Lafayette High senior linebacker Jamel Dennis watched his brother, Demarkous, play in the 25th Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game in Montgomery, Ala., last Saturday. This weekend, it's Demarkous' turn to watch his younger brother play in an all-star contest.

Jamel Dennis - who is 11 months younger than Demarkous - will be one of 12 players in the Daily Journal's coverage area suiting up for the North squad in the 63rd Bernard Blackwell All-Star Classic on Saturday afternoon at Biloxi Stadium. Dennis will play alongside West Point High linebacker Charles Heard.

Vardaman head coach Justin Hollis will be an assistant coach for the North team in the annual all-star contest for Mississippi high school football senior standouts.

"They were good. They were quick," Jamel said about the Alabama All-Star team that defeated his older brother's Mississippi team, 31-12.

In Saturday's game (noon, MyMS; WMC-TV 5), Jamel Dennis will be on the same team as a quarterback he sacked four times in a game this season. Amory's Forest Williams - who threw for 5,100 yards this season - frequently came into contact with Dennis in their MHSAA Class 4A state semifinals playoff contest on Nov. 25.

"That guy is solid," Williams said of Dennis. "He is a good ballplayer, he really is."

And a key cog of the Lafayette defensive line that wreaked havoc on the MHSAA Class 4A Offensive Player of the Year that night was 6-foot, 340-pound nose guard D.Q. Reynolds.

At a meeting in Grenada for the Bernard Blackwell North All-Stars, Williams met Dennis and Reynolds two weeks prior to their semifinals game, which was won by the eventual state champion Commodores, 35-7.

"I told them, 'I hope you guys have a chance to kill me in the North half (game),'" joked Williams. "They were tough, though."

Reynolds will just be one of several talented linemen from the Journal's coverage area suiting up for the North All-Star team.

Defensive end Eric Rogers - who has a scholarship offer from the Louisiana-Lafayette - will team up with Baldwyn defensive lineman Parrish Huddleston.

On the offensive side of the ball will be linemen Greg Hadley of Amory, Wiley Maddox of Bruce and Tabarrius Coffey of Calhoun City. They will likely have the opportunity to block for West Point's ever-so-versatile Dequinten Spraggins, who played quarterback for the Green Wave this season.

Tyler Jackson of Lafayette, a 2011 MHSAA Class 4A Second-Team All-State selection, will handle the kicking duties for the North.

john.wilbert@journalinc.com