This year’s Premier Preps football team has a postseason flavor to it.

Between the first and second teams, a total of 44 players from Lauderdale, Clarke, Kemper, Newton and Neshoba counties made the cut. Fourteen out of 18 area teams were represented — and of those teams, 11 made the postseason this past fall. One of the three that didn’t, Russell Christian Academy, would have been in the playoffs were they not ineligible after moving down to eight-man football.

Two of those 14 teams, Lamar School and Kemper County, won state championships.

Four Lamar players — Davis Harrison, C.J. McClelland, Tate Thompson and Will Roberts — were selected, and Raiders head coach Mac Barnes said those guys — as well as many other, especially the team’s eight seniors — made this season one to remember.

“We had only eight seniors, and they did a wonderful job,” Barnes said. “I met with them in the summer and would ask them what they thought about something, and they’d give me feedback. A lot of coaches complain about lack of leadership, but we work to develop it by giving them responsibilities and asking for their feedback.”

Thompson, a senior linebacker and MAIS All-Star selection, said he was honored to represent his school on the Premier Preps team, and it was a great way to cap off an excellent season.

“It’s a true honor to know that I was selected out of many players in my region,” Thompson said.

Perhaps Lamar’s biggest regular-season game was a 34-31 win against East Rankin Academy, which ultimately determined Lamar’s playoff seeding. Harrison injured his shoulder in the game and was unable to return as quarterback for the rest of the season, allowing backup signal-caller Joseph Hutchinson his time to shine. Though Barnes said he felt his team would have still made the playoffs even with a loss at East Rankin, he said the win allowed them to have a first-round bye in the postseason — and it wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions from all of their key players.

“Roberts I feel was one of the best deep threats in the state, and he (played through) a hairline fracture in the East Rankin game,” Barnes said. “If he hadn’t have played, we probably lose that game.”

The first-round bye, coupled with a late-season bye week, gave the Raiders the extra rest they needed to be fresh all through the playoffs.

“It was huge,” Thompson said. “There was definitely a huge difference. If someone had sprained an ankle or had something minor, they had really a two-week rest. It was nice just to be fresh.”

Like Lamar, Kemper County was led by a group of standout seniors. Of the six Wildcat players to make the Premier Preps list, only junior defensive lineman Trajan Tanksley wasn’t a 12th-grader.

“They’ve been a big part of it from Day 1,” Kemper County head coach Chris Jones said. “They were in ninth grade when I got there. At first, Gus Nave didn’t play football — he was just a basketball kid. He didn’t come out until his sophomore year, and he had a good year and kept getting better and better.

“They bought into what it takes. Before I came, they were 1-10, and they bought in. They really laid the foundation, in my opinion, because all of them worked hard and came to practice every day.”

Not only where his standout players athletically gifted, they were also good kids, Jones added.

“It’s always, ‘Yes sir, no sir,’” Jones said. “I can’t say enough good things about them. I wish I could have (the seniors) again, but all good things must come to an end. … I’m looking forward to getting up on Saturdays and going to their games or watching them on TV.”

Nave said he and the other seniors have had a special connection going into the season, and as the Wildcats faced adversity, that bond allowed them to keep winning.

“We were just waiting to get started,” Nave said. “It started in the spring and in the summer, so we had bonded. We’re a really tight group. A lot of other players played a role — we had a lot of juniors and sophomores step up. It just wasn’t us, it was a team goal to win the whole thing. Everybody pitched in; everyone contributed and did their jobs. It was a team effort.”

If there’s one thing Jones said he won’t forget about his standout seniors, it’s that they were the ultimate competitors.

“Against anybody, any place, anywhere, they’re willing to compete,” Jones said. “They’re the ultimate competitors, winners and trendsetters. They put Kemper County football on the map.”