible effort and was one of the main reasons why we won.”
The last time Callaway beat a non-JPS team from the highest MHSAA classification was a 27-14 victory at Warren Central in the second game of the 2013 season. The Chargers won their first 14 games that season before losing to Oxford Class 5A semifinals.
Spires is the son of Jennifer Epps. She went to Jim Hill High. Spires has three brothers, Anthony Epps, Jr., Ay’Quanya Spires and A’Braylen Spires, and one sister, Wynesia Epps. A’Braylen plays football at Kirksey Middle School.
Callaway, 3-3 and winners of two of its last three games, plays at Canton, 5-0, in a MHSAA Class 6A, Region 2 game Friday night. Canton’s head coach is Dameon Brown, who coached at Callaway from 2021-2024. He was named the Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson of the Year in 2022.
Robert Wilson selects a football player of the week each week from teams from Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties. To contact Robert, text him at 601.506.2276.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
WEEK ONE: Junior Wilson, Central Hinds Academy
WEEK TWO: Langston Branson, Germantown
WEEK THREE: Rod Murray, Murrah
WEEK FOUR: Luke Essary, Jackson Prep
WEEK FIVE: De’Montre Strange, Velma Jackson
WEEK SIX: Tyrone Robinson, Brandon
