A heart condition robbed West Lauderdale running back JJ Grant of much of his junior season in 2020.

Grant had rushed for approximately 600 yards through the first five contests of 2020 before he experienced lightheadedness and shortness of breath during a game. Eventually, doctors found an extra blood vessel that was open inside Grant and sealed it off, forcing him to miss the rest of his 11th grade year.

The hiatus made Grant more determined than ever heading into 2021, and he made the most of his good health, finishing the season with 2,612 yards and 25 touchdowns on 308 carries, helping West Lauderdale to a Region 4-4A championship, a 10-2 record and a berth in the second round of the MHSAA Class 4A postseason.

Because of his dominance on the field, Grant was named the Premier Preps Football Player of the Year for 2021.

“It feels great,” Grant said. “It feels like I earned it.”

Knights head coach Brock Clay said Grant is a deserving recipient of player of the year honors after playing such an integral part of West Lauderdale’s season.

“The big thing with JJ is not only hard work and what he’s meant to the program’s success the last few years, but also coming off the season last year and the way it ended and doing what he did was very special,” Clay said. “For him to get this recognition and receive the honors he has, I’m very proud of him.”

In Game 1 against Newton County, Grant admitted he was anxious about his heart at first, but the nerves soon faded when he physically felt like he was back to normal.

“There was one time I ran I thought it would happen again,” said Grant, referring to the lightheadedness and shortness of breath that made him realize he needed medical attention. “When it didn’t happen, I was kind of surprised. After that, I was like, ‘OK, it’s going to be a good season.’”

And it was, with the Knights going undefeated in Region 4-4A, including a 36-35 win at home against Louisville, in which Grant rushed 36 times for 179 yards and three scores.

“It was a great experience,” Grant recalled. “We knew that it was going to be the most intense game (on our schedule), and that it was the one we needed to win to be district champs.”

It meant even more to Grant since he wasn’t able to play against Louisville in 2020 due to the surgery, and his quarterback, Jackson Parker, was banged up going into the Louisville game, meaning he would be limited physically. That meant defenders would key in on Grant, but that didn’t bother him, whether it was against Louisville or anyone else.

“You just have to have a forceful mentality,” Grant explained. “You have to push through each play and always be thinking about the current play, not the one before or the next play.”

Clay said Grant’s game against Louisville was just a microcosm of what kind of player he was each week — Grant wanted the ball in his hands as much as possible.

“It wasn’t just that game,” Clay said. “It was definitely special in that game specifically, but it was that way in every ball game. This past season with him getting the experience he had, it got to where we would call plays and he would be begging for the ball back on the next play because he saw something he wanted to exploit or he felt like he could do better on the next play.”

After a dominant fall, Grant earned numerous postseason accolades. He was named Class 4A’s Offensive Player of the Year by the Mississippi Association of Coaches and was Region 4-4A’s Most Valuable Player. He also made the Bernard Blackwell North/South All-Star game.

“I’m honored, but at the end of the day, I still need to work hard and get better than I am now,” Grant said.

Grant signed with Holmes Community College to continue his football career.