By Robert Wilson
Not even Christopher Watson’s high school coach — former Mississippi State quarterback John Bond, one of the best running quarterbacks in SEC history – had a scoring performance like the Madison St. Joseph junior quarterback had last Friday night.
Watson ran for five touchdowns and passed for one to lead St. Joe to a 41-28 victory over Riverside in a Class 2A, Region 4 game at Riverside.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Watson ran for 198 yards and passed for 89 yards in the victory.
For his outstanding performance, Watson has been named the Junction Deli/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Football Player of the Week.
Bond moved Watson from wide receiver to quarterback earlier this season and Watson made his first start against West Lincoln in the third game. Watson helped St. Joe to its first win of the season, a 20-16 victory at West Lincoln. He gained 166 yards. Watson has been started every game at quarterback since.
“Christopher is a good athlete and has done a great job at quarterback,” Bond said. “He’s smart and knows how to find the opening and run for yardage. He did an outstanding job Friday night against Riverside. Our offensive line opened up some nice holes for him to run through. And he is improving as a passer.”
Bond knows what it takes to play quarterback. Bond started at quarterback at MSU from 1980-83 and held the SEC record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a career for 20 years. Bond started at quarterback as a freshman in what many consider the biggest win in school history, a 6-3 upset of two time defending national champion and No. 1 Alabama, breaking the Crimson Tide’s 28-game winning streak.
Watson also plays cornerback and linebacker and had a career-high 13 tackles in the season opener against Richland.
Watson and St. Joe, 2-7, play at Eupora, 5-4, Friday night in first round of the Class 2A playoffs.
