Any time that Ethel takes the football field this season, there is a good chance that Lanarkes Davis is going to be out there.
Davis enters his senior season for the Tigers as a sure-fire starter on both sides of the football, making him the latest addition to the Star-Herald Top 11 Players to Watch for the upcoming football season. Already announced as part of the list are Antonio Harmon and Devonte’ Ellis of Kosciusko; Bubba Ward and Percy Lewis of McAdams; Thomas Costilow of Winona Christian; Izik Stewart of Ethel; and Wykece Johnson of Central Holmes.
Davis was quick to draw the admiration of second-year coach Dave McCrory.
“He’s a strong kid that does everything that is asked of him,” McCrory said. “He has bought into what we are trying to do here at Ethel. He is going to be a key ingredient into what we are trying to make this football team be. We would not be as good of a team without him, that’s for sure. He is a quiet leader. I think every time he walks into the locker room or the weight room, I think the kids look at him. And they look up to him. A lot of them look up to him and try to mirror him. That’s good because he does all of the right things.”
While Davis is not physically gifted in a lot of ways, McCrory said he makes up for that with the way he works.
“He has a good work ethic,” McCrory said. “Sometimes when we get into the weight room, he is so strong that his percentages are a lot higher than a lot of the other kids. A lot of kids are trying to catch up to them physically. It’s good for those kids to see what hard work can do for you. He’s just so strong.”
McCrory said Davis will have to be in tip-top shape once the season rolls around because he does not see the 5-foot-8, 250-pound senior getting off the field that much.
“He’s going to be a two-way player,” McCrory said. “We are not as good when he isn’t on the field and I hope he realizes that. We have talked about upping or conditioning so we can ensure that four quarters. We are asking a lot out of him. And it might be a little unfair to him because of the role he has to play. He is going to move around some on the defensive side. He is going to have to play multiple positions.”
On defense, McCrory said it is likely that Davis will start out the season at defensive end but hopefully move to linebacker after the fourth game of the season.
“He may play end, he may play ‘backer some,” McCrory said. “He will probably start the season as our backside defensive end. We flip the field and boundary and he will be the boundary defender. As the season moves, he will move to more of a linebacker role. We have a kid that will play that defensive end, but he won’t be eligible until that fourth game. Then we might move him to linebacker, but that’s our vision for him right now. We want him to fill that huge void on the defensive line and once we get that taken care of, we can move him to another spot.”
On offense, Davis is a prototypical guard on the offense line, short and squatty who is able to pull on the sweep plays that McCrory hangs his hat on.
“He is our best lineman on offense,” McCrory said. “He is hands down our best offensive lineman and the only senior we have up there. He is stronger than everybody we have up front. He is probably one of the smartest that we have up there. He knows the plays; he knows what to do. He knows the angles to take; he knows how to down block; he knows how to pull; he knows how to pass set. He knows how to do it all. He played every play on the offensive side last year. He is very athletic because when you pull guards they have to be athletic and he can do that.”
McCrory said several junior colleges have come through Ethel this year and Davis is one of the first players that he puts in front of coaches.
“I think he can play somewhere,” McCrory said. He says 5-8, but I think he’s taller than that. I think is 5-9 and some change. Coahoma came in and talked with him a little bit. He has an opportunity. Coahoma even told him that they have some linebackers that aren’t as tall. They just like guys that run to the ball and he does that. He has sat with a couple of them and he’s the first one that I put in front of them. Whenever they ask if I’ve got anybody, I tell them yes but he’s not very tall. I tell them I have somebody they need to talk to so he’s got an outside shot of playing some ball after high school.”
Davis said if he does not get the chance to play college football, he wants to go to junior college and learn a trade like welding.
“Whether it’s welding or whatever, he’s going to do a good job at it because he is such a hard worker,” McCrory said. “He’s going to do a good job at it. Kids like him are the reason we have had some more people stop by. Once they see that there are a couple of players that could play at the next level, we will have more and more people come by. If I had 11 of Lanarkes out there on the field, we could look at that schedule and fill in a bunch of Ws, there’s no doubt about that.”
Davis was also on the Ethel powerlifting team and finished third in Class 1A in the 242-pound weight class. Davis said he can squat more than 500 pounds and bench more than 240. He also understands his role for the Tigers this year.
“I have to be a leader and guide my team but most of all is to teach my team to play consistent and keep their head up,” Davis said. “I like linebacker. It gives me time to watch which way the play is moving and run to the football. It gives me time to read and react. But I know I have to play defensive end to start the season. I just want to do whatever I can to do help the team.”
Davis said when he is not at school lifting, he is probably working either cutting grass or trees and doing yard work.
“If we don’t have him up front, we aren’t very good,” McCrory said. “He understands the sacrifice that he has to make to be there. It would be great if I had a couple more linemen where I could play him as a fullback because he has really good hands and would be really good there. But I can’t because of what we have personnel wise and he understands that. He knows his role.”
