Newton High School football coaches were quick to give Sirvares Snow the nickname Six. They say that’s because he’s always in the end zone.
Snow helped the Tigers to a 7-4 record last year as he rushed for 400 yards on 63 carries to lead the Tigers on the ground, despite playing a limited number of games at running back with a broken hand. But Snow was a factor on defense, where he was second on the team in tackles with 112 stops while playing multiple positions. That makes Snow one of the top returning defensive players in the county and a member of The Newton County Appeal’s Elite 11.
“He’s just a dynamic football player,” Newton coach Ryan Smith said. “When I first got to Newton, I went around asking the kids what they played. Most kids would tell you a position because they didn’t want to play somewhere else. But when I asked Six, he told me ‘I play everywhere,’ and I loved that. That’s when I knew I had a football player.”
Snow’s junior year was defined by a broken hand suffered against Mendenhall.
“When he broke his hand, it changed a lot of things for us,” Smith said. “He broke his hand and only really got to play five games at running back and had almost 600 yards on offense. But on defense, he was a guy that played three positions for us, which makes him attractive to some colleges. Depending on what kind of offense the other team ran, he might be at middle linebacker, outside linebacker or cornerback.”
But Snow didn’t let the broken hand stop him. It actually made him better in ways.
“It was a major setback and hurt the team because I couldn’t run the ball on offense,” Snow said. “It didn’t stop much on defense but it taught me how to tackle better because I had to wrap up fully. It took a lot out of me, it hurt me. I was scared I was going to mess it up worse, I couldn’t even move the finger. But with the cast, I wasn’t scared of tackling anybody. I could just throw them out of the way and make the tackle.”
Smith said Snow is a workout warrior, often leaving practice or a workout session at school and working out on his own and jogging home. It shows in his chiseled physique with a minimal amount of body fat. In the weight room, Snow says he squats 425, benches 275 and deadlifts 410. While he’s strong, he’s also fast, running a 4.46 at Mississippi College a few weeks ago.
“He’s consistently a low 4.5 guy in the 40, Smith said. “He was 4.29 in his pro shuttle which shows his quickness. He runs track and qualified for the state in the two-mile two years ago. And he just doesn’t get tired. And he understands that he has to be a leader. He’s always in the front of the pack. He’s been a lot more vocal in drill work and holding people accountable. It’s just cool to watch the dynamic with him.”
Snow is the third in a line of Elite 11 players from the Snow household. His older brother Cedric played at East Central and walked on at Southern Miss. Middle brother Dayreke signed with Gulf Coast Community College. Sirvares credits his older brothers with making him tough.
“Every day, we would play ball in the yard and those boys were rough,” Snow said. “It was rough, you get knocked off into the woods and they just look at you like ‘boy, you better get up and get back into the game.’ I have always been the smallest so they just throw me off in the woods but I would just get back up and look around and get back to playing. It helped me a lot with my mental and physical toughness and taught me that just because you get thrown down one time that you can’t get back up. I got thrown around a lot by them but it didn’t bother me. So, when I got in a real game and had protection, it was nothing to it.”
Snow already has offers from Southwest, Pearl River, Copiah-Lincoln and Coahoma but hopes he gets a Division I offer.
“I honestly see myself at a Division I college,” Snow said. “I think I will have a Division I offer before the end of the summer. But, I really like the schools that have offered me so far. I would like to be a coach one day. I’ve always been an underdog kind of kid and can see myself working with other underdog kids.”
Smith said when it comes down to it, Snow’s size may hurt him with coaches but it helps his mentality.
“I guess my biggest thing is he has the mentality of an undersized guy where he is going to outwork everybody,” Smith said. “he has the physicality of a defensive guy. If you put him at corner, he’s fast enough to cover and will come up and hit you. And I think he would be a great outside zone stretch guy if somebody would bring him in and develop him there. He just has a lot of sale value in what he can do. The work ethic is there and you can coach him as hard as you want to coach him and that’s not something you can say about a lot of guys.”
