PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. (WLOX) - There are people out there who think lineman are just big and dumb people movers. Those people have obviously never met Drake Sykes.

Sykes is the starting center for Pass Christian and while he can deadlift over 400 pounds he’s more impressive with his brain than his brawn.

The senior boasts a 3.9 gpa, a 34 ACT score and is a national merit semifinalist. Despite the academic success, Sykes true love is protecting the quarterback.

“Football is an important thing to me,” Sykes said. “I personally like it more than school, A lot more, but school is still important. Football, I would say, is just as important.”

The pirate center has a near full ride academic scholarship offer from Mississippi State where he plans on studying Chemical Engineering, but nothing

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