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THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2023
JHS Football Alumni
JCHS Football
Chat with Malaki Starks
By John Frierson
UGA Athletic Department Staff Writer
One of the benefits of going to college in your home
town, or close to it, is the chance to head home to see the
family when you have a few hours free. Or maybe the
chance to enjoy some of mom’s cooking. Or, as Georgia
sophomore safety Malaki Starks recently did one Sun
day, head home to nearby Jefferson with his laundry.
Starks had three pass breakups in the top-ranked Bull
dogs’ 24-14 victory over South Carolina. He also had an
interception against Ball State, the third of his career.
During a Quick Chat before practice, Starks talked
about being close to home, his days as a standout track
and field athlete at Jefferson High School (he won a state
championship in the long jump), and much more. Here’s
some of what he had to say:
Frierson: We’re sitting in front of the new track and
field locker room as we do this, and I know you were a
successful track athlete in high school. What was your
favorite event?
Starks: I love track. I got into it because of my old
er sister, she ran track, and I wanted to do everything
that she did. My favorite event changed a lot. In middle
school, it was high jump; I was very good at it. My favor
ite event from my freshman year to my junior year would
be the 100.1 hated the 200, but I learned to love it. And
I love long jump. I was a triple jump fan, but it did too
much to my knees, so I switched over to long jump. Long
jump was my baby.
Frierson: Is there one event that you wish you could
have kept pursuing to see how good you could have been?
Champ Bailey had the long jump record here for years.
Starks: Yeah, I call him Uncle Champ; I’m pretty tight
with him.
I’d say the long jump. My only year doing it, my junior
year, I had jumped like a 24-7, and I didn’t have a jump
ing coach, so I was just doing what I thought was right. I
would love to see how far I could have gone with it.
Frierson: What do you do to get away from football
and school for a while?
Starks: I like to spend time with family — very big
on family. I’ll occasionally play video games or go for a
hike or something. I like to be out in nature; I love going
swimming. And being with people that I love.
Frierson: How nice is it to be pretty close to home?
Starks: I go home pretty often, I’d say. Being so close,
it’s great to go home for a meal or just to see the family.
When I go home, I’m a homebody, so just being able to
do that helps me separate my mind from everything else.
Frierson: Do you take your laundry home with you
every once in a while?
Starks: [Laughs] I do most of my laundry, but I will
say, I took some laundry home yesterday (Sunday).
I walked in the house and my mom looked at me. She
said, “Don’t you have your own apartment?” I was like,
“Yeah, but why would I run up my water bill when I can
just run up yours.” [Laughs]
Frierson: Did she still make you do it?
Starks: She’ll do if for me every now and then.
Frierson: Who is the funniest guy on this year’s team?
Starks: Probably either Tykee Smith or Ty In-
gram-Dawkins. It’s just their character — they’re both
one-of-one. They always have that aura about them;
when you see them you can’t help but laugh. They’re
going to say something or do something. It’s just how
they are.
Frierson: I would imagine one of the biggest adjust
ments you have to make when you get to Georgia is
learning how to practice the way they want you to. How
long did it take you to get comfortable with Georgia’s
practices?
Starks: I’d say probably the middle of fall camp my
freshman year. I got here early, in the spring, and it took
me a while. It’s very fast-paced, it’s very different, and
just being able to understand how things go around here.
I give a ton of credit to Dan Jackson and Chris Smith,
who helped me when I first got here. They took me under
their wing and showed me the ropes. Just being able to
learn from them and just take it day by day helped a lot.
Frierson: Georgia has a lot of impressive streaks go
ing, like 20 straight wins and 30 straight regular-season
wins, and you’ve never lost a game in college. Is there a
way to appreciate a streak while not letting it get in the
way of what you’re trying to do each day?
Starks: It’s always good to acknowledge it, knowing
that’s what you’ve done, that’s what you’ve accom
plished. It’s always a good feeling, but if you focus on
it too long, it can be taken away. I just think being in the
moment, being where your feet are — we say that a lot
here —just helps us stay in that moment.
Even though we do appreciate some of the streaks that
we have here, just being where our feet are allows us to
keep going.
Frierson: Do you think having to come back from a
14-3 deficit against South Carolina is a good thing long
term, because you had to come out and win the game in
the second half?
