The most impressive play on a football field Sunday didn’t come from the NFL.
It wasn’t Jake Elliott’s 59-yard kick in the rain to tie the Philadelphia Eagles-Buffalo Bills game or the Los Angeles Chargers’ lateral to convert on third-and-17, but rather an interception in the Michigan high school Division 1 state championship.
This wasn’t any interception. It was a tipped, almost-dropped-it, nope-I-got-it, behind-the-back interception by Belleville High’s Adrian Walker Jr., snagged in the title game against Southfield High School for the Arts and Technology.
“At first, I didn’t even believe it. When I got up and started running, I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is real,’” Walker, a junior who plays both offense and defense, said. “It’s unbelievable.”
.@adrianwalkerjr_ just made one of the best one-handed interceptions you will see 😮#MIFTBL | @ThinkFordFirst pic.twitter.com/dg2141LKJG
— Bally Sports Detroit (@BallySportsDET) November 27, 2023
When Walker picked off Southfield A&T quarterback Isaiah Marshall, a three-star 2024 recruit committed to Kansas, he was coming off an ankle injury that kept him out of practice the week prior and playing his first defensive snap of the game. One receiver was running an out route while another ran a post, so Walker ran to the out and baited Marshall to throw the post over the top of his head.
“Then I flipped my hips and turned back to the ball,” he said.
What happened next was a combination of luck, practice and memories of a childhood game.
“The whole week while everybody was practicing, I was throwing the ball up in the air and catching it behind my back because I used to see my dad do it. Me and my dad would play catch, and he’d catch the ball behind his back. Then I tried to do it when I was little, and I would drop it,” he said. “Then I kept doing it and kept doing it until I was catching the ball every time.”
A three-star recruit who already boasts offers from seven schools, including LSU, Michigan State and Colorado, Walker picked up his most recent on the bus ride immediately after the game. Miami (Ohio) cornerbacks coach Robert Blanton texted Walker to express his interest and extend an offer.
In addition to the interception, Walker caught one pass for 11 yards.
Southfield A&T ultimately won the game 36-32 and snapped Belleville’s 38-game win streak, which included back-to-back state titles in 2021 and 2022.
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(Photo: Screenshot from game broadcast on Bally Sports Detroit)
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