Player of the Week: Hattiesburg senior linebacker B.J. Mitchell

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - B.J. Mitchell is tailor made for the linebacker position.

“I get to hit anybody without getting in trouble any time I want to,” said Mitchell, a senior at Hattiesburg High School.

“You talk to opposing coaches one of the first things they say is, ‘No. 7′s a dog,’” said Hattiesburg head coach Tony Vance. “He’s a head-hunter. Some college is going to get a great football player and a great kid in B.J. Mitchell. For those who haven’t offered him yet I think they better hurry up and get in line.”

Mitchell won’t stay under the radar too long if he keeps putting up the type of numbers he did in the Tigers’ overtime win over George County on Friday – 13 tackles, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

His impact is felt all the way from the field to the locker room.

“You gotta be physical, tough, mentally tough,” Mitchell said. “You gotta know everything that’s going on and you gotta be smart and fast.”

“Whether it’s practice or the weight room or conditioning, you know you’re going to get everything out of B.J. Mitchell,” Vance said. “He’s also one of the guys that’s going to bring the best out of his teammates and he understands that’s what the expectation is for seniors to make everybody around them better. It doesn’t take long at all to figure out when somebody’s saying something it’s probably B.J. Mitchell talking to the team and telling them, ‘Hey guys, let’s pick it up.’”

The Tigers have done just that, riding a three-game win streak into their bye week.

Region play begins on October 13. Hattiesburg hopes its best football is still ahead.

“I think playing tough opponents early always pays off for us,” Vance said. “We’ve been through a tough gauntlet, certainly we have a tough gauntlet to go starting district play next week.”

“The goal is to win district and how to get there is to stay focused, mentally focused and stay out of trouble,” Mitchell said.

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