When Nicky Mooney first got to Sebastopol High School, he quickly spotted sophomore Reggie Shepherd in the weight room.
Mooney soon told Shepherd that he would play college football one day.
That prediction became a reality recently when Shepherd signed to play college football at Hinds Community College, becoming the first college football signee from Sebastopol in more than 20 years.
Mooney had nothing but praise for his senior.
“First off, they don’t make many kids like Reggie,” Mooney said. “He’s a 4.0 student, 24 on the ACT and has never been in trouble in his life. He’s one of the best kids in the school. He has always been a leader. He’s our best football player, probably our best basketball player and won state in track in discus and shot-put last year. He’s just an all-around great kid.”
For the Bobcats, who went 7-5 last year, Shepherd was a do-everything kind of player but will likely be a defensive specialist at the next level. Shepherd led the team with 107 tackles last year.
“I think he played about every position for us,” Mooney said. “He played kicker, punter, wildcat quarterback, linebacker, tight end, running back, receiver. He played almost every position for us. I think in college they are projecting him at an outside linebacker position or defensive end in college. That’s what Hinds was recruiting him for was to play defense.”
Shepherd, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 225 pounds, said he had offers from East Central, Coahoma and Co-Lin but liked what he saw at Hinds.
“It’s an honor, I’m so blessed to be able to do this,” Shepherd said. “I never thought I would be able to go play college sport. Now that I’m getting the opportunity, I have to go out and give it my best and see what I could do. I had offers from East Central, Coahoma and Co-Lin. But I felt like Hinds would be the best choice for me and I would fit in there. I also liked how they stood academically too.”
Shepherd also gave a lot of credit to Mooney for pushing him on and off the field.
“It was a big change from my old coach,” Shepherd said. “When we first started, I thought he was crazy. It was a lot more hard work than we were used to doing. After a while, I got used to and started to like it. He put me in the position that I’m in now. He helped me out a lot. Before he got here, football wasn’t really my thing. I really didn’t think football was for me but once he came in and started working for me, it changed everything.”
Mooney remembers when he first saw Shepherd in the weight room.
“I told him when I walked in the weight room, I told him that he would play college football one day and he sort of laughed at me because he wasn’t even sure he wanted to play football,” Mooney said. "He was a basketball player but he has bought into everything we do as a coaching staff, as a team and has done nothing but blossom since then.”
Mooney also said the signing is a big deal for the Sebastopol program as well.
“Any time you get a guy playing at the next level, it’s a huge accomplishment for our team,” Mooney said. “As I talked to the team, this is not just an individual accomplishment, it’s a team accomplishment. It’s a program accomplishment for our team now that these kids see that is a possibility that they can get out of here and play ball at the next level. That’s what we want is kids striving to do that.”
