State leaders

There are plenty of reasons that Mills (6-0, 4-0 5A-Central) has already matched its 2021 win total.

Junior quarterback Achillies Ringo is the No. 2 passer in the state with 1,774 yards. senior wide receiver QJ King is fifth in the state with 603 receiving yards.

The Comets have three players with 350 yards or more receiving. There is a lot to point to on an offense averaging 41.3 points per game.

But it might just be the defense, headlined by the state leaders in sacks and interceptions, that is spearheading Mills’ undefeated season.

Derrick Murdock has terrorized opposing offenses this season with his stateleading eight sacks. The junior has also racked up 25 tackles for loss.

Mills Coach Cortez Lee called Murdock the heart of his team’s defense.

“Derrick is just the energy guy. It’s contagious,” Lee said. “Everything about him is based on energy and effort. And that’s not coachable. Either you have that or you don’t.”

Lee also speaks very highly of senior two-way player Jabrae Shaw.

The University of Central Arkansas commit serves as a do-it-all playmaker on offense and as the state’s leader in interception with eight, which is double than any other player.

“I’m just impressed with the young man,” Lee said. “His preparation, his work ethic. And he’s a gamer. He studies film a lot, and he puts himself in great positions.”

Alongside Murdock and Shaw, Mills features defensive lineman Charlie Collins, the No. 3 junior in Arkansas according to 247Sports and the team’s leading tackler with 64. Junior defensive end Caleb Sain is second with 63, and junior linebacker Ryan White has 56.

With Murdock, Collins and Sain, among others, on the defensive front, Lee and his coaching staff have had the enjoyable challenge of deciding where to play them all.

“We talk about that in our coaching meetings all the time, you know, being able to have speed and size at different positions on the field,” Lee said. “And how you can kind of have mismatched situations by placing those guys … there are just a lot of good things that you can do with pieces like that.”