Vicksburg’s Roderick Erves helped South Oak Cliff to a District Championship

Vicksburg native Roderick Erves recently helped South Oak Cliff High School(Dallas,Texas) football team to a District Championship. Erves serves as a Defensive Analyst where he works with nearly every position on the field.

“It’s what we expected and we take things one game at a time here and we’re going to keep improving as we enter the playoffs,” Erves said.

The Bears clinched the District Title after shutting out Thomas Jefferson High School 49-0 on Thursday. They now have an 8-2 record along with being 7-0 in district play. Since entering district play, the Bears are only allowing 1 point per game as Wilson High School is the only team in the district that has scored on them.

Erves is a 2004 graduate of Vicksburg High School where he played under Head Coach Alonzo Stevens. He helped the Gators to a 7-5 season in his senior year where he played multiple positions including running back, fullback and defensive lineman. 

Erves eventually took his talents to Mississippi Valley State University. After graduation he landed a coaching job at LeFlore County High School where he stayed for two years. In 2011, Erves was hired by his former coach(Alonzo Stevens) at Vicksburg High School. At VHS, Erves worked under Head Coaches Alonzo Stevens, Tavares Johnson, and Marcus Rogers before taking a coaching job at South Dallas Lincoln High School.

Erves spent four years with the Tigers’ football program as an assistant coach where they won a district championship and advanced deep into the playoffs. In 2021 Erves took a job as defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Spruce High School(6A) where they tied for a district title. In 2023, he joined South Cliff Oak coaching staff where he remains today.

The Bears will host Terrell High School on Thursday night in a playoff game. 

Coaching football runs in Erves’ DNA as his father, Robert Erves, coaches at Vicksburg High School for 28 years.