Lake Cormorant’s Cavazos is No. 6 on Dandy Dozen
Gabe Cavazos and the rest of his Lake Cormorant football teammates had an advantage coming into their Mississippi High School Activities Class 5A firstround playoff game on Nov. 13.
Specifically, the Gators had homefield advantage against Ridgeland.
“It was back-and-forth,” said Cavazos, a 6-foot-5, 292-pound left tackle. “We went into halftime winning 21-20. We scored on our last play before halftime.”
In the end, however, the advantage belonged to the visiting Titans, who turned the tables by scoring a touchdown with 13 seconds remaining to salvage a 36-28 victory.
“I went in feeling pretty good about it,” said Cavazos, the No. 21 prospect in Mississippi in the Class of 2021, according to the 247Sports Composite. “We just shot ourselves in the foot. Too many flags.”
Cavazos is No. 6 on The Commercial Appeal’s second annual Dandy Dozen, a collection of the top 12 college football prospects for the Class of 2021 from the Mid-south.
As far as representing Lake Cormorant, Cavazos has one more shot. In October, he was selected to participate in Saturday’s Mississippi/alabama AllStar Game scheduled for noon in Montgomery, Alabama.
Just scratching the surface
One month prior to kicking off his senior season, Cavazos, a three-year starter, committed to Mississippi State, choosing the Bulldogs over the likes of Memphis, South Alabama, Arkansas State and Central Arkansas.
“It’s not too far or too close,” he said. “And it’s a good school.”
Cavazos was chosen to the MHSAA Region 1-5A first team and Mississippi Association of Coaches Class 5A AllState first team.
“The thing is, when people see Gabe, he’s a big kid,” Lake Cormorant coach Nick Nester said. “I don’t think a lot of people realize how great an athlete he is. He’s extremely fast. He can bend well, he can jump. He can throw. He can kick — he can do everything.”
Another Gator family secret? Cavazos already has an advantage at left tackle because he’s a southpaw.
“He’s left-hand dominant, so a lot of things he makes really easy that aren’t really easy,” said Nester. “He’s a great athlete to be such a big guy. We played him everywhere — tight end and Hback.
“That first game, we had a kid go down and Gabe had like a 20-yard reception.”
On the fast track
Cavazos will be graduating early. That affords him the opportunity to report to Starkville for spring semester.
“I just think that’s the best thing to do: Graduate early and go there,” he said. “I want to get bigger and stronger.”
Taking into account that he’ll also be turning 18 two days after Christmas, this month will definitely be a good kind of hectic.
“It’s about starting over — becoming a freshman again and going against guys four or five years older than you — and the speed of the game,” said Nester. “Athletically, with the type of kid he is, it won’t take him long to get adjusted to that. It’s the SEC West. It’s the best of the best. If he can get in there and go with these guys, he can go with anybody.”