Rossin, Murphy did it all as two-way stars in 2024, plus 19 more named to all-area team
Need a big play on offense? Check.
Have to have a stop defensively? No problem.
Desperate for a spark on special teams? Of course.
No matter the situation, Suwannee’s MJ Rossin and Lafayette’s Jordan Murphy had a knack for always providing just what their teams needed. In any and every phase of the game.
“It was one of those cases where every Friday night, he’d find a way to make plays,” Suwannee coach Kyler Hall said about Rossin, his do-everything senior who led the Bulldogs in receiving and rushing offensively and also was Suwannee’s best defensive back.
But Hall just as easily could have been talking about Murphy, who filled the same roles for the Hornets while re-writing Lafayette’s record book as a receiver, setting new school marks for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
It’s why the pair share the title of the Lake City Reporter’s Co-Football Players of the Year.
An All-Area performer a year ago, Murphy entered his senior season with lofty goals at Lafayette. After hauling in 29 passes for 675 yards and seven touchdowns in 2023, the 6-foot-1, 160-pounder wanted to top 1,000 yards in his final season for the Hornets. He also wanted to find his way into the end zone more.
Those goals, though, came before Lafayette had to start the season without Tywan Williamson, its All-Area quarterback.
But that proved not to be a problem.
With third string sophomore Tucker Higginbotham behind center to open the year, Murphy hauled in five passes for 143 yards and three touchdowns against Dixie County in the season opener. He never slowed down from there.
“Seeing that, it was eye-opening,” Murphy said of that debut performance.
He hauled in three receiving touchdowns three other times (Brookwood, Zarephath Academy and Franklin County) while also topping 100 yards receiving in five other games, including a season-high 164 yards on a season-best seven catches against Suwannee.
“He might have been the best receiver we saw all year,” Hall said. “He was tough. He ran good routes. He could run by you. He could stop quick.
“He was one of the best we saw all year.”
With all those attributes, Murphy put together the best receiving season in Lafayette school history. Even better than any his coach, Marcus Edwards, compiled before heading off to South Florida. Even better than what Jamal Reid did as an Under Armour All-American who went to Miami.
Murphy’s 1,317 yards receiving broke Reid’s school record of 1,224 in 2008. His 21 receiving touchdowns surpassed the 18 that Ben Massey hauled in in 2018 — and the 17 that Reid caught in both 2006 and 2008. Murphy’s 56 receptions are tied with Reid’s 2006 campaign for third most in program history. Edwards’ 69 in 2002 is still the school’s best.
“It was really eye opening to see (the records),” Murphy said. “It just shows you that hard work pays off.
“(Tripling) the amount of touchdowns and almost doubling the amount yards is just insane.”
Edwards said he recognized early on that Murphy was on pace for a historic campaign.
“It doesn’t take long to see where those receiving numbers are coming in,” he said.
But he too was nervous at the start of the year when Williamson, who had injured his ankle in Lafayette’s spring game, wasn’t ready to go at the start of the year. Edwards had witnessed all the work Murphy had put in during the offseason, never missing a day in the weight room and staying late to throw with Williamson, even though the quarterback couldn’t move around, to build up timing and rapport.
But with a new quarterback with less experience, all that work wasn’t guaranteed to turn into big numbers. Or so Edwards feared.
Turns out, there was nothing to be concerned about.
“Quarterbacks are smart guys,” Edwards said. “They throw to guys that are going to catch the ball and when they throw some bad balls, they’re going to make them look good.”
That happened too, Edwards said.
For example, Edwards said in that Dixie County game Higginbotham threw a ball into double coverage toward Murphy in the end zone.
“Realistically, it shouldn’t have been thrown,” Edwards said. “He goes up and he makes a play.”
But it was just one of numerous plays that he could point to over the course of the season to demonstrate what Murphy, who also had a pair of rushing touchdowns on just three carries all season and had a kickoff return for a touchdown against Zarephath Academy and a punt return for a score against Chipley, meant to the Hornets. He also added two interceptions, eight pass breakups and 62 tackles defensively.
“Take your pick,” he said. “He impacted every single game that we played in. No matter what part of the game you’re looking at, he was a big part of it.”
It was the same way at Suwannee with Rossin, who was fueled to have a big senior campaign by the broken collarbone he suffered in the fourth game of his junior season. Prior to that, the 6-foot, 185-pound Rossin had shown glimpses of what was to come.
