Charlton County is going to the playoffs for the first time in 3 years, and the two-way force that has been driving the Indians has been junior Jaylen Lilley. The 2023 athlete has been a workhorse this fall with several games going over 200 yards rushing, making up for a large percentage of the Charlton offense.
Lilley is certainly a recruit that we have on our radar going into the next recruiting cycle, and the college interest is really just starting.
“My recruitment has not been heavy but I have had some schools send me letters,” he said.
Lilley has yet to visit any colleges so far, and currently has none planned, but is eager to start building relationships with college football programs. Perhaps more colleges would be keen to recruit the junior if they watched some of his more recent film.
Just a few weeks back, Lilley made one of the top plays in the state of Georgia. Lilley took the handoff at around midfield, quickly accelerated to the 2nd level where he bulldozed straight over a defender. Lilley wasn’t done yet tho. He bounced it out to the right, bucked off another tackler, and then went sprinting the rest of the way for a touchdown.
Lilley went on to rush for 219 yards that game, and eventually finished as the #2 play for Week 11 in the state of Georgia. The junior has a total 1332 rushing yards on the season and 20 touchdowns, which ranks him near the tops of all backs in Class A Public. But he is also doing work on defense with a total of 67 tackles.
To put it succinctly, Lilley has proven to be one of the top two-way players in all of Class A. The junior is still hungry and has a few more goals that he would like to accomplish during this final playoff stretch.
“For the remainder of the season, I have goals to reach 1500 rushing yards and 30 touchdowns. I would also like to make a deep playoff run,” he said.
Lilley has received the lion’s share of carries for Charlton County here in 2021. He is almost routinely carrying the football over 30 times a game, and he literally wears down the defense in the process. By the 4th quarter, Lilley is breaking tackles and also the defenses’ will to stop him.
“Over the past year, I have seen most of my improvement in my balance and being able to break tackles,” Lilley stated.
His Hudl film is loaded with broken tackles against the tough Region 2 schedule in Class A Public. The junior is tough as nails, and tough some of his tackling-breaking ability comes from an increase in strength, sure, but it also says a lot about his determination to get every yard possible. This dude will push the pile.
The student-athlete who sports a 3.7 GPA has certainly built a lot of support around the Charlton community. Lilley, in fact, received the 2nd most votes of any player so far this fall in the Recruit Georgia top 10. That support is reciprocated by the effort Lilley shows on the field.
“My favorite part about playing on Fridays is when the game is on the line and you and your teammates persevere and secure the bag,” Lilley said.
Charlton County is a team to watch for during the playoffs. They played in the toughest region in all of Class A Public and are battle-tested going into their Round 1 matchup against Wilcox County. How will they finish, and what sort of post-season accolades will Lilley receive? Well, better check back with @RecruitGeorgia on Twitter in the coming weeks and see how their season ends and the latest on the outstanding 2023 athlete.
