Canton standout commits to Mississippi State

Canton football standout Jayden Cration announced his college commitment to Mississippi State on Sunday. 

Cration, a 6’3 185 pound wide receiver, chose the Bulldogs over notable offers from schools like LSU, Ole Miss, West Virginia, Houston, and Vanderbilt. He took official visits to both Mississippi State and West Virginia before eventually landing on the Bulldogs. 

He is currently ranked as the 563rd best prospect in the country, the 91st best wide receiver prospect in the nation, and the 19th best prospect in Mississippi in the class of 2026 by the 247Sports composite rankings, which combines rankings from all of the major recruiting sites.

Cration did not have a ton of recruiting traction going into last season, but he put together a dominant junior campaign for Canton last year, tallying 32 catches for 739 yards, along with 16 receiving touchdowns in 11 games, which put him on college radars across the country. 

During his dominant junior season, Cration helped lead Canton to a historic season. He was a major factor in Canton going 8-4 last year and winning the program’s first playoff game in school history. He was also one of the starters for Canton’s basketball team, who clinched their second straight MHSAA 5A state title last season. 

Mississippi State has been a pipeline for Madison County talent and Cration will continue that after he finishes his final high school season. Current players from the Madison County area that are currently on Mississippi State’s football roster include Ayden Williams from Ridgeland, Billy Puckett from Jackson Prep, Vic Sutton from Madison Central, Tyshun Willis from Velma Jackson, Turner Reeves from Jackson Prep, and Jaekwon Bouldin from Canton. 

Bouldin, who recently transferred from Purdue, and Cration will be the first players to play in the SEC from the Canton football program since Damien Lewis won a national title in 2019 with LSU.