High School Football Tour: Oxford

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OXFORD, Miss. (WCBI Sports) – It’s not often that coaches take the time to praise their kicker and long snapper when discussing their team’s preseason outlook. Oxford Head Coach Johnny Hill did just that when I spoke to him about his Chargers squad.

Senior kicker Cody Mills has played on the team since he was in 7th grade and has hit field goals from 50 yards.

“He’s got a leg and he’s got a lot of confidence, and I tell you, the one that people forget about is our longsnapper. Our guy is a senior this year, he’s started for two years and I think he’s got the chance to play D-I,” Hill said.

That’s longsnapper Chadwick Lamar, who’s also a senior.

The Chargers went 11-2 last season, making it to the second round of the playoffs before losing to Starkville. This year’s team is both experienced but also filled with underclassmen.

Conrey Meagher is a senior safety. He’s drawing interest from schools like Navy and Columbia.

“We’re experienced but we are young. We’ve got a lot of sophomores and juniors that will play because they’re just really good,” Meagher said. “We have a lot of seniors coming back as well and last year we did alright, we went 11-2. Hopefully we can repeat some of that success.”

Mike McGee is a 245-pound senior linebacker. He says he’s trying to focus on his speed this offseason.

“We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen stepping up and trying to take the role of a starter on varsity and I think that if they just keep on working they’ll do great out there,” McGee said.

Oxford has three starting running backs returning but has a new man under center in sophomore Jack Abraham.

“They’re just going to have to grow up. They’ve worked really hard. That 10th-grade group might be as good a bunch as I’ve had come up like that,” Hill said.