Junction Deli Metro Player of the Week 9-6-23

By Robert Wilson

Central Hinds Academy’s Brayden Bullock wants to play college football but has yet to receive an offer.

After Friday night’s performance against Madison St. Joseph, that might change.

The 5-foot-11, 200-pound senior middle linebacker-H back had a career-high 14 tackles, including two for loss, on defense and caught four passes for 26 yards on offense and led MAIS Class 4A Central Hinds to a 20-14 victory over MAIS Class 6A Madison St. Joe at St. Joe in Madison.

For his outstanding performance, Bullock has been named the Junction Deli/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Football Player of the Week.

Bullock made key plays both on offense and defense during the game.

“I know that there are a lot of deserving players, but I doubt there’s a kid more deserving than Brayden,” first-year Central Hinds coach Sam Vincent said. “He played H-back all night with some big blocks for us and calls the front defensively. One of his tackles for loss was a key fourth down stop near the goal line. It was after a turnover and the turning point in the game. We were down by 7 and they were on our 5-yard line. Two of his four catches were key third down conversions.”

Bullock said Belhaven University is the only team who has contacted him so far.

Bullock has a team-high 36 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 2 interceptions for 3-0 Central Hinds this season. He had a team-high 147 tackles, 31 tackles for loss, 1 interception (returned it for a touchdown), 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 2 pass deflections and led Central Hinds to a 6-4 record last season as a junior. Bullock was a part of Central Hinds’ dramatic turnaround two years ago as a sophomore when the Cougars finished 8-3 after not winning a game the year before.

“Brayden has really stepped it up as a leader this year,” Vincent said. “The whole senior class is a group that really wants it and he’s one of those guys at the top of that list. Brayden has been an impact player for two years now, but he’s really turned it on this year, and I think you could see that Friday night. You can always count on Brayden doing the right things. You get his best every day and he’s a fun kid to coach. I’m blessed to have taken over a group with a lot of heart and desire to be successful on the field. A lot of that is because of number 44 (Bullock’s number).”

Bullock, whose twitter is @braydenbulloc13, is also an excellent student with a 4.0 grade point average and a 28 on his ACT

Bullock is the son of Dori and Britt Bullock, who are both Central Hinds graduates. Dori played basketball and Britt played football. Brayden has two older brothers, Gavin, 23, and Clay, 20, who played football at Central Hinds. Brayden’s grandfather, Bill Durr, played football at East Central Community College and Mississippi State.

Central Hinds plays host to Bowling Green, La., 2-2, Friday in a non-district MAIS Class 4A game at Raymond.

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.