By Robert Wilson
Madison-Ridgeland Academy alumnus and Southern Miss wide receiver Davis Dalton met with new football staff at Southern Miss in December after being identified in a group of several dozen players who could possibly return to the program.
Davis participated in spring drills and came out of the spring as one of the backup wide receivers in the rotation for the season.
Fast forward to Saturday night in the final minutes of the game against Louisiana Tech and Dalton entered the game at wide receiver.
He caught his first two passes of his season, the last one a 34-yard touchdown catch with 22 seconds to play to close the Louisiana Tech lead to 30-20. Southern Miss quarterback Braylon Braxton’s pass bounced off tight end Kyirin Heath in the end zone and Dalton caught it for a score.
Dalton made a diving catch on the sixth play of the drive for a 7-yard gain to the Louisiana Tech 44, then Braxton went back to Davis again and this time Louisiana Tech was called for pass interference for a first down at the Louisiana Tech 34. Braxton threw two incomplete passes, then threw to the end zone where Dalton caught his TD pass.
Not only is Dalton playing wide receiver, he is also on the kickoff return and punt block teams and last week was the backup punter when starting punter Jack Murley was out due a death in his family and kicker Reed Harradine handled the punting duties.
Dalton said there has been a smooth transition despite all the transfers, including 20 from Marshall who came with head coach Charles Huff to Southern Miss.
“Huff is good at bringing everyone together,” Davis said an interview after the spring game. “There isn’t a problem in the locker room. No one is thinking like, ‘ah, he’s got his guys or anything.’ Everybody came together and came to compete. Everything is positive. There is no downside to it. We have worked harder this spring than the past couple of ones. The fourth quarter program that Coach does from February to the beginning of March is one of the toughest things I’ve done since I’ve been in college football. It has paid off. It seems like everyone is in shape in spring practice. Everyone has longevity. We are working hard in practices. I’m in way better shape than I’ve ever been in college football. They told us to get ready that we were going work harder than ever before and they weren’t lying. We have definitely work hard, more than anyone else in the country. We have a lot more food after practice, healthier food, better food options and it kind of makes you buy in more. If you don’t put the right stuff in your body, you are going to fall behind. If you don’t do the work, you will fall behind. Coach Huff always says to value yourself. I like the offense better than what we have done because we have a lot more choices and option routes. It depends on what the defensive back does and not much as what you do. I like this offense too because it’s similar to what I had in high school. My coach at MRA (Herbert Davis) has a lot of what he’s running that we are running here. He knows (Southern Miss offensive coordinator) Coach (Blake) Anderson. I’m a lot more comfortable with it than what we ran in the past. Every single day you have to compete with someone who is just as good as you The receiver room as a whole grew a ton this spring. I love (Southern Miss wide receivers) Coach (Aaron) Dobson (who coached wide receivers with Huff at Marshall). I feel more comfortable playing for him. He has great experience after playing in the league (Dobson was a second-round NFL draft pick who played five years in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots). Obviously, he was great in college, too (he played at Marshall from 2009-2012), and he knows what it is like. I have grown a lot more this past spring than I have the last couple of years. Our discipline is a lot better. Everything is so detailed and we have a reason for everything.”
Dalton started 10 games and caught 15 passes for 175 yards and two TDs last season as a sophomore.
He caught six passes for 75 yards and played in seven games two years ago as a freshman.
Dalton’s first collegiate catch was a 27-yarder in the fourth quarter in Southern Miss’ 64-10 victory over Northwestern (La.) State in the Golden Eagles’ third game of the season.
His first catch came from a pass by Jackson Prep alumnus and Southern Miss backup quarterback Jake Lange with 4 minutes to play in the game. Dalton’s catch came on fourth down and four and gave Southern Miss first down and goal at the Northwestern 8. The Golden Eagles scored two plays later to push the lead to 64-10.
“My first catch was definitely a little nerve racking,” Davis told Mississippi Scoreboard after his first catch as a freshman. “I was shaking coming out of the huddle before my catch because I knew the ball was going to me. Thankfully, I caught it. I actually thought I scored but they went back and called it out of bounds around the 8-yard line. College football took some getting used to for sure. The hardest part was going against the defensive backs we have here. Many are very experienced, and it took me a while to win routes against them. They have definitely made me a better player.”
