To be a good quarterback, one must be calm, cool, collected and level-headed.
Luckily for Oak Grove’s AJ Maddox, that’s his natural personality.
From start to finish this season, the quarterback steadily improved his game, including a postseason performance that propelled Oak Grove to a state championship title, earning him the honor of being named the 2023 Pine Belt Sports Player of the Year.
By the end of the season, Maddox threw for 3,268 yards and 35 touchdowns, completed 65% of his passes, and ran for 451 yards and nine touchdowns. Maddox was intercepted just four times, but the senior notably didn’t throw a pick in the last six games of the season.
Maddox’s calm manner helped him juggle the pressures of leading a team that was a favorite to win a state championship and, at the same time, juggle his college recruitment.
“I’ve always tried to be the person that is always calm and poised in all those situations,” Maddox said. “I pride myself on not letting the outside noise get to me and staying level-headed. I take pride in doing little things like that to keep the team going.
“Staying level-headed throughout the season, I think it gave me peace even outside of football.”
Maddox’s big season comes as no surprise for Oak Grove head coach Drew Causey. The reason for that is Causey noticed Maddox’s devotion to gaining a better understanding of the quarterback position itself this offseason.
“He worked hard on becoming a great quarterback than any other high school kid that I have seen,” Causey said. “The time he spent in the summer just meeting with different people. Things like understanding coverages, understanding how to attack different things to where during the game he could come say, ‘Hey, this is what I like, and this is what we’re doing.’
“He works hard in film. He and our offensive coordinator would get up here three to four days a week at 6:30 in the morning. AJ would be out of bed and waiting on him to watch film.”
But on the field during the season, Maddox knew he had to elevate his game even further for the final stretch of the year, which included having to run the ball more.
“After the (loss to) Brandon, he said that he knew that he had to elevate his level of play,” Causey said. “It wasn’t us calling run plays for him, but if you see a run, then just go. There’s no point in taking the big hit.”
Through the 10-game regular season, Maddox had rushed for just 281 yards and two touchdowns. The Oak Grove coaching staff realized that teams had begun to take extra preparation for the Warriors’ effective passing game and were leaving unchallenged running lanes for Maddox.
“Running the ball late in the season, I feel like, was key for our team’s success,” Maddox said. “A lot of teams were dropping people in coverage to take our passing game away.
“Running the ball can take its toll on you, so I wanted to be smart with it. I had to gain confidence, but the more I did it, the bigger gains I made.”
Off the field just as the postseason was about to begin, Maddox’s college plans took an unexpected turn.
The firing of Jimbo Fischer in mid-November left the Texas A&M commit having to rethink his college plan. Maddox had been committed to the Aggies since February and intended to graduate this December. Despite the late change, Maddox was never concerned about his life decision bleeding onto the field and impacting his play.
“It was a difficult situation,” Maddox said. “It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make.
Anytime you build up a relationship with a certain culture and coaching staff for anyone in general or in life, and then it goes down, it kind of derails everything. You have to take a step back and look at life differently, so that’s what I did with me and my family. We evaluated my situation and the other offers I had.”
In the end, Maddox’s commitment to run the ball paid off, as his 170 rushing yards and seven touchdowns contributed to his postseason performance that led him to account for 16 total touchdowns and 1,000 yards in total offense, which helped lead the Warriors to a state title.
Maddox will now stay close to home as he signed with Ole Miss with the plan to be an early enrollee.
“Ole Miss was highly favored on my list,” Maddox said. “It was too good to pass up.
“I have a great supporting cast. I know that my parents and my coaching staff have my back. My teammates understood what I was going through at the time. I knew that I had to keep to the main thing, and the main thing was winning football games. Without playing great out there, then I wouldn’t have these opportunities. I had to stay the course. Play great on the field, and a great outcome will come.”
Previous Winners:
2022: Keeghan Rodgers, FCAHS
2021: Nick Pipkins, Sacred Heart
2020: Marquis Crosby, PCS
2019: Rico Dorsey, PCS
2018: John Rhys Plumlee, Oak Grove
2017: Jarod ‘Snoop’ Conner, Hattiesburg
2016: Isaiah Woullard, PCS
2015: Daylyn Burks, Lumberton
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