SPORTS

Football players lift at USJ Friday

Brandon Shields
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

JACKSON - The University School of Jackson football program is bringing back spring weight lifting competitions on Friday as the Bruins will host most of the programs in Madison County for a county-wide meet.

Bolivar Central's Trey Lowe (10) looks to pass against Raleigh-Egypt at Tiger Stadium in Bolivar, Tenn., on Friday, Sept. 30, 2016.

The teams will lift on USJ’s campus and will have a special speaker, USA Powerlifting super weight champion Big Ray Williams.

Liberty, North Side, South Side and Trinity Christian will all compete at USJ to see which football athletes are lifting the most in the middle of the offseason.

All of the teams’ spring practices are set to begin in the next two or three weeks.

Recruiting in Bolivar picking up: Bolivar quarterback Trey Lowe has been a name to watch in the recruiting circuit for more than a year since receiving his first NCAA FBS offer from Memphis last year.

Lowe (6-feet-3-inches, 185 pounds, 4.7 40-yard time) continues to get offers as a three-star prospect according to 247Sports.com. He’s up to six offers.

Lowe’s teammate, offensive lineman Briason Mayes, is also getting attention. Mayes is also listed as a three-star prospect at 6-feet-3.5-inches and 270 pounds. He’s listed with three FBS offers from Navy, Marshall and Middle Tennessee State, but he indicated on Twitter last week he’d been offered by Illinois, who also offered a scholarship to Lowe on the same visit.

That would be the first offer for either athlete from one of the Power 5 conference programs.

Prather signs with Bethel: Bethel University usually fills out its football roster throughout the spring, and the Wildcats picked up some speed this week.

Hardin County’s Davius Prather (6-feet-0-inches, 167 pounds, 4.55 40-yard dash) officially signed with Bethel on Thursday afternoon.

Prather played quarterback for the Tigers last season, but he first became known to local football fans as a receiver and defensive back before moving under center for his senior season.

Prather has been one of the quicker athletes in the area the last couple years and has the potential to be an important player in Bethel’s program the next four years.

Jackson Christian's Phillips signs with Bethany: Jackson Christian defensive lineman Clayton Phillips (5-feet-11-inches, 175 pounds) signed earlier this week to play for Bethany College, an NAIA school in Kansas.

Phillips finished his senior season with 68 solo tackles among 92 total take-downs with seven sacks, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries.

Peabody’s Taylor headed for Rhodes: Jacob Taylor (6-feet-1-inch, 191 pounds) was the starting senior quarterback at Trenton Peabody last season and part of his junior year when the Golden Tide made their run to the Class 1A semifinals.

Taylor signed the paperwork in March to officially join the football program at Rhodes College in Memphis.

Brandon Shields can be reached at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at jacksonsunsports.