“Davis is coming in from a tradition rich program at MRA. Coach Herbert Davis and those guys have done a great job of molding Davis into a lot of what he is today,” then Southern Miss wide receivers coach Desmond Lindsey said. “He is a good ball skill guy who is coachable. Davis has been able to come and handle the transition a little quicker than some freshman would have. Davis takes the learning curve from some of the older guys and buys into it. He tries to soak it up and be a sponge. Davis is a quiet, mild-mannered kid. He does have confidence. He comes to practice, comes to work every day with a smile on his face. Davis is a team guy. He wants to do whatever he can to help the team.”
Dalton – the 2021 Priority One Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Football Player of the Year – caught 89 passes for 1,586 yards and 15 touchdowns and led MRA to its third consecutive MAIS Class 6A state championship last season as a senior. His receiving yards were second highest in Mississippi and 18th highest in the country, according to MaxPreps. Dalton caught a Mississippi record 388 receiving yards – 17th best in history among high schools in the country according to MaxPreps – in MRA’s 50-20 victory over Jackson Prep last season. He had 14 catches in the game, and had eight catches for 260 yards by halftime.
Dalton started making headlines in his first game as a junior for MRA. In his first career start, Dalton caught six passes for 146 yards and three TDs, the last one was a 10-yard TD catch on fourth down with 7 seconds to play in a 27-26 victory over Trinity Christian (Texas), one of the top teams in the country, to open the 2020 season at MRA. NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, then the offensive coordinator for Trinity Christian and now Colorado’s head coach, called Dalton’s performance “spectacular.” Dalton was named the PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Football Player of the Week after that game.
Dalton continued to excel and caught 38 passes for 742 yards and 14 TDs and helped MRA to a 12-0 record and a second straight MAIS Class 6A state title. He was named to the second team of the Priority One Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Football Team. Also, MRA’s kickoff specialist and punter, Dalton had 12 touchbacks in nine games and averaged 38.3 yards per punt.
Dalton, a member of the Priority One Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Preseason Elite 11 Football Team, performed even better as a senior. He had seven games where he had at least 100 receiving yards. Six of the other seven games Dalton didn’t play the whole game because MRA was way ahead. In only one game that he played the whole game did he not reach 100 – against Oakland, Tenn., which won its second straight Tennessee state title with a 15-0 record and was ranked No. 24 in the nation by MaxPreps. He averaged 8.5 catches and 127 yards against two-time MAIS Class 3A state champion and nationally ranked Greenville Christian and Arkansas state champion Pulaski Academy. He averaged 8.5 catches and 136 yards in two playoff victories over Jackson Academy and Hartfield.
Davis might even be a better punter than receiver. The son of a punter – his dad Todd punted at Clinton High and Arkansas State – Dalton averaged an amazing 48.3 yards on 15 punts. He had a long of 65 yards and six punts downed inside the 20. His punting average would have ranked No. 5 in the country, according to MaxPreps, if he had one more punt. The minimum requirement was 16 punts for the season.
Todd worked with Davis growing up and took him to various punting camps and he thought punting was going to be his position to getting a college scholarship before Davis became an outstanding receiver.
Said MRA coach Herbert Davis: “He is about the best I’ve ever coached at catching the ball and going, attacking, and finding the ball even if it’s not a perfect throw.”
Dalton, a forward, averaged six points and started every game after football season and helped MRA to a 33-7 record and a MAIS Class 6A runner-up finish and Overall Tournament semifinal finish as a senior.
Dalton helped MRA to a 33-3 record and an Overall Tournament championship in basketball as a junior. Davis, who worked his way into the starting lineup once he got into basketball shape from football, scored 12 points in MRA’s overtime victory over Greenville Christian for the Overall title. Dalton made a rebound basket at the buzzer to send the game into overtime.
Dalton is the son of Todd and Ashlie Dalton. Todd played football and baseball at Clinton High, winning a state baseball title with Coach Doug Hutton and playing football for James Sloan. Todd was a punter of one year at Arkansas State and graduated from Mississippi State. Ashlie graduated from Macon Central Academy, Livingston, Ala., (bachelor’s) and Mississippi State (masters and Phd). Dalton’s brother, Jack,, is a junior at MRA and plays football (wide receiver and punter) and basketball (guard). He has caught five passes for 110 yards and averaged 44 yards on five punts this season for 4-1 MRA. Dalton’s grandfather, Jackie Dalton, played basketball at Northwest Mississippi Community College and Mississippi College and was as high school basketball official for 50 years.
