The American Football Coaches Association has named former Poplarville High School football team punter and graduate, Cody Mikell, a First-Team All-American.

During the last two seasons, Mikell has been a punter for Henderson State University Reddies, Arkansas. He also previously played for Pearl River Community College.

“I was not expecting to receive such recognition, it’s a huge honor to be recognized for my accomplishments on the football field,” Mikell said.   

According to a press release by Henderson State, Mikell punted the ball 26 times for 1,186 yards through 11 games.

His longest punt of the season was for 57 yards, a mark he reached twice against Arkansas Tech and Northwestern Oklahoma. Out of his 26 punting attempts, Mikell was able to place the ball inside the 20-yard line 13 times and punted the ball over 50 yards 10 different times, the release states.

In 2017, Mikell broke the school and conference record for yards per punt (45.6) and punting average for a career (43.9).

“Mikell had a great year, he was very consistent and deserves the honor of being an All-American,” Henderson State Head Football Coach Scott Maxfield said. “Mikell is a good player to have on your team and is a great role model for younger players.”

During his collegiate career with Henderson State, he punted 60 times for a total of 2,635 yards.

According to the release, Mikell is the second punter in school history to receive First-Team AFCA All-American honors. Even though Mikell found success on the football field at the collegiate level, he said he didn’t start playing football until his junior year in high school when the Hornets were looking for a punter. Before then, he played soccer. With his collegiate career coming to an end, Mikell said he plans to stay at Henderson State and begin his coaching career.

“Before I arrived to campus, I had never heard of this school but I loved every second of it and all the coaches, especially coach Maxwell, helped me to become a better player and a better person,” Mikell said. “I’m thankful I received the opportunity to play for such a great program and school and to represent the city of Poplarville.”