A three-yard adjustment has led to nearly 1,000 more for Brayson Morson.

After the Tallulah Academy running back was contained for a modest 89 yards in a win over Prentiss Christian on Oct. 6, both head coach Bart Wood and offensive coordinator Ryan Williams noticed something while watching the game film.

“Me and Ryan picked it up at the exact same time on film. He was 10 yards deep, and that just kills the timing on our offense,” Wood said. “We called each other the same night and said Brayson’s too deep. Then we went back and watched it and saw he was too deep all year.”

The coaches made an adjustment in their formations to move Morson closer to the line of scrimmage. The result has been an incredible offensive explosion for the senior.

Morson had 1,152 yards and 15 touchdowns in his first nine games. In the last three he has rushed for 970 yards and 18 TDs.

Morson had 401 yards and eight touchdowns in his first game following the switch, an 80-48 victory against River Oaks. He followed it up with 301 yards and four touchdowns in another win vs. Claiborne Academy, and then 267 and six TDs in last week’s 68-26 playoff win over Tensas Academy.

“Prentiss was coming from the back side tackling him, and that should never happen. That’s when I realized he was too deep,” Wood said. “People don’t think three yards mean that much, but it does.”

Morson’s surge has come at the perfect time for Tallulah (9-3). They’ve won four games in a row and will go on the road this Friday to play Lee Academy, Ark. (7-2) in the second round of the MAIS Class 1A playoffs.

The Trojans are chasing their third state championship game appearance in four seasons.

“He’s always had the ability. I think it was a timing thing with our blockers being able to block for him,” Wood said. “Everything we do is timing. Our offense has got to be clicking. That’s made a world of difference with him.”

Morson’s best asset is speed and elusiveness. At about 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, he’s not the prototypical power back. Wood, however, said Morson is much stronger than he looks and that’s helping him turn a lot of short runs into long ones.

Against Tensas, Morson scored six touchdowns on only eight carries. On two of those, he ran toward one sideline, got bottled up, broke a couple of tackles and cut all the way back to the other side of the field to take it to the end zone.

Morson has 2,122 yards and 33 touchdowns this season, and is averaging a whopping 16.6 yards per carry.

“You put Brayson in space in 11-man and he might not be the tailback but he’d be the slot guy,” Wood said. “He’s so strong. He breaks tackles. They’ve got him and he just goes through it.”

THIS WEEK’S AREA GAMES
All games start at 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 2
Columbus at Warren Central (Radio: 105.5 FM)
Ridgeland at Vicksburg (Radio: 107.7 FM)
Friday, Nov. 3
Deer Creek at Porter’s Chapel (Radio: 104.5 FM)
Tallulah Academy at Lee Academy, Arkansas
Franklin Academy at Sharkey-Issaquena Academy
Briarfield Academy at Riverdale
Centreville Academy at Central Hinds
Madison Parish at General Trass