Kossuth Volleyball honors Mason Mills with 54 seconds of silence, then sweeps Alcorn Central
KOSSUTH — The gym at Kossuth High School went silent for 54 seconds Thursday night, one second for each number on Mason Mills’ football jersey, before the Lady Aggies and the Alcorn Central Lady Bears played their district volleyball match.
Mills, a 17-year-old Kossuth lineman who would have started his senior year this fall, was killed June 6 when the 1997 Ford F-150 he was driving left U.S. Highway 72 West near County Road 743 and overturned outside the Union Center community. He was alone in the truck. The crash happened about 9:24 a.m., Mississippi Highway Patrol Troop F Public Information Officer Daniel Tucker said at the time.
The tribute came from the other side of the net
The graphic that framed the night was not Kossuth’s. Alcorn Central’s volleyball program posted it Thursday morning: “GAME DAY!! District play tonight at Kossuth. Make the drive.”
Before the varsity match, Kossuth players, coaches, Mills family and supporters lined up across midcourt in green shirts printed “KOSSUTH 54.”
Kossuth 3, Alcorn Central 0
The Lady Aggies then swept the match 25-12, 25-12, 25-23. It was Kossuth’s 14th straight win and moved Carliegh Mitchell’s team to 22-4. Freshman Ava Hopkins ran the offense with 37 assists and added four aces and three digs. Dinah Lancaster had 11 kills and seven digs. MaxPreps had Kossuth ranked No. 2 in Mississippi Class 3A going into the night.
Who Mason Mills was
Mason Kurtis Mills was born Oct. 10, 2008, the son of Benji and Lindy Mills and the brother of Madi Jo, Marli and Memory. He attended Wheeler Grove Baptist Church. At 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds he played both ways on the line for the Aggies, was listed in the class of 2027, and lifted with the Kossuth powerlifting team.
“Kossuth High School would like to express our deepest condolences and ask for prayers for the family of Mr. Mason Mills, the Kossuth football team, and power lifting team,” the school said in a statement after the crash. “He was an amazing young man who always had a smile on his face.”
His funeral was June 9 at Wheeler Grove Baptist Church, with burial at Brush Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. The Kossuth class of 2027 and the KHS football team were named honorary pallbearers.
A GoFundMe organized by Tasha McVey, “Support for the Mills Family After Mason’s Loss,” raised close to $18,000 in its first two days to cover funeral expenses and lost wages while his parents took time away from work. “Mason Mills was a bright and caring young man,” McVey wrote on the page. “He brought joy to everyone around him, and his big heart touched countless lives.”
A fall of 54s
Thursday’s silence was not the first time Kossuth has built something around his number this school year. The school designed its 2026 homecoming shirt around it. “This year’s Homecoming shirt is extra special as we honor our very own Mason Mills, #54,” Kossuth High wrote when order forms went home in late August, with a Sept. 8 deadline. Forms were available at the KHS library, the front office and the media room.
Why it matters here
Kossuth and Alcorn Central are county schools that meet several times a season in nearly every sport, and the rivalry is usually the point. That is what made Thursday unusual: the tribute poster came from the opposing program, which put a Kossuth player on its own game-day graphic and told its own fans to make the drive. Three months after the crash, Mills’ number has stayed in circulation across Alcorn County — on a homecoming shirt, on a volleyball, and in 54 seconds of quiet before the first serve.
What’s next
The two teams meet again Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 6:30 p.m., this time at Alcorn Central. Kossuth then plays at Mantachie on Sept. 24, at Belmont on Sept. 29 and hosts Booneville on Oct. 1 to close the district schedule.
The fundraiser for the Mills family remains open at gofundme.com.
