SIAA Freak of the Week: Marquis Crosby
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 is well underway in several states and the wild, almost Fantasy sports-type statistical performances are piling in. FOTW candidates can be dominant in the trenches or beyond the numbers, but this week's winner has numbers as gaudy as any FOTW selection thus far -- and he's done it all season.
The nation's leading prep rusher, Hattiesburg (Miss.) Presbyterian Christian School senior Marquis Crosby has run all over defenses this season and Friday night was perhaps his best night of them all.
34 carries for 502 yards and six touchdowns was his line against Mendenhall (Miss.) Simpson Academy. It was the fourth-most yards in a game in Mississippi high school football history, per Caleb Hamill.
"We ran the ball the whole night because of the rain," Crosby told SI All-American. "I’m really blessed. I just wanna thank God and also my offensive line because without them it wouldn’t be possible. The rain helped us, which made it hard to pass so we ran the ball all night."
The Louisiana Tech verbal commitment has already hit the 2,000-yard mark in 2020 through eight games, helping the Bobcats to a 7-1 record along the way. He has nearly doubled his entire junior output, where he played 11 games, on the ground.
"Presbyterian Christian ran a somewhat unconventional offensive attack regarding its personnel, aligning Crosby where he could take direct snaps," SIAA's Edwin Weathersby II said. "The foundation of the gap-scheme rushing attack featured single and double-lead concepts with fullback-TE hybrids with impressive size, often to the edges of the box, with nearly no misdirection. This allowed Crosby to run with noted decisiveness to work off blocks and make reactionary cuts.
"Crosby exemplified solid run instincts and vision traits. He operated with a somewhat quicker than fast style, where he routinely slashed and darted. Although he lacks elite size at 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, he did impress with surprising contact balance on several carries. Finally, when he cleared the second level on the edges and squared his pads, he did run with solid long speed in the open field."
Running back has been the most popular position for Freak of the Week selections early in SIAA's process, with three of the five total selections being ball carriers. Each tailback talent happens to currently be committed to FBS programs, too.
Check out Crosby's Freak of the Week performance below:
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
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