WOODVILLE — Wilkinson County High School offensive coordinator Alvin Fosselman has asked a favor from his college players — come back and mentor the younger Wildcat players.

“My number one goal is to get the (players) out of Wilkinson County to explore other things and possibly go to college for free, but if they go to college on a scholarship, their job in the offseason is to come back and give back,” Fosselman said. “The more they can help us out, the better.”

Fosselman said it is a fair trade after the lessons learned from Fosselman and head coach Kenneth Brown landed them full scholarships.

Three of the six former Wildcats who play college football have held up their end of the deal this summer as they have returned to Wilkinson County to teach the younger players a few things.

Devin Fosselman, a junior wide receiver at Jackson State University, Johnathan Scott, a redshirt junior lineman at Alcorn State University and Jaborian “Tip” McKenzie, a junior wide receiver at Alcorn whipped the Wildcats into shape, and gave them a few pointers along the way.

McKenzie transferred from Wilkinson County Christian Academy to Trinity Episcopal Day School for his junior and senior seasons.

He helped out at WCHS to give back to his community.

When the school year is over, Scott said he knows there is one place he can always call home, and he knows the Wildcats will always be out on the field working toward the next year.

Scott said he focuses on the importance of fundamentals the most when training the Wildcats’ offensive line.

“At my position, I like to show the big boys some skills and show how hard they have to work on the next level,” Scott said. “Foot work, steps and drills all come together. In high school, you play off natural talent and natural strength, in college there are thousands who come in just as good or even better, so you really have to study the game.”

Devin Fosselman said having the correct mindset was a key factor for him.

“Staying focused, being humble and being coachable are the main things they must be,” Devin said. “You have to be mentally tough, you can’t let little things get to you. When they run all of those sprints, it’s a focus thing. We just keep them motivated to work hard and work at a high intensity.”

Those words of wisdom flowed better hearing them from current college athletes, coach Fosselman said.

“The kids really look up to them,” Fosselman said.

Devin and McKenzie take part in the conditioning, pushing the players to keep up with them and give it their all, and it works.

The players want to show the college players they have what it takes to be like them.

A young team coming off a South State championship appearance last fall is enough motivation in itself to try to fill the shoes of prominent seniors like Devin Voorhies, LaDarion Peterson and Allenzae Staggers who are all on college football rosters.

But the players also see the result of hard work firsthand in practice when Scott is giving out pointers and Devin is running behind a Wildcat player during his sprints, motivating him to give his all.

Coach Fosselman said seeing the unity between the past and present Wildcats is refreshing, and he hopes to keep that tradition alive.

“We always have a saying, ‘Who’s next?’” Fosselman said. “Every year or so we like to get some of the kids on college scholarships, and motivate them to see who’s going to earn that scholarship.”

Of course, when they earn that scholarship, Fosselman expects to see them back on the Wildcats’ field shortly after.