Beginning his fourth season leading Pine Bluff High School’s football team, Micheal Williams doesn’t shy away from championship competition.
“It’s just the fact that our in-state rivals are good, but sometimes it’s better to see different things outside of the state, so we’re taking our team on a trip and letting them see Grenada, Mississippi.”
Coming off a 3-7 rebuild in 2024, the Zebras are going to see Mississippi’s defending 6A state championship team right in front of them. Pine Bluff and Grenada will kick off the 2025 season at 7 p.m. Friday at Charger Stadium, 1875 Fairground Road in Grenada.
The Zebras are kicking off there for the second time in two years after a home game against Oklahoma City Millwood fell through. Williams reached out to Grenada Coach Michael Fair about another game, and it turned out the Chargers were looking for a home date.
“I think regardless of the year before, we try to play someone really well coached and really athletic,” Fair said. “We don’t want to wait until the end of district to see the speed we need to see to try to win a state championship. Pine Bluff is well coached and really physical. We’re excited about the opportunity.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The last trip the Zebras took to Grenada — 100 miles south of Memphis on Interstate 55 — was not the smoothest.
A bus breakdown and malfunctioning air conditioning system on the bus did the Zebras no favors to open the 2023 regular season, Williams recalled. They didn’t get to Charger Stadium until an hour before kickoff, and Grenada promptly scored 9 points before its offense took the field on its way to a 30-7 victory.
That was no microcosm in the Zebras’ season. Blessed with the air attack of Landon Holcomb to either Courtney Crutchfield or Austyn Dendy — all three now Division I players — the Zebras won the 5A-Central Conference and came within one game of making the 5A state championship game.
Pine Bluff is going into this season with three returning starters on offense — junior guard Kaden French (who has also played center), senior center Braylin Long, and wide receiver and Georgia State commit Quintin Roy.
Sophomore Jahmar Morrow has been given the starting nod at quarterback, succeeding graduate Davonte Wallace. Morrow has been the leader of a class that won conference championships in seventh and eighth grades and won all but one game as freshmen.
“For a second, I thought he wasn’t coming in well,” Williams said. “I was having to ride him, and his spirit dropped. Actually, he’s handling it well. I talked to him today about handling the crowd and they will criticize everything you do. Like I was telling him, to whom much is given, much is expected.”
Grenada went to the 2023 Mississippi 6A title game to cap Fair’s first season as head coach, but the Chargers lost to West Jones at Ole Miss. The Chargers earned a measure of redemption at Southern Miss last season, winning it all over Starkville to finish a 15-1 slate.
Fair said the players engineered the turnaround in the program from a 5-6 mark in 2022.
“I think the kids — football is still important here in Grenada, similar to Pine Bluff,” Fair said. “There’s a lot of special talent around here, and it’s turned into two great seasons. It was all the kids. I was just here for the ride.”
Most of the seniors on last season’s Chargers are now on college or junior-college football rosters, with one competing at Stephen F. Austin of the Football Championship Subdivision, Fair said. Five starters on each side of the ball return for Grenada, including senior quarterback Brayden Trusty and 6-foot-5 senior receiver Zayion Cotton.
“There will be a lot of guys Pine Bluff will see that haven’t had their number called,” Fair said. Grenada graduated two receivers, a tailback and two offensive linemen from the championship squad.
The Chargers’ defensive starters include two linebackers and three defensive backs.
“A lot of holes to fill,” Fair said. “We thought that was our strength. Talent-wise, I think we’re OK. We just have to see how they respond.”
Fair also called his defense one of the best units in Mississippi, a sentiment Williams shares with his unit.
“The defense is very solid, but anchored down by our D-line, that’s what makes our defense so good,” Williams said, pointing to defensive tackle and third-year starter Emmanuel Hudson. “If you don’t have time to throw, that’s what will allow us to make it a little tough.”
Williams was equally as high on Hudson alone, adding how he never lost a 1-on-1 drill through several camps including the University of Arkansas’. Now-graduated Zebra Danny Johnson, who signed with Division II contender Ouachita Baptist, earned the same praise at that position from Williams last year.
“We call him Danny 2.0 because of everything he learned from Danny,” Williams said. “In fact, his work ethic is even better than Danny’s.”
Senior middle linebacker Kevin Pope and Hudson play off each other, Williams said. The two are returning as defensive starters for Pine Bluff, along with senior free safety Braylon Stigger, senior linebacker Mario Jones and junior Deundre Trotter. Jones picked off two passes and Trotter came up with another interception in Pine Bluff’s season-ending, 24-16 victory over White Hall last November.
If the Zebras win in their return to Grenada, it will be because they are more prepared for the long trail, Williams believes. The trip is their second longest of the season, eclipsed only by the Sept. 6 game against Dallas Kimball at Dallas’ Kincade Stadium.
“We are going to get there early this year. We’ll have time to settle ourselves down,” Williams said. “I truly believe, as I did in 2023, we are the better team.”