Henderson ready to spark Cougar air attack
THE ELITE 11 CLASS OF 2021: This is the second part of an 11-part series highlighting the top football players in the Newton County Appeal coverage area for the upcoming season. Local coaches nominated the players, while the Elite 11 preseason football team is selected solely by Newton County Appeal sports editor Robbie Robertson. The players are being revealed one at a time, in no particular order.
When the Newton County Cougars line up on Friday nights, it’s a good chance Tyron Henderson will be on the field.
Henderson enters his senior season for the Cougars after a standout season at receiver for the Cougars last year.
Henderson led the team with 33 catches for 748 yards and was selected as the Division 5-4A Most Valuable Receiver.
Newton County coach Bobby Bass expects Henderson to get plenty of balls thrown his way this season.
“We are going to target him a good bit,” Bass said. “He’s a guy that can take the top off of the defense. We are going to throw it a little more than we did last year. Don’t get me wrong, we are still going to run the football, but in the spring, we focused a lot on our passing game, mainly because we needed to develop a quarterback.”
Bass said he expects for Henderson to have plenty of opportunities for big plays this season.
“We are going to take some shots, especially at certain times during the game,” Bass said. “So he is going to have an opportunity to go make some big plays. They expect at least four shots a night. They might not be all toward him but we are going to take some shots taken at some points, maybe more. If we can get eight receptions, maybe more, depending on what they are giving us, that would be great.”
Henderson said he hopes to get 1,000 yards receiving this upcoming season and 15 touchdowns.
“My role last year was to catch the ball,” Henderson said. “As an offensive player, if something wasn’t working, I had to get open and make something happen. This year, it’s going to be more of the same thing. I’m a senior, so I have to step up even more. I have to be more of a leader.”
But Henderson’s role isn’t going to be limited to just offense. Bass said Henderson will have to play defensive back and be a returner on special teams.
“This year, he is going to be a three-phase player for us,” Bass said. “He’s going to be an offensive player and a special teams guy, a return guy. And he’s going to have to be a defensive back on defense. He’s one of those kids that doesn’t ever get tired. You can try to wear him out but he doesn’t ever get tired, it seems like. He is a competitor. He loves to compete. He’s going to have to play defense for us as well. I just don’t see any way around it.”
Henderson comes in at an even 6 feet tall, weighs 165 pounds and runs a 4.6 in the 40-yard dash. This spring, Henderson played on a select 7-on-7 squad with competitions in Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Texas and Alabama.
“He’s as fast as he needs to be, especially on Friday nights” Bass said. “He caught a touchdown in the Meridian game and nobody caught him. He’s just a competitor and he’s not scared of a challenge. He wants to compete. He doesn’t mind playing against good competition. He wants to compete against those big-time guys. He’s going to some camps this summer and I’m excited to see what he is going to do.”
Henderson has offers from East Central, Hinds, Copiah-Lincoln, Pearl River, Coahoma and Northwest. Bass said if Henderson does go junior college, he thinks the receiver will get a chance to play at a higher level. Henderson said he is still considering his choices.
“I really haven’t decided yet,” Henderson said. “I don’t really want to go too far from home but I want to go somewhere that I will be able to get to the next level. I know I have to put in some hard work. I’ll have to get to know the quarterback and learn the playbook and study a lot of film.”
