Helena-West Helena senior defensive tackle Makhi Armstrong fits the bill of zero technique on the Division-I level and his play this season is proving that.
Armstrong, 6-4, 325 pounds, has offers from Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Northeastern State, but his play and ability is sure to reel in other offers.
“Very aggressive, quick get-off on the football,” Cougars coach Russell Smith said. “He’s a beast. He’s hard to block, very hard to block. Friday night against Star City, I know he had three or four tackles deep in the backfield. He has D-I talent. A lot of big schools haven’t come in on him yet.
“A lot of people don’t know him, but his name is getting out there now because of his performance.”
Armstrong’s play opened the eyes of Monticello coach Randy Harvey. He stripped the ball from a Billies running back and ran 65-plus yards for a touchdown.
“I think he is a D-I lineman,” Harvey said. “He is big, strong, fast and agile. Our kids and coaches were amazed at how fast he was.”
Smith commented on Armstrong’s 40-yard dash time.
“He ran like a low 5 flat, 4.9, somewhere around there,” Smith said. “He can run.”
DeWitt coach Mark Courtney calls Armstrong a stud.
“Haven’t talked to a single coach yet that said they could block him,” Courtney said. “We couldn’t block him with three.”
Armstrong, who has 42 tackles and five sacks this season, has a 350 pound bench press and 500 squat. He had a long run at fullback against Star City on Friday.
“We gave it to him on the fullback dive and he broke it for about 40 yards,” Smith said.
Star City defensive line coach Sam McGhee hasn’t seen anything like Armstrong.
“He’s a one-man wrecking crew between the tackles and he can get down the line of scrimmage very well,” McGhee said. “If he didn’t have to play both sides of the ball, he could literally shut down the run game by himself. His mix of size, speed and agility are like nothing I’ve seen before.”
Smith, who has been the head coach at Helena-West Helena since 2006, said he hasn’t coached a big man like Armstrong.
“Not big like that and can move like that since I’ve been coaching,” he said. “He’s a great kid, has great character. Yes sir, no sir kid. He still has some growing up to do to play on the college level.”