In the three-plus games as a junior, he had six catches for 131 yards and a touchdown, while also scoring on an interception return and a punt return.
Then came the injury and the pain of having to watch a 6-0 start to the season end with four straight losses.
“That hurt me,” Rossin said. “Coming into the season I got a lot of doubt. I just had to prove them wrong again.”
Hall added that having football taken away last year made Rossin hungrier this year. It made him appreciate the game even more. Combine that with his talent and an increased focus in practice, and he became a star each and every Friday night.
“(It) made for a really impressive year that hasn’t been done around here too often,” Hall said.
How impressive?
Rossin’s senior campaign ranks among the top 10 in SHS history for receiving yards (818, eighth), touchdowns (10, tied for sixth) and receptions (46, ninth). He did all that while also normally shadowing opponents’ top receiver, breaking up 14 passes to go along with recovering four fumbles, intercepting one pass and making 46 tackles as a defensive back.
On special teams, Rossin blocked multiple kicks and also was a big-play threat in the return game, where he had 385 yards on kickoff returns, including a touchdown, and 54 yards on punt returns.
If that wasn’t enough, when the Bulldogs’ running back corps was depleted by injury, he became their top threat out of the backfield as well, rushing for a team-high 359 yards on 51 carries with four touchdowns there too.
“How many times have you seen that?” Hall asked about Rossin’s move to the backfield in the middle of the season while still also serving as the top receiving threat. “You put a kid in the backfield and he just looks like a natural.”
And it wasn’t just the way he carried the ball, Hall said. Rather, Rossin was comfortable in reading the Bulldogs’ blocking scheme and hitting the right holes.
“For him to go back there and be as impactful as he was, that was impressive.”
Most everything Rossin did on the field was impressive. Perhaps no game, though, was more impressive than the Bulldogs’ district opener at Godby on Sept. 13. While SHS dropped the game 29-26 on a late Cougars’ score, Rossin’s full array of talent was on display.
Debuting at running back and as a wildcat quarterback that night, Rossin rushed for 116 yards — the most for a Suwannee back all year — and a touchdown on 16 carries. He also hauled in five passes for 85 yards and a touchdown. Add in 20 yards on a punt return and 115 yards on a pair of kickoff returns and Rossin racked up 336 all-purpose yards. For good measure, he intercepted a pass on defense too.
“He would just always find a find to be impactful,” said Hall, who regularly described him as “the best player on the field every Friday night.”
That included the Bulldogs’ trip to Baxley, Ga., in September to play Appling County and their Arkansas-bound linebacker Tavion Wallace. Despite Suwannee losing 35-16, Rossin said his 96-yard kickoff return score late in the second quarter was his most memorable play of the season.
“We were struggling,” he said. “That brought a little momentum.”
He added that while he has long believed getting an interception was his favorite thing on a football field, the big kick returns this year surpassed that.
“That’s a feeling a lot of people don’t get,” he said, adding that nothing he’s done on the field surprises him. “I put in a lot of work so I know I can do anything on the field.”
Hall, though, said Rossin left him speechless numerous times on the sideline.
One of those occasions came in Suwannee’s regular-season finale at Wakulla on Nov. 7 when quarterback Thomas Sikes threw up a jump ball toward Rossin early in the game. While the War Eagles defenders came down, Rossin continued to hang up in the air, hauling in the ball at the highest point.
“It’s one of those things where it’s like, ‘Man, that’s big time,’” Hall said. “He is in rare air of players that have come through here.”
Despite all those big-time plays from both Rossin and Murphy, the two standouts have one other thing in common: a lack of major interest on the recruiting trail. While both have heard from a number of schools, Murphy has hauled in just two offers: one from Minnesota Morris, a Division III program, and the other from Peru State, an NAIA school in Nebraska. Rossin has been offered by Albany State, LaGrange, Ave Maria and Edward Waters.
“Wherever he ends up, they’re going to get a big-time player, a big-time kid,” Hall said. “He’s going to be a huge added benefit to a program and they’re going to be lucky to have him.”
ALL-AREA TEAM
OFFENSE
QB: Tywan Williamson
Lafayette, junior
Performed with his arm and legs, throwing for 1,712 yards while rushing for 549 yards. He tossed 24 touchdown passes and only threw three interceptions, while also rushing for six more scores.
