Cougars shining ‘star’
Published 9:23 pm Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Two seasons ago, Escambia Academy Cougars running back Jaylen Henry made his debut for the Cougars against Sparta Academy — and Henry has never stopped running.
Over the course of three seasons, Henry has racked up yards and packed on touchdowns and is one of the reason’s the Cougars will face the Patrician Academy Saints this Friday in Butler in the AISA semifinals.
During his time with the Cougars, Henry has rushed for 4,822 yards with 75 touchdowns to his credit. Add on receiving and return yardage, Henry has amassed 6,192 yards.
The result of Henry’s time with the Cougars was not something expected from the time he made the transfer, Cougars head coach Heath Gibson said.
“We really didn’t know what he would bring to the table,” he said. “It’s his ability to run between the tackles that makes him so dangerous. When he came here as a 10th grader, he tried to rely on that speed, but teams figured that out and would run him to the corner to force him out of bounds. It was right before his junior season when we did an alumni game that he really figured out how to run between the tackles and it just opened the game up for him.”
The surprise of gaining so many yards and scoring close to 80 touchdowns also caught Henry off guard.
“It means a lot,” he said. “I came here in 10th grade and didn’t realize that it was going to happen like this. I guess you could say I turned into a star running back.”
Getting to the level of success that he has, Henry had to put in countless hours of practice and learn how to improve as a runner.
Having a coach like Gibson is where the credit has to go, Henry said.
“Coach Gibson has helped me become a better running back,” he said. “He helped me improve how I run through the tackles and worked to make me a complete player.”
Once Henry learned to run between the tackles, the game really opened for the back as well as the rest of the Academy’s offense.
Utilizing Henry is several roles created the opportunity for other Cougars on the roster to become playmakers, Gibson said.
“It’s been wonderful,” he said. “Having the caliber player with Jaylen’s speed allows us to do so much more with our offense. With the way he is able to return the ball and run between the tackles, it gives our team the chance to try so many things. He really frees up a lot of our other players and allows them to get open and put a touchdown on the board.”
With so many options available, Gibson worked in a new playbook with different types of spread attacks mixed with an option.
A new playbook meant an entire set of plays and formations to run, which was a challenge, Henry said.
“It’s been tough, but I have worked hard to pick up on all of our plays and formations,” he said. “There’s so many that it seems like 1,000 of them, but I just memorized them all to get them in my head.”
Despite reaching the success, the Cougars leading rusher still remembers exactly how he got all of those yards.
The admiration for his team is something that Henry has because of the work they have put into help him, he said.
“It’s family out here,” he said. “I love my team and they helped me so much. Without these guys, I would not have the amount of yards that I have.”