EDITOR’S NOTE: This story appears in “Playmakers,” The Vicksburg Post’s annual football preview magazine. The 2023 edition will be available with The Post’s weekend print edition on Aug. 19. You can also get a copy by visiting our office at 1106 Washington St., by calling 601-636-4545, or view a digital version here.

Cade Morgan knows what it’s like to be part of a state championship celebration.

He was in the dogpile in 2021 when Tallulah Academy won the MAIS Class 1A baseball title, and held the banner after the school’s Class 3A golf championship last spring.

Those aren’t the rings he’s chasing, though. The one he really wants is football, and he’s only got one more shot at it.

“I haven’t won one. I’ve been close twice. I would be so happy,” Morgan said.

Morgan is entering his fifth year as a starting tight end for Tallulah Academy’s football team. He’s played in two MAIS eight-man championship games in that time, in 2020 and 2022, but the Trojans lost both times.

Now a senior, he said he’s trying to be both an elder statesmen on the team and enjoy his last ride as a high school football player.

“I think I’ve done pretty good. I started in the state championship game my eighth-grade year when we played Briarfield. That was big for me. I’ve started ever since,” Morgan said. “What I’m trying to tell the younger kids is that it goes by fast. Have fun and make it count.”

Morgan originally played both linebacker and tight end, but has been used almost exclusively on offense the past couple of seasons. He caught 12 passes for 286 yards and five touchdowns in 2022, but only had one touchdown reception last season.

Tallulah head coach Bart Wood said the dropoff in production was a product of success.

“His sophomore year he had six or seven touchdowns and a whole bunch of two-point conversions. Last year, every team we played had somebody on him. That’s what’s hard for Cade to understand sometimes, is how much that does for the rest of the team,” Wood said.

Although Morgan hasn’t been able to celebrate as many touchdowns, Wood was quick to point out that he’s still helping the Trojans score plenty of them. The team averaged more than 50 points per game in 2022 and Morgan’s role as a blocker and a decoy contributed to that.

“We always like to throw to the tight end, and we always use them for blocking and pulling. They do so much on our team,” Wood said. “The tight end is so crucial to our team and he’s been there for three years now and done whatever we’ve asked.”

If Wood has one complaint, he said, it’s that Morgan is “too nice.” The soft-spoken senior leads more by example than with words, and has a friendly personality that people tend to gravitate toward.

“Football is hard for him, because he’s such a nice person,” Wood said. “Great heart. He loves people. When kids come up, they come to him. It’s great to see a kid like that.”

Now Morgan is hoping to finish his high school career by giving them all one last thing to cheer about. Tallulah Academy has played for an MAIS eight-man championship in various classifications in six of the past nine years, although it has not won one since 2018.

Being part of a program that is a perennial championship contender, Morgan said, has been enjoyable.

“It’s the best feeling in the world,” Morgan said. “You know you’re going to go far. With this team we have this year, we’re going to be pretty good. We’ve got a lot of talent.”

2023 Tallulah Academy schedule
All games begin at 7 p.m.
Aug. 11 — Tallulah Academy 66, Tensas Academy 20
Aug. 18 — Riverdale 20, Tallulah Academy 12
Aug. 25 — Franklin Academy
Sept. 1 — *at Briarfield
Sept. 8 — *Union Christian
Sept. 15 — at Wilkinson Christian
Sept. 22 — at Prairie View
Sept. 29 — *Sharkey-Issaquena
Oct. 6 — at Prentiss Christian
Oct. 13 — *at River Oaks
Oct. 20 — *Claiborne Academy
*MAIS District 2-1A games