Mitchell County lineman Darrius Hicks is the big man on campus | PHOTOS

CAMILLA — When Mitchell County coach Larry Cornelius yells for “Little Hicks” to come running across the field at a recent practice, the last person one would expect to answer to the nickname is a 6-foot-4, 340-pound lineman.

Darrius Hicks was given the moniker to distinguish himself from older brother, Davon or “Big Hicks,” who was also a lineman at Mitchell County before graduating and signing with Edward Waters College earlier this year. After Davon left, the nickname stuck even though “Little Hicks” is no longer the smaller of the two.

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Darrius is currently one of the anchors of an Eagles offensive line that weighs in at more than 1225 pounds combined. In addition to playing on the offensive line, Darrius also sees time on defense as a nose guard.

Despite being a senior, Darrius is only in his third year of high school football. After playing rec league in his younger years, he played on a limited basis in middle school and took his freshman year off before his family influenced him to come back.

When he returned, Darrius, who usually has to order his size 18 cleats online, struggled at first to figure the proper technique for a lineman due to his size.

“One thing I had to handle was getting my stance right,” he said. “In some ways, I was elongated or if I wasn’t elongated, I was too compressed.”

Darrius said that he enjoys blocking for run plays because he gets to run up the field to block. He tries to model his game after former NFL great Orlando Pace.

“A lot of the times when you have bigger guys, they tend to be a little bit lazy,” Cornelius said. “Darrius is not lazy. He runs and whatever we ask him to do, he is going to do it. He is in great shape for being 340 pounds. When you have work ethic and size, that equals greatness.”

Cornelius said that Darrius’ athleticism and quickness allow the Eagles to pull him on run plays and be flexible with their offensive playing calling.

“Year after year that he has played, the progression has been unreal,” Cornelius said. “He is finally stepping into his body now. There are great things to come after high school football for him.”

Not only is Darrius a standout on the field, but he also excels in the classroom. He is in his second-year of taking college level courses and currently has a 3.6 grade-point average.

“First and foremost, he is a great kid,” Cornelius said. “He is high on academics…he is really the epitome of what we want as a great student athlete, student comes first. He is a very quiet kid but he leads by example.”

Darrius has gotten looks from multiple schools including South Carolina, Georgia Southern, and Wofford. He currently has no offers but did take a visit to Louisiana-Lafayette, a school that has also shown interest in him.

He said he would like to major in veterinary medicine, accounting or political science.

“What keeps me going is the fact that I know I want to play football, so I have to keep my grades high,” Darrius said.

With a bright future, the only thing Darrius might struggle with is finding a shoe to fit his foot.