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THE NEXT BIG THING: Jasper has budding star in Smith
Southeast Texas has seen some talented football players become high level recruits and succeed at the next level and the next SETX star is a linebacker from Jasper.
Ty’ Anthony Smith from Jasper High School is already a 3-star recruit with over 20 offers from schools like Arizona State, Auburn, Baylor, Boston College, LSU, Texas A&M, OU, Texas and others.
Smith had a phenomenal Junior season tallying 76 tackles, 36 assists, 6 TFL’s, 4 PBU, 1 FF.
The 3-star LB visited Texas A&M this past weekend, showing up to Texas A&M’s junior day on Saturday with many other high level recruits from across the nation. While many recruits have different things that make a visit special, Smith's highlight of the weekend was talking with coach Jimbo Fisher.
“Honestly, talking with coach Jimbo was what I liked most about the visit” said Smith. “Talking with the head coach, the guy who runs the whole thing and makes all the decisions, really made my visit. He brought me into his office and kept it real with me with any questions I had, which was an important thing to me.”
Smith also got to talk with defensive coordinator DJ Durkin, who told him to just “keep being him”.
The experience was filled watching the playoff games with the other recruits, talking with the staff, and the food...
Smith will be playing on the 7v7 circuit this spring with the Texas Nightraydas, where he plans to work on his speed and coverage skills.
As far as more visits go, he will be visiting OU on the 28th and Baylor on the 29th. Watch out for this rising star from SETX, whose recruitment is heating.
THE REBOOT: Early-season loss refocused FB Marshall; photo gallery
Fort Bend Marshall was hanging around the Crosby High School parking lot, preparing to load the bus to return to the southwest side of town after a 27-21 (OT) loss at the hands of the Cougars earlier this season.
Coach James Williams looked stunned and disappointed.
“You never want to lose a game to learn a lesson, but you always have to learn lessons from things that don’t go your way,” Williams said. “It served this team well, got us refocused and let our guys know that we aren’t going to beat teams without the proper preparation.”
Since then, the Buffs have run off 11-straight wins, destroying teams by a margin of 513 to 67.
The offense got its legs under first-year QB Jordon Davis, who has thrown for over 2,300 yards and 27 scores. He has rushed for over 800 yards as well.
“That’s a story right there,” Williams said. “Ja’Koby Banks (UH-commit) had a phenomenal year at QB last year, scoring 39 touchdowns. He was very unselfish to back up and let Jordon run the offense this year, which freed him up to do more things for our football team from playing RB, WR and returning kicks. Once we found our identity with Jordon, we really started to click.”
The defense has flexed as well, giving up less than 10 points per game.
“M-Block football is about being physical and that is what we do,” Williams said. “It’s still a line of scrimmage game and it all starts up front with us with Zachary Chapman (TCU-commit), Trent Thomas and Logan Granville. That allows Jordan Sample (Arkansas State-commit) to flow to the ball and our secondary to create turnovers.”
With the offense finding their footing and the defense punishing opponents, the Buffs find themselves in the Regional Finals against Port Neches-Groves at Galena Park ISD Stadium on Friday night. FB Marshall beat the Indians 35-14 in district play earlier in the season.
“We are both very different teams now,” Williams said. “They do a tremendous job coaching and we are going to need to play disciplined football to win. I’m excited about where we are, and these guys deserve the success they get. They have put in so much hard work. That’s our culture.”
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Texas A&M star Devon Achane stopped by practice this week to check out the Buffs as they entered the Regional Finals.
"It was great to talk to him and hang out," Williams said. "I'm just so proud of that young man and to see how he's developed. It's amazing what he's been able to do against SEC competition."