Last season, Jack Ferguson was one of the leading tacklers in 7-A totaling around 140, so for an encore, the senior was going to have to find new ways to one-up an already tremendous high school career. Well, last Friday’s game certainly did just that.
In a low scoring slug-fest between Kennesaw Mt. where neither team seemed to make much headway on the scoreboard, the Trojans were looking for any kind production offensively to get on top. So who was going to step it up? Well, an unlikely defensive star was ready to make an impact on special teams.
Kennesaw Mt. had been stopped at midfield, and was looking to pin the Trojans back inside the 20, but Ferguson had different plans. He jumped the snap perfectly, and came running at the punter like his hair was on fire blocking the punt, but he was not done just yet. The adept senior quickly found the football, scooped it up and ran the rest of the way for a touchdown, making him the only athlete on either team to enter the endzone that night.
Lassiter won 7-3, and a few days later, he earned the top play in the state on the site with around 1500 votes in just 24 hours. It was a huge play for the Trojans, giving his team their first win of the season, but huge plays is something the Lassiter community has come expect out of Ferguson.
Going into the season, Ferguson was looking to improve his coverage skills as he is already a devastating solo tackler. For his team, “the goals is just to improve each week in all phases,” he said.
At 5’11” and 180 lbs., Ferguson uses his quickness to get a terrific jump on the play, and seems to be always in the right place at the right time. The preseason All-State honorable mention selection is a no-doubt D1 recruit in our eyes, and we believe his recruiting attention will come to a head soon enough, but right now, he still under the radar.
“I’ve heard from a few colleges but no offers as of yet.” Ferguson continued to talk about visits, “I visited UNC Charlotte 2 weeks ago but don’t have anymore visits planned right now.”
The senior has been one of our oldest sign-ups on the site first filling out the recruiting form back in November 2016, so we have seen him progress each season going from middle school/freshman quarterback to bonafide hitter on defense. What has always stood out though is the physical toughness he brings on each play. You might not know just from looking at Ferguson, but he is a lumberjack out there on the field, constantly laying the wood on his opponent.
Over the last year, Ferguson feels that his knowledge of the game has taken a step forward. “I think my football IQ is what has improved the most as I’ve been way better at understanding the game.”
The senior played closer to the line of scrimmage as a junior, but the latest film shows him playing further back at a more traditional free safety role, which fits his frame much better for the next level. There definitely seems to be interest, one of the colleges who uses our premium service got him to visit back on February 20th, and the Charlotte visit is just another indicator that D1 programs definitely have Ferguson on their recruiting board, but patience will have to be issued until that first offer comes.
For now, Ferguson has to focus on the season at hand, so we asked him to reflect back on his high school football experience thus far.
“The thing I love about playing Friday nights is performing in front of the crowd and hearing the cheers or even the boos.”
Ferguson is definitely a competitor, the passion he plays the game with just permeates thru his film, and spreads over to his teammates during the game too. Whichever college gets Ferguson on board will have a consummate football player, someone who put his team first and takes on whatever role they need.
It wouldn’t be a complete surprise to see P5 programs offer a PWO for that very reason as the senior has the potential to earn a scholarship later down the road, but that is just conjecture at this point. Either way, stay tuned to @RecruitGeorgia on Twitter to hear more about the Ferguson’s recruitment and other athletes across the state.
Interested in recruiting Jack Ferguson? Click HERE to visit his Recruit Georgia profile.
