CRESTVIEW — Marcus Flavors has been a force to be reckoned with since 2012, when he arrived as a freshman on Crestview High School’s campus.
Flavors earned a starting spot on the Bulldog football team’s defensive line, and he’s been there ever since.
Now a rising senior, the 6-foot-1, 270-pound Flavors leads Crestview’s defense.
Bulldog head Coach Tim Hatten acknowledged Flavors’ importance to Crestview’s defense.
“He’s going to be the anchor on our defense, and we are going to try to make sure we keep sight of that,” Hatten said. “He’s really progressed. We are looking for big things out of him.
“ He’s a little bit short for a lot of Division I schools, but … his dad is 6-4, and we think he may hit a growth spurt. He’s certainly one of the better defensive linemen in the Panhandle, no doubt.”
TIME TO STEP UP
Flavors spent the first three years of his high school career playing alongside Denzel Ware, who now plays for the University of Kentucky, and soon-to-graduate Tyrone “Moo Moo” Baker.
Flavors was happy to go about his job making plays while others had the spotlight.
All along, he was watching and learning from his older teammates.
Now, he’s ready to step into the leadership role.
“It’s really weird because I was always the younger guy and I listened to what other people say,” Flavors said. “Now they expect me to say it and tell people when they mess up. I have to step up and be a leader.
“It (learning from older players) helped me a lot with things about football and away from football, like how to act off the field and how to play better and to be a better leader.”
‘FASTER THAN ANYBODY’
Flavors was a seventh-grader at Shoal River Middle School in 2010 — the last year that the Bulldogs had a winning season and made the playoffs.
He hopes to change that this year, and plans on being part of the solution to the recent slide.
“I think the problem the last few years has been no senior leadership,” he said. “That’s what we have to bring this year. We have to hold each other accountable and not joke around and play about everything like we’ve done in the past.”
Bulldog assistant coach Matt Sanders, who moved to the defensive line this spring after coaching the offensive line the past three years, praises Flavors.
“Marcus Flavors is a fantastic player and a great human being,” he said. “He’s probably the best defensive lineman we’ve had here in quite some time. Last year, we had Moo Moo (Tyrone Baker), but I think Marcus has a very high motor.
“Within five yards, I’d say he’s faster than anybody on our entire team. He’s also the strongest guy on our team. When you look at Marcus, he’s a lot to handle.”
HIGHER-CALIBER ATHLETE
Flavors’ starting since his freshman year is rare at a school the size of Crestview, Hatten said.
“You just don’t see a lot of kids lettering in their ninth-grade year at a 6A or 7A school,” Hatten said. “This is my upcoming 17th year of coaching high school football, and I think that makes only three ninth-graders that have played, and he didn’t play for me. (Hatten didn’t arrive until Flavors’ sophomore season).
“Usually, those are the higher-caliber athletes as they progress. He’s just such a great athlete for a big kid. He plays a position where you don’t see a lot of athletic people, and that’s definitely his strength.”
Flavors is such a disruptive force in practice that players sometimes don’t even try to block him, and they choose to run a play opposite of where they think he’ll be, Hatten said.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
Flavors wants to play college football and, in a perfect world, he would play for his favorite school, the University of Texas.
But he’ll just be happy with the opportunity to play.
“It doesn’t matter what level,” he said. “I just want a chance to play college football.”
A year from now, Flavors will graduate as a member of the Class of 2016. He already knows what he wants his legacy to be.
“On the field, I want them to remember me as a player that gave it everything he’s got and played as hard as he could ever play,” he said.
“And off the field, I want to be known not just as a good person, but a great person — somebody that was kind to people and respected everybody.”
EmailNews Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview’s defensive ‘anchor’ stresses leadership, accountability