Mississippi School for the Deaf: From 1 win to #1

At first glance it looks like a school assembly on Eastover Drive. A Bulldog, a drum, and purple and gold faithful made Thursday anything but a typical assembly.

A stellar team deserved a stellar surprise. The Mississippi School for the Deaf capped an 8 and oh season with an 8-man national championship.

"I can't over emphasize the point that this team only won one game," head coach Arness Georgetown said. "We had kids that had never played football. This last year was their first time being introduced to football. And then to come back the following year and to actually contribute. So a lot of teams are actually shooting for us now. We got a lot of big schools, deaf schools that actually want to play us now. Trying to see if we're really that good."

The Bulldogs are led by one of the more underrated athletes. 6 months ago, Kenmarkis Meeks won state titles in the 110 and the 300 meter hurdles. That track speed plus more space on the gridiron equals 32 touchdowns.

"I try make sure I hit the holes when I'm running," Meeks said. "Don't focus on the mistakes. Each game I try to teach my teammates and show them my responsibilities. We all have roles on the team. Finally we're champions. You see last year we kinda had a bad season, but this season we were better as a team, had good influences on the team, good attitudes."

"We have actually made these kids believe in themselves when no one else believed in them," Georgetown said. "These kids have confidence in themselves, and they had the opportunity to play, which they may not have had that opportunity if they were somewhere else."

M - S - D is on the T - O - P of the pigskin mountain for the first time since 2013.

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