Starks: Yes. I say that because it really showed us what
kind of team we have. We hadn’t really been tested this
season, and that showed us what kind of team we have,
and going forward, we know what we can do and what
we can accomplish.
Obviously, we never want to be in that situation, but I
think it’s what we needed.
Frierson: Do you have any specific pregame rituals or
things you do? Or do you just kind of show up and play?
Starks: I kind of just show up and play. I call my mom
and my dad before every game. I pray before I go out
there and warm up on the field, and that’s about it.
Frierson: It’s your fourth straight home game Satur
day, which means your fourth straight Dawg Walk. Are
you like Jalon Walker in that you get excited about dress
ing up each time?
Starks: I’ll dress up every now and then, but I’m really
just a show-up-and-play type of guy.
• ••
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Fri
erson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association
and curator of the ITA Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame. You
can find his work at: Frierson Files. He’s also on Twitter:
(SlFriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
Happy homecoming: Jackson Co. snaps two-game
skid with 35-point first half against Apalachee
Jackson County’s Kane Berryman (left) and Josh Mendoza jar the ball loose
from Apalachee quarterback Howard Holloway Friday (Sept. 22). The fumble
would set up a Panther touchdown in their 35-17 win.
Jackson County football
coach Korey Mobbs said
earlier in the week that the
best way to celebrate home
coming is simply to win the
game.
The Panthers (3-3, 1-1
Region 8-AAAAAA) had
that celebration wrapped up
before the king and queen
were crowned on Friday.
Behind a punishing de
fense and a first-half bar
rage of points, Jackson
County jumped out to a
35-0 halftime lead in a 35-
17 region win over visiting
Apalachee, snapping a two-
game losing skid.
“We were pretty dominant
in the first half, I think,”
Mobbs said. “We needed a
game like that after a rough
couple of weeks, especial
ly last week (against North
Forsyth). Our kids really
fought. We grew up in the
second half last week. It was
good to see that carry over.”
Jackson County’s first-
half defense was so domi
nant that it allowed no plays
over 10 yards, forced six
punts and one turnover and
surrendered no first downs
in Apalachee’s first seven
possessions.
Offensively, five different
players scored, including
two who typically play de
fense but lined up at running
back.
The Panthers ended up
not needing standout run
ning back M.J. Spurlin, who
was named Homecoming
King but played only one
snap Friday upon returning
from an ankle injury against
North Forsyth last week.
With Spurlin resting for
most of the night, a host of
other Panthers ended up in
the end zone.
Daniel Stites, normally a
linebacker, got the Panthers
on the board with a 2-yard
rushing touchdown in the
first quarter. Bo Souto later
pounced on a mishandled
punt snap by Apalachee in
the Wildcat end zone to in
crease the lead to 14-0.
Midway through the sec
ond quarter, Peyton Scott,
a 275-pound defensive
lineman inserted at running
back, raced 17 yards for
a touchdown on a fourth
down, giving the Panthers a
commanding 21-0 lead.
Mobbs said the coaches
wanted to get the ball in the
hands of the team’s two se
nior leaders.
“66 and 3 (Scott and
Stites) are the heartbeat of
who we are,” Mobbs said.
“They’re our team captains,
and so we showed them a
little love, and they’re pret
ty dang athletic and looked
like running backs.”
Acoreon McClure, who
got the starting nod at run
ning back, scored from 2
yards out to increase the
Panther lead to lour touch
downs with 5:37 remaining
in the first half.
McClure’s score was set
up when Jackson County de
fenders Kane Berryman and
Josh Mendoza dislodged the
ball from Wildcat quarter
back Howard Holloway, re
sulting in a Panther fumble
recovery on the Apalachee
7-yard line.
McClure finished with
100 yards on 19 carries.
The Panthers rushed for 208
yards on the night.
“Hats off to Corey
McClure,” Mobbs said.
“Spurlin is a little dinged
up for us. I think he played
maybe a play, and we were
kind of hopeful that would
be the case so that we could
get him back to 100% from
last week.”
Jackson County went
deep into the playbook for
its fifth score with wide
receiver Jaydan Hibbert
throwing a 18-yard end-
around pass for a touch
down to Jacob Coombs with
33 seconds left in the first
half.
The second half was
largely anti-climactic with
the Panthers no longer need
ing points.