RB: Jerome Horne
Columbia, freshman
Led the area in rushing despite starting the season on JV, tallying 722 yards on the ground on just 98 carries while scoring five touchdowns to help the Tigers reach the playoffs. He also tallied 596 kick return yards and took two back for touchdowns.
RB: Lecosta Byrd
Fort White, senior
Led the area with 10 rushing touchdowns, finishing the season with 517 yards on 91 carries.
WR: Jordan Murphy
Lafayette, senior
The LCR’s Co-Player of the Year set a program record with 1,317 receiving yards on 56 catches, which were part of a total 1,874 all-purpose yards that accounted for 37% of his team’s yardage. He also set a program record with 21 receiving touchdowns — part of 25 total that also included two rushing, one punt return and one kickoff return — to help the Hornets reach the Class Rural quarterfinals.
WR: MJ Rossin
Suwannee, senior
The LCR’s Co-Player of the Year had 46 receptions for 818 yards and 359 rushing yards on 51 carries — part of 1,619 all-purpose yards that accounted for 39.5% of his team’s total yardage — to help the Bulldogs reach the playoffs. He tallied 15 offensive touchdowns — 10 receiving, four rushing and one kickoff return.
ATH: Jayden Jackson
Fort White, junior
Accounted for 16 touchdowns at quarterback — six passing, nine rushing and one receiving — while also returning a kickoff for a score to help the Indians reach the Class Rural quarterfinals. Finished the season with 891 yards passing, 619 rushing, 52 receiving, 383 on kick returns and 86 on punt returns.
OL: Chase Johnson
Columbia, senior
Anchored the Tigers’ line for an offense that averaged 247 yards per game.
OL: Kingston Anderson
Fort White, senior
Anchored the Indians’ line for an offense that averaged 258 yards per game.
OL: Reese Bronson
Suwannee, junior
Anchored the Bulldogs’ line for an offense that averaged 287 yards per game.
OL: Troy Mares
Lafayette, senior
Anchored the Hornets’ line for an offense that averaged 354 yards per game.
OL: Cole Peyton
Branford, senior
Anchored the Buccaneers’ line for an offense that averaged 225 yards per game.
K: Maxwell Eyjolfsson
Fort White, junior
Connected on 8 of 11 field goals with a long of 33 yards and made 23 of 32 extra points.
DEFENSE
DL: Kyten Davis
Columbia, junior
Led the Tigers with six sacks and had 31 tackles, including eight for loss.
DL: Kyler Watson
Suwannee, sophomore
Led the Bulldogs with six sacks to go with 63 tackles (10 for loss), one interception and two fumble recoveries.
DL: Zamarion Hawkins
Lafayette, sophomore
Led the Hornets with five sacks to go with 75 tackles (16 for loss), three fumble recoveries and a blocked punt.
LB: Da’jon Brown
Columbia, senior
Led the Tigers with 80 tackles (seven for loss) to go with two sacks, two pick-6s and one forced fumble.
LB: Lecosta Byrd
Fort White, senior
Led the Indians with 99 tackles (10 for loss) and four sacks while also forcing one fumble.
LB: Trevor Mares
Lafayette, senior
Led the Hornets with 106 tackles (seven for loss) and also had one sack.
LB: Travis Fead
Suwannee, sophomore
Led the Bulldogs with 101 tackles (four for loss) and also had one sack, forced a fumble and recovered two.
DB: Vondarius Lane
Columbia, junior
Had three interceptions, including two pick-6s, and 45 tackles.
DB: Julian De La Cruz
Columbia, junior
Had three interceptions, 65 tackles and one sack.
DB: Jordan Murphy
Lafayette, senior
The LCR’s Co-Player of the Year had two interceptions, 62 tackles and two sacks.
DB: MJ Rossin
Suwannee, senior
Had four fumble recoveries, one interception and one defensive touchdown while recording 46 tackles and one sack.
P: Mathan Cook
Columbia, sophomore
Averaged 34.26 yards per punt, pinning seven inside the 20-yard line.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Demetric Jackson, Fort White
Led the Indians to a 6-5 record that included a 23-2 upset win over No. 5 seed Jay on the road in the opening round of the Class Rural playoffs for their first playoff win since 2020, which sent them to the state quarterfinals for the first time since 2016. Fort White also defeated Lafayette 32-21 during the regular season, which was part of a 4-2 start to the 2024 campaign.