SHIELDS: Area's top 12 H.S. football underclassmen

Coming up in August we plan to run a series of stories highlighting 12 super seniors who play football heading into the season. It will be the third year we've done this.

While the majority of student-athletes don't actively contribute to their teams' production until their senior year, there is usually a percentage of underclassmen on teams that help out sometimes as early as their freshman seasons.

Here is a list of 12 football players who won't be seniors this year but have already contributed to their respective teams before this year:

• Mitchell Bodiford, USJ: Last year's All-West Tennessee Sophomore of the Year may be called upon to play a big role for the Bruins. With the top two receivers graduating off last year's team, USJ may run the ball more than usual, particularly early in the season while the passing game works itself out.

• Andrew Goldsmith, TCA: Ohio State was the biggest school that paid the Lions a visit during the spring, and it was to talk with the then-sophomore. Goldsmith could play running back or linebacker in college, and that should make his college choices even more versatile as different colleges recruit different players for different purposes.

• Emmit Gooden, Haywood: The defensive lineman was committed to Tennessee, but not now. He mentioned on Twitter on Thursday having a good conversation with Penn State head coach James Franklin while at a camp in Atlanta. Major programs like the Vols, Nittany Lions, Vanderbilt and Alabama were showing interest in him not long after his sophomore season ended last year.

• Camrion Hollingsworth, Scotts Hill: The football program at Scotts Hill hasn't been around very long, but Hollingsworth made history at the school by being the first player to rush for more than 1,000 yards last year as a sophomore. He's got two more years to try to help the team make the playoffs for the first time.

• Tylan Johnson, Lexington: He was a second-team All-West Tennessee selection at quarterback as a freshman last year. His being injured affected the offense immensely as the Tigers, who were one of the leaders in scoring offense last year through the first half of the season, scored 14 points in a two-week span against South Side and North Side.

• Corey Newble, Liberty: As a freshman, Newble started at quarterback about halfway through the season and gave the Crusaders another option on offense. His presence and abilities gave Liberty enough versatility to throw opposing defenses off just enough to give Liberty an advantage. Newble's only loss as a starter so far was in the second round of the 4A playoffs last year at Trezevant.

• Eli Parker, TCA: The wide receiver/kicker was the area's top freshman two years ago and was one of the leading receivers in West Tennessee in 2013. He competed well with athletes from bigger schools in more competitive states during camps in the spring and will probably be the player to step into the role of the main target for the Lions' passing game.

• Benji Smith, Adamsville: The Cardinals' line – which is usually a strength for them – was pretty young going into the season last year and Smith was a part of that youth. But the then-sophomore had such a good season, he was named Lineman of the Year in District 15-A.

• Drake Smith, Riverside: Last year's Freshman of the Year helped the Panthers make the playoffs by being versatile enough to play nearly everywhere on the field at some point. He may be the guy to move into the starting quarterback role this year, but head coach Jeff Robertson could put him anywhere on the perimeter or in the backfield and be confident in his ability to produce anywhere.

• Tariqious Tisdale, Lexington: The running back was part of one of the best backfields in the area last year as a sophomore. Fortunately for the Tigers, most of that starting backfield is back to produce even more for Lexington.

• Cade Willingham, South Side: The quarterback will be a junior this year and is already a record-breaking quarterback for the Hawks' program. He threw for 10 touchdowns in the Hawks' win over Bolivar in Week 10 last year and broke the single-game passing yards record for the program. Of course, it's not like South Side has a history of prolific passing games to try to out-pass. But it could be a sign of things to come for the team.

• Tyler Wise, Crockett County: The then-sophomore got a chance to show what he could do when nearly every running back ahead of him on the depth chart suffered a significant injury at some point in the season last year. He did well enough that head coach Kevin Ward plans on utilizing him more this year as a junior.

Brandon Shields is the sports editor of The Jackson Sun. Contact him at 425-9751 or at bjshields@jacksonsun.com. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon.