STARKVILLE — A.J. Brown didn’t know what his senior year held for him.
After a big junior season, the Starkville High School wide receiver knew defenses were going to focus on him as a senior. He felt he could handle the pressure, but he knew his quarterback would look other places with so much attention around him.
“I thought somebody else was going to have a bigger role than I did because I was going to get all the attention,” Brown said. “I thought other guys were going to make some plays and have a bigger year.”
Despite attracting plenty of attention, Brown set a single-season school record with 83 catches for 1,371 yards and 13 touchdowns, and played a pivotal role in helping Starkville win the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 6A State title.
For his accomplishments, Brown is The Dispatch’s Large School co-Offensive Player of the Year.
After a season-opening loss to Noxubee County High, Brown helped Starkville win the next 13 games, including a 27-7 victory against Petal at Ole Miss’ Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
Brown had a great supporting cast with quarterback Montario Montgomery, wide receiver Rontavis Clark, and running back Avery Brown.
“He’ll be the first one to tell you, he did his part and everybody else did their part,” Starkville first-year coach Ricky Woods said. “This thing’s like a jigsaw puzzle, everybody’s got to do their part.”
Brown said his main focus in his final year was to win a state championship, so he didn’t care what his stats were.
As a junior, Brown and Ralph Leonard, who is at Florida Atlantic, teamed to make one of the state’s most dynamic duos. Last season, Brown had 60 catches for 1,125 yards and 17 touchdowns, while Leonard had 65 catches for 1,200 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Brown said his performance helped him build confidence, but he knew the pressure would be on his shoulders in 2015.
“They were trying to stop one, but they really couldn’t stop us,” Brown said. “When Ralph left I knew they were going to double me. In the summertime, I just had to work a little harder and take my game to another level because of what I was going to go up against.”
Woods, who took over the program after Jamie Mitchell left to take a job in Arkansas, said Brown impressed him when he watched Starkville High’s spring game. Woods, who has won eight state championships in two states, knew Brown was the kind of player he could build a team around.
“He’s just a great talent and he maximized it,” Woods said. “He does what he’s supposed to do, and that’s when you know you have a great player. He doesn’t talk about it. He actually does it.”
Brown has 11 Division I scholarship offers, including Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Alabama. He said he will take his time making a decision. After putting the recruiting process out of his mind during the season, Brown said he was surprised how he handled the pressure.
“I think I handled it pretty good,” Brown said. “We won a state championship.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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