In 2017, a ninth-grade quarterback from Taylorsville named Ty Keyes took MHSAA football by storm — and he’s never looked back.
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In 2017, a ninth-grade quarterback from Taylorsville named Ty Keyes took MHSAA football by storm — and he’s never looked back.
As a freshman who was still getting used to his new size after a growth spurt, Keyes passed for 4,500 yards and 45 touchdowns as he led the Tartars to a 15-1 record and a Class 2A state championship. His performance in the title game at Ole Miss that year prompted longtime Mississippi sports columnist Rick Cleveland to write that Keyes reminded him of a young Steve McNair during his days at Mount Olive.
The exceptional athletic abilities he displayed at a young age led many to believe more great things were soon to come, and Keyes did not disappoint.
Now a senior, Keyes is a three-time recipient of the Mr. Football award, a winner of Gatorade’s Mississippi Player of the Year award, a four-star recruit, a four-time South State champion and a two-time state champion.
Saturday afternoon at 3 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson, Keyes will take the field for his final game with the Tartars for a chance to become the first Taylorsville quarterback to graduate with three state championship rings.
The only other Tartars’ quarterback to graduate with two rings is Keyes’ head coach Mitch Evans, who led the team to consecutive titles in 1994-95. Evans said the opportunity to work with Keyes as the leader of his team for the past four years has been nothing short of remarkable.
“He’s a really special player,” Evans said. “We’ve been really fortunate to have him over here for the last four years, not just as a player but as a student as a leader in the community, as well as in our school. He’s just a great kid all the way around.”
Though the extent of his success came as a surprise to some, Keyes said the confidence instilled in him at a young age by his late grandmother Bobbie Sullivan led him to expect great things of himself.
“Before my grandma passed, she told me I was going to be the QB, so that stuck with me forever,” Keyes said. “I never knew I was going to have this much success at quarterback, but through the process, I started gaining confidence and telling myself I could be pretty good at this position. When I started playing quarterback, I wanted to be one of the best to ever come through Taylorsville.”
One would be safe to say that Keyes achieved his goal. The argument could even be made that Keyes has been one of the best quarterbacks in MHSAA history. He ranks first all-time in career total yards (17,886), second in career passing yards (14,338) and second in career touchdown passes (152).
Keyes is currently committed to play college football at Tulane University in 2021, but as Saturday approaches, his sights are set only on the 2020 vision of beating the Calhoun City Wildcats and bringing another golden ball back to his hometown.
Sounds a lot like Sellers in HS
