One of the surprise schools this year in the state of Georgia was Fellowship Christian in Class A-Private. They made a historic run and were just a few plays away from winning the school’s first-ever state championship over highly favored Eagle’s Landing Christian.
This season’s success and sudden emergence of the Fellowship Christian football program can be pinpointed directly to the excellent play of senior athlete Jack Hardin. The Class of ’17 signal-caller had an exceptional season, totaling 2,500 yards, 40 touchdowns (24 passing, 16 rushing) while also making 66 tackles and an interception on the defensive side of the ball. It was a season for the ages and rightfully earned Hardin the winning vote for Class A-Private’s Player of the Year.
We talked with Fellowship Christian Associate AD Jake Robertson about Hardin and the type of player he is on the field.
“Jack is by far the hardest worker on the team,” Robertson said. “He has never missed an offseason workout or passing league. This offseason he took over as the team leader with his actions and work ethic.”
Hardin is a very versatile player, and his ability to impact the game on both sides of the ball is astounding, earning him first-team all-state as an athlete. Our staff believes he could play on either side at the next level, but Robertson thinks QB is in his future.
“While I know Jack could play LB or SS at the next level he has a passion to play QB and will pursue that.”
There is one certainty: Hardin is a gamer and will step up his level of play at the biggest moments. Perhaps no moment was bigger than when the Paladins took on historic Class A power Mount Paran Christian for the second time this season in the quarterfinals.
“We were struggling running the ball and Jack went 8-12 passing for 227 yards and 5 TDs – he was also our leading rusher that game with 122 yards. Several of those throws were amazing.”
Despite the banner season, and all the postseason accolades, Hardin has been relatively off the radar in the recruiting game. Robertson also holds the recruiting coordinator position at Fellowship Christian, and he told us that several Division III colleges (Centre and Birmingham Southern) have contacted him, while a few Division I schools (Davidson and Samford) are also interested.
It will be interesting to see how his recruitment shakes out. The senior played with a ton of heart in the state championship game going head-to-head with an ELCA team loaded with FBS talent.
Anybody who watched that state championship game saw an athlete who is tough as nails with the leadership qualities to raise the level of play of every athlete on his team. Every college coach looks for a ton of different attributes when scouting a player (height, weight, speed, etc.), but one they cannot quantify is heart, and Jack Hardin plays with a ton of it.
Click HERE to visit Class A Private Player of the Year Jack Hardin’s Profile.
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