“It’s simple. Make sure your priorities are right. Faith, Family, and then Football.â€
That’s Mesquite Poteet’s head football coach, Kody Groves, talking about the college recruiting process.
That simplicity also offers insight into why the word “blessing†continues to appear every time Poteet’s heralded linebacker, Malik Jefferson, is mentioned. Depending on whom you ask, Jefferson is a blessing to the community, the school, or the Pirates. Even Jefferson himself says playing football and the attention it’s brought to him is, “a blessing.â€
Being a man of Faith, myself, the word blessing was getting used so often in association with Jefferson, that I could not ignore it. With a checklist that would embarrass an investigative journalist, I decided to go to Mesquite, Texas to see what had everyone engaging in groupthink.
My first stop was at Poteet High School. When I checked in at the front office and told the assistants that I was there to talk to Jefferson, their whole demeanor changed from ‘adults protecting their students’ to a beaming smile and talking about what a wonderful young man Jefferson is.
I looked at my checklist: ‘Poteet administrators/personnel’ – CHECK
In back, behind the school, the field house was bustling with typical gameday preparations. I identified myself to a junior varsity player and told him I was there to talk with Jefferson. Before I could mention Coach Groves’ name, the JV player got a starry look in his eyes and said, “Please follow me, sir.â€
‘Underclassmen football players’ – CHECK
To no surprise, Jefferson’s first comment about The Opening was, “Being able to be there, compete, and meet those guys was a real blessing.†He continued, “That’s a whole different ballgame. Everyone there was so gifted. It was fun to be there, and I learned a lot. But mostly it was just great to be able to compete with those guys.â€
Now, after completing his final season at the high school level, Jefferson has been tabbed an Under Armor All American and invited to play in their all-star game in January. The accolades, all-star games, and recruiting attention are easy to understand as soon as you look at Jefferson’s statistics.
During his senior campaign, Jefferson racked up 80 Tackles, 16 TFL’s, 6 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 4 blocked kicks. Combining that stat line with the athleticism he displayed at The Opening, makes for an easy choice for recruiting services to name Jefferson as the top prep player in the state of Texas.
What really piques the interest of college coaches is looking at Jefferson’s stat’s year-by-year. When Jefferson racked up impressive totals as a sophomore (110 tackles, 24 TFL, 10 sacks, 7 ff, 5 fr, 7 blocked kicks), opposing coaches started trying to find ways to avoid Jefferson throughout games.
“By the time we entered this season, we knew that teams would do their best to avoid Malik. We saw his overall numbers go down as a junior, and we knew they would be even lower this year,†says Groves. “Watching him learn to be productive even though he basically had no opportunities was remarkable. I’d love to take credit for it, but that’s instinctual. A team will run a sweep to the opposite side of the field, and by the end of the play, Malik is either getting up from the pile or is at the tackle. He is always around the football by the time the whistle blows.â€
My first opportunity to watch Jefferson play was in Poteet’s game against Richardson Berkner. A 6A school (Poteet is 5A), Berkner ran for a total of 770 yards in their first 2 games, and averaged 50 points/game.
Then Malik Jefferson happened to them.
I watched Berkner spend the first half trying to run away from Jefferson, only to have him crash down the line of scrimmage and make a play on the far side of the field. It happened time and again. Berkner rolled their quarterback outside the pocket in an effort to try throwing over Jefferson’s head, but Poteet’s star ‘backer blurred into the backfield too quickly for any such play to develop.
Three first half touchdowns from Deandre McNeal, an elite recruit in his own right, built a 35-0 halftime lead for the Pirates. Ballgame.
A week later, during Poteet’s game against Rockwall Heath, Jefferson suffered a major head injury in the second quarter. McNeal starred as Poteet notched their fourth win of the season, but the team was shaken after Jefferson’s injury.
