Like many players on the cusp of their varsity debut, Marlin Jeffries felt some apprehension ahead of North Chicago’s season opener a year ago.
But unlike most in his shoes, Jeffries didn’t need much time to make a splash.
“He was a little hesitant early last summer, and I almost had to talk him into being on varsity,” North Chicago coach Wilton Hill said. “But in the first game, he returned a kickoff for a touchdown. That proved that he should be up here, and after that, he bought in.”
Jeffries’ mindset is much different this time around. As the Warhawks prepare for their season-opening home game against Wheeling on Friday, the 5-foot-10, 155-pound junior knows what he can do.
“I think anyone starts feeling more confident when they’re going against more guys their age,” he said. “There were a couple of moments where I thought to myself, ‘Boy, these guys are big.’ But now thinking of it, I haven’t gone against anyone who was faster than me.”
Indeed, speed is a major factor in Jeffries’ success as a wide receiver and cornerback. But there’s much more to his game.
“He has great natural instincts for being around the ball,” Hill said. “He knows when to break on the ball and has a ballhawk mentality. He’s also very dynamic with the ball in his hands.”
In North Chicago’s passing game, junior quarterback Dy’Zhir Usher will be largely responsible for getting the ball to Jeffries. They’ve been friends for years, and Jeffries played quarterback during his freshman season, when he accounted for 26 touchdowns.
“On the field, he’s my No. 1 option, and I try to always know where he is,” Usher said. “If we need anything, I know that I can get him the ball and he’ll make the play. He’s a crazy athlete, but I know how hard he works and the extra hours that he puts in.”
Usher recalls a play last season when Jeffries displayed some of that athleticism. It was a seemingly simple bubble screen during North Chicago’s 15-7 Northern Lake County Conference loss to Grayslake Central in Week 3. Jeffries turned it into a long touchdown, the only score of the game for the Warhawks, who went 2-7 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
“That might have been the only target he got, but you saw the speed he has to take it to the house,” Usher said.
Highlight-reel plays like that grab attention, but Jeffries’ future in the sport may very well be on the defensive side of the ball. He also realizes that to maximize his potential, he’ll need to do much more than simply outrun people.
“I work a lot on my instincts and going through different scenarios about what might happen on a play,” Jeffries said. “You’re going to have to guess sometimes, but I know I’m fast enough that I can still make a play for the ball.”
Jeffries doesn’t need a ball to excel in his other sport. He’s also an all-state long jumper. He finished fourth in Class 2A at the state meet in May with a leap of 22 feet, 1.75 inches, a remarkable feat considering he hadn’t tried the event just four months earlier.
“One day at practice, the coach came up to me and said I was fast and asked if I can jump,” Jeffries said. “I like to try a lot of new things, so I figured I would try it, and I ran and jumped. Day by day, meet by meet, I kept jumping further. I’m glad I decided to do it.”
Jeffries has made such an impression that he might get a chance to compete in the long jump in college. But his mind is focused on football.
“I wish I had started jumping earlier because with that being my first year doing it, I feel like I could be really good at it,” he said. “I’m still a football player first. Maybe jumping could be a backup plan if football doesn’t work out.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
