612 Recruiting Report: Marcus Mattox (MPLS Southwest-2021)
I love me some purple and white, and as a proud Minneapolis Southwest Laker I make sure to keep an eye on my alma mater and try to bring the exposure to its players that I felt we deserved when…
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Continue ReadingI love me some purple and white, and as a proud Minneapolis Southwest Laker I make sure to keep an eye on my alma mater and try to bring the exposure to its players that I felt we deserved when I was a senior and we went 7-1 in the regular season. I’m not talking about myself, I was DIII all the way, but some of my teammates deserved some legitimate scholarship looks that were hard to come by in the former Minneapolis City Conference. C/o 2021 DB/WR Marcus Mattox is a great example of one of these players who may be flying under the radar due to the geography of his Minneapolis high school, and although it has been a frightening amount of time since I was in high school playing ball, not much has changed in terms of Minneapolis City schools getting the same kinds of looks as their suburban counterparts. The 5’10, 160 lb. defensive back has long been balling out under the lights of Pershing Park in Southwest Minneapolis, and has received a junior day invite from Bemidji State University as a result. After a 2019 season that saw the lockdown corner record 3 interceptions, one of which was returned for a TD, Mattox was kind enough to give Northstar Football News some of his time to discuss his career as a Laker thus far, the 2019 season and their eventful section matchups, and his hopes for recruitment. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy! Junior Year Highlights
#1NFN: Hello and thank you for your time, Marcus! Please begin by sharing with our readers a little bit about where you’re from, when you began playing football and what you love about the game, and anything else interesting about yourself.
Mattox: “I’m from Minneapolis lived here my whole life. I started playing football when I was 3 or 4 and joined my first team when I was in 3rd grade over at Pearl Park. I play basketball in the winter and was gonna start track this spring. Football is the only sport where you can hit someone and not get in trouble for it, and if you really want it you can get it – size doesn’t matter that much as long as your aggressive.”
NFN: How was the 2018 season for you and the Lakers? What did you learn from that year?
Mattox: “The 2018 season didn’t go as planned. We won some games and lost some we probably shouldn’t have lost, but the highlight of that season was blowing out Henry and Washburn at home. Lowlight would be losing our section game to SLP and saying bye to all the seniors always hurts. In the 2018 season I was a sophomore and didn’t start, but played a good amount of minutes and learned how to play against certain QBs which helped me going into the 2019 season.”
#1NFN: What were expectations like going into the 2019 season? What did the offseason entail going into ’19, and what do you like about the Southwest Laker program?
Mattox: “Expectations for the 2019 season were high, and we wanted to go all the way to the Bank. Everyone bought in during the offseason and players were in the weight room 4-5 times a week all winter. All of the SW coaches make it so we like practice. We get our work done, but at the same time it’s fun.”
NFN: What was it like playing with NDSU RB commit TK Marshall? What was the craziest play you saw from him? And how are you gong to work to fill his absence now that he’s going to graduate?
Mattox: “TK’s my guy; his craziest play was probably him breaking like 5 tackles against Henry and running for an 80 yard TD. I’m excited to watch him play this fall. With the seniors leaving the few juniors we have like Nick (Flaskamp), Jaden (Reed), and Darnell (Harper) and I have to step up a lot this season this is our team now.”
NFN: Now get a little bit into the 2019 season. What was your best game? I covered your game against North for NFN, what went wrong in that loss? Also, is the Washburn rivalry still a thing? What are those games like now?
Mattox: “The first 8 went pretty much as planned. We didn’t expect to lose but it happens. My biggest game was probably Washburn. For the North game what got us was the read option, otherwise we just had to execute on offense a little better that game. The Washburn game is always the most exciting game of the year the energy going into that game is just different.”
#1NFN: Now how about sections? I was also able to attend the Park Center section game and it looked like it got pretty chippy…what happened there? And then get into the Robbinsdale Cooper game as much as you want to as well.
Mattox: “The Park Center game was a pretty dirty game for all four quarters. I feel like them playing dirty got us out of the game and focused on them. There was a point in the game after the whistle nowhere near the play I got hit in the head and my face masked chipped and fell off so I had to get a new helmet and was out for a drive. The Cooper game we went down early, and at halftime we talked and basically said that we aren’t giving up now after everything, so we fought and came back and it came down to that last 30 seconds to score from the 25 and we couldn’t get it in the endzone.”
NFN: What’s up with recruiting? What can you offer to a college program and what can we expect from you and the Lakers in 2020?
Mattox: “I’ve had colleges invite me to junior days on the D2 and D3 level, and I’ve planned visits to most of them. I have not visited any college on my own yet but I plan on it this spring/summer. We attend SDSU’s team camp every summer and compete against other teams. And I’d help college programs with my leadership and will to win. I’m a really good tackler, don’t let size fool you, and my zone coverage is good from playing basketball which helps a little with zone coverage and knowing where you are and that spacing is very important. For the 2020 season I plan on picking up where we left off we should beat every team that comes in front of us.”
This won’t be the last you hear from Mattox, and I wish him and the Southwest Lakers the best of luck in 2020!