BOONEVILLE – Batesville resident Coach Richard Russo has been selected to serve as the defensive coordinator for the West squad in the inaugural Northeast Mississippi All-Star Game, sponsored by the newly formed Northeast Mississippi Football Coaches Association.

The newly formed game divides the counties of Tishomingo, Alcorn, Prentiss, Itawamba, Monroe, Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Webster, Chickasaw, Calhoun, Yalobusha, Lafayette, Pontotoc, Union, Tippah, Benton, and Marshall into two geographic teams of East and West.

The game will feature 80 of the top outgoing high school senior football players from those counties who did not participate in the MS vs. AL All-Star Classic or the Bernard Blackwell All-Star Classic. The game will be played at Keenum Stadium on the campus of Northeast Mississippi Community College on Wednesday, May 22.

Coach Ron Price of New Albany has been selected as the head football coach of the West squad and tapped Russo for this assignment.

Russo took over a Water Valley Blue Devil defense in 2008 that had allowed a school record 39.7 points per game the previous year and steadily improved with them peaking at just over ten points per game in 2010 and 2011.

Russo had this to say of his appointment, “I am honored that Coach Price had the confidence to select me for this honor. I do not take this appointment lightly and will give it my all. This is just a testament to the program that Coach Embry and our staff has built the past five seasons and that a lot of hard work and dedication has not gone unnoticed. I appreciate all of the defensive players at WVHS who have given me their all to get to the level where we currently are.”