Patterson sticking to plans

Petal (Miss.) Rivals100 offensive guard Javon Patterson had a plan for the recruiting process going into the 2014 season. He had his top five, he had an idea about when he would like to take his officials and planned to announce his decision in late November.

Now a month into the season Patterson is sticking to his plans.

"I'm just trying to enjoy my high school season," Patterson said. "Our football team has a great chance of going far and taking the state championship. I'm just taking it game-by-game and seeing how that goes."

His top five remains the same with Ole Miss and Auburn at the top, but he does have an order for the last three.

"It's not really an order between Ole Miss and Auburn. They're the same," Patterson said. "But after that it would be Mississippi State, Alabama, and Florida."

When it comes to his official visit schedule he has not made any decisions.

"I'm getting them setup," Patterson said. "Most of them will probably be late November, early December or something like that."

He may adjust those plans, but when it comes to his announcement he is planning to wait until after his senior season.

"I think the state championship games are in early December, so I'm just trying to wait and see where we go," Patterson said.

Patterson has taken a couple of unofficial visits. The first was a trip to Mississippi State, and after the visit Patterson admits the Bulldogs made up some ground.

"It was great. Besides the rain it was great to check how Mississippi State came out," Patterson said. "See how their offense was rolling and offensively they're doing a good job of keeping defenses off of Dak and getting some rushing yards."

Following the trip to Mississippi State, he took a trip to Ole Miss.

"I went up to Ole Miss and watched them play ULL," Patterson said. "It's just the same ole same ole as Mississippi State. Those are schools I've been around. I've been there the last three years watching games. I was eager to see how they came back with Bo and the offensive line having some guys switching between guard and tackle and just doing their thing."

Next on his schedule is a trip to Auburn for the Tigers October 4 match-up with LSU. He is also planning to take an unofficial visit to Alabama and Florida.

With top prospects Leo Lewis to Ole Miss and Fletcher Adams to Mississippi State, there have been questions about whether or not Patterson might soon announce his decision.

"No, people ask me if I'm ready to make the commitment and I'm really just going through with my team and keeping the right mindset and keeping everyone focused on our main game and trying to make it to the State Championship in Starkville this year," Patterson said. "I just don't want all the hype just on me I'm trying to keep it on my team."

Through four games, Patterson feels like the team is on track to reach those state championship goals.

"It's going well. We had a great pre-season," Patterson said. "We are 3-1. We had a tough loss against Picayune. They run the ball and our defense is young but they're doing a great job of coming along. Our offense has stayed balanced this year. Last year it was just running the ball but this year we're running the ball and passing it well too. It's been great."

Patterson and Petal next face Provine on Friday. Patterson is currently ranked No. 61 in the Rivals100, No. 3 among the nation's 2015 offensive guards, and No. 1 in the Rivals.com Mississippi Top 25.