A 31-yard field goal from
Apalachee’s Jacob Galo-
mo and a 5-yard jump pass
from Nathaniel Magnussen
to Kenny Rodriguez moved
the score to 35-9 after three
quarters. The Wildcats’
Prince Tate added a 9-yard
scoring run in the fourth
with quarterback How
ard Holloway tacking on a
2-point conversion.
“We got a bunch of young
dudes in there in the sec
ond half that we’ve got
to improve,” Mobbs said.
“They’re guys that have
got to get in there and make
plays, and we will. We’re
really young, but (I’m)
proud of the way our guys
handled business, and we’re
moving on to a really tough
stretch here where we’ve
got to really be playing our
best football.”
Jackson County travels
to Habersham Central (2-3,
0-1 Region 8-AAAAAA)
next Friday for a big region
contest.
“We’ve got to figure out
how to play on the road and
win football games ... It
will be a four-quarter foot
ball game,” Mobbs said.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for
what they do, and really ev
erybody in our region. Ev
ery Friday night is going to
be tough. It just feels good
to get this one tonight.”
Jackson County 35,
Apalachee 17
AHS 0 0 9 8 — 17
JCHS 14 21 0 0 —35
First quarter
Jackson County: Dan
iels Stites 2-yard run
(Brice Rodgers kick), 4:50
Jackson County: Bo
Souto fumble recovery
(Rodgers kick), 3:48
Second quarter
Jackson County: Peyton
Scott 17-yard run (Rodg
ers kick), 6:37
Jackson County: Aco
reon McClure 2-yard run
(Rodgers kick), 5:37
Jackson County: Ja
cob Coombs 18-yard
pass from Jaydan Hibbert
(Rodgers kick), 0-33
Third quarter
Apalachee: Jacob Ga-
lomo 31-yard field goal,
9:29
Apalachee: Kenny Ro
driguez 5-yard pass from
Nathaniel Magnussen
(PAT blocked), 0:55
Fourth quarter
Apalachee: Prince Tate
9-yard run (Howard Hol
loway 2-point conver
sion), 6:15
Statistics
Rushing: McClure 19-
100, 1 TD; Knapp 8-30;
Ashcraft 8-23; P. Scott
1-17, TD; Z. Scott 2-17;
Stites 2-10, TD; Spurlin
1-7; Norman 1-4
Passing: Knapp 11-20,
108 yards; Hibbert 1-1, 18
yards, TD
Receiving: Hibbert 4-35;
Coombs 2-27, TD; Pho
3-27; Ling 2-27
JHS cross country teams have strong showings
Jefferson High School’s
cross country teams had
another week of strong fin
ishes at area competitions.
The boys team recently
took 14th place out of 28
teams at the prestigious
Wing Foot Classic in Car-
tersville, an event that host
ed teams from all over the
Southeast. JHS was the top
finisher among Georgia 5A
teams at the event.
The boys’ finishers were
Ben Davis at 29th, Austin
Click at 63rd, Brock Brush
at 83rd, Harris Lee at 96th,
CJ Jeffords at 133rd, Cam
eron Kazienko at 182nd and
Finn Wakeman at 183rd.
BOYS JV
The boys’ JV team took
17th out of 23 teams at the
event. The JV boys com
petitors were: Dylan Johns
73rd, ?Trey Adkins 77th,
Ben Nunnally 98th, Jay-
don Hoopaugh 106th, Ryan
Schmidt 112th, and Brock
ton Bray 248th.
GIRLS
The JHS girls cross coun
try team recently competed
at Athens Academy where
they took 2nd place out of
three teams at the meet.
Running for the girls
were: Hannah Schroed-
er 2nd, Lily Canning 4th,
Kira Stevens 6th, Lily Gad
dy 8th and Lauren Hailey
10th.
Jefferson High School
cross country runners
Lily Janning (L) and
Hannah Schroeder
congratulate each other
at a recent meet.
Athlete of the Week!
sponsored by:
HYMAN BROWN
INSURANCE
AGENCY, INC.
Ivy Tolbert
Commerce High School
Commerce High School Tiger
kicker Ivy Tolbert had her 100th
career point during last week’s
game against Banks County.
HYMAN BROWN
INSURANCE AGENCY, INC.
11 State Street • Commerce
(706) 335-3900
