Freak of the Week: Chief Borders
Freak is a term thrown around too much in the sports world but sometimes it's the first phrase that crowds the cranium when a gaudy athletic feat takes place.
What about an entire game's worth of head-turning and gasp?
SI All-American continues a salute to these dominant high school football players in a weekly feature, of course titled 'Freak of the Week.'
High school football has wrapped up in select states with the playoffs ongoing in others and the wild, almost Fantasy sports-type statistical performances continue to pile in. FOTW candidates can be dominant in the trenches or beyond the numbers and regardless of class.
This week's FOTW is LB Chief Borders of Franklin (Ga.) Heard County. Borders' broke the Heard County single-season tackles record with 163 stops on the season.
The previous mark of 139 was set by Andrew Leak, who currently lines up at Middle Tennessee State, in 2017. Borders, a Florida commit, posted 68 solo tackles and also added 4 sacks during his final prep campaign.
He averaged more than 15 tackles per game this fall.
Borders told SI All-American, "It's an honor to be named Freak of the Week. You can not break down what can't be broken."
"At 6-foot-5 and 242 pounds, Borders has impressive size and length on the hoof. Going through 10 games of tape, it was noticeable that he was deployed in several different ways in the Heard County defense," said SI All-American's Edwin Weathersby II.
"Borders worked as a boundary linebacker in a chunk of snaps, yet played an EDGE-type role in the matchup vs. Cedartown (Ga.). He maintained an EDGE role, as well as getting work as an off-ball and Mike 'backer vs. Union County (Ga.). Darlington (Ga.) saw him mostly at Mike. However, he was most impressive as a stacked linebacker in the Harlson County (Ga.) game, as the Rebels' misdirection-based run game put his mental processing, key matching, physicality and click-and-close ability to the test."
Weathersby added, "It remains to be seen just how Florida aligns Borders, as he has the frame of an EDGE, which could spell a BUCK role in Gainesville. He did have a quartet of sacks amongst his pass-rush production this season, where he showed a fair chop, as well as an inside rip off of speed in his pass-rush toolbox. Borders has solid ball-location skills and speed to hunt ball-carriers horizontally and laterally in flow, and he can show good build-up speed when he's allowed to open up his stride when chasing. He also proved to be a consistent wrap-tackler this season, which is also evident when you factor in his 68 solo tackles from this season."
"The energy I bring is second to none," added Borders. "I just have fun on and off the field, and in college, I'm bringing more than just my athletic ability, I'm bringing my intelligence, my humbleness and, most of all, my energy."
Brandon Brown
Submit FOTW nominations via Twitter @SIAllAmerican.
Freak of the Week - 12/1 - 2021 RB Jonathon Brooks
Freak of the Week - 11/24 - 2021 RB Jordan Jenkins
Freak of the Week - 11/17 - 2023 QB Arch Manning
Freak of the Week - 11/10 - 2024 RB Ronnie Royal
Freak of the Week - 10/28 - 2021 DE Patrick Payton
Freak of the Week - 10/21 - 2021 QB Jaxson Dart
Freak of the Week - 10/13 - 2021 RB Marquis Crosby
Freak of the Week - 10/6 - 2021 WR Liam Clifford
Freak of the Week - 9/29 - 2021 RB Josh Hough
Freak of the Week - 9/22 - 2023 DB Aaron Gates
Freak of the Week - 9/17 - 2021 RB Corey Kiner
Follow SI All-American's college football and basketball recruiting coverage here on SIAllAmerican.com as well as on social media, @SIAllAmerican on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and now on YouTube.