The Ethel Tiger football team finished the 2016 season with a 4-7 overall record and a 3-5 Region 3-1A mark, its best record since the 2009 season.
Many players contributed, such as running back Sean Williams who had over 700 yards rushing and four touchdowns, quarterback Hayes Wood with nearly 700 yards through the air and eight touchdowns with three more TD’s on the ground, defensive lineman Tykevin Wade with 41 tackles and two sacks and linebacker Cory Felton with 69 tackles and three sacks, but the contributions of senior defensive back and wide receiver Julius Erving were hard to overlook for the 2016 All-Central Mississippi Football Awards Defensive MVP.
Erving had 39 total tackles for the Tigers and three interceptions, with two going for touchdowns. He also recovered a fumble and took it in for a score as well. Erving accumulated 14 total touchdowns on the year for the Tigers and could quickly change the momentum of a game with his prowess for being near the football at just the right time.
“Julius (Erving) is the type of player who can take over a game very quickly, on offense or defense, but especially on defense,” said Ethel head coach Hogan Briscoe. “There were multiple times throughout the course of the year when we needed a big play on defense and he came through for us time and time again.”
