Player of the Week: PJ Woodland all over the field for Oak Grove

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - Prentiss “PJ” Woodland likes basketball but he loves football.

“Just the game, I love the game,” said Woodland, a junior defensive back and wide receiver for the Oak Grove Warriors. “Growing up and always playing football.”

That’s why when his high school days are over, Woodland hopes to keep playing at the next level.

“He goes straight from football season to basketball season and then he does both during the summer,” said Oak Grove head coach Drew Causey. “When he gets the ability to get in college and really focus on something and put the weight on that he needs to put on and things like that, the sky’s the limit for him.

“But he’s just a heck of an athlete.”

Woodland shows it every Friday night for the Warriors – making plays on special teams, at wide receiver and especially defensive back.

“Defensive back, you can get a lot of tackles, a lot of hits,” Woodland said. “And then on defense, you just get to take your anger out on somebody.”

While Woodland may prefer the defensive side of the football, his versatility is a big bonus, Causey said.

“PJ’s definitely a special kid,” Causey said. “He’s a guy we can just kinda put anywhere on the field and he’s going to go make plays.”

That’s exactly what Woodland did last week, blanketing receivers and chasing down running backs as part of a total team effort in Oak Grove’s 25-20 win over previously unbeaten Brandon.

“We came out with more energy, more intensity,” Woodland said. “Came out with real big fight.”

Causey said he thinks the Warriors finally may be gelling

“For us, we’ve finally started to play like we’re capable of playing,” Causey said. “There were spurts of it throughout the season. Finally we’re starting to put it all together and hopefully we’re doing that at the right time.”

Tied atop Region 3-6A with two games to play, the Warriors’ goal of getting back to the state championship is very much in reach.

“We were at South State last year,” Woodland said. “It’s our revenge season. We really want to go get the ring this year.”

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