All-Star football: Transformation

Barry Faulkner

There was no phone booth wardrobe change, nor a condensed summer

growth spurt that athletes relish and clothes-buying parents dread.

However, slowly, gradually, like an extended clock-consuming smashmouth

drive, Jeff Marshall transformed from runt to rogue within the four-year

span of his high school football career.

Marshall said as a 5-foot-10, 160-pound freshman guard, he battled

weekly in practice to retain his starting spot, then encountered more

harrowing peril in games, against bigger, stronger opponents.

But, picking up about 18 pounds and two inches a year, he eventually

became a 6-5, 215-pound senior who who earned All-Sea View League and

All-Newport-Mesa recognition last fall, his second season as a varsity

starter. He also came to realize, much to his delight, more than

occasional domination of his rival trench warriors.

“My freshman year, I got knocked around a little,” said Marshall, now

a 6-5, 245-pounder preparing to play right guard for the South in

Friday’s Orange County All-Star Football Game, scheduled for 7:15 p.m. at

Orange Coast College. “Then, starting as a 190-pound junior was really

scary, so I had to use my strength and speed and my mind to play against

bigger guys. But, my senior year, I had a lot more fun. I knew the plays

and how everything worked and I was a lot stronger.”

More than a few colleges noticed, the foremost being reigning NCAA

Division I-AA champion Montana, from which Marshall accepted a

scholarship.

Though he will likely redshirt for the Grizzlies next fall, Marshall

said the all-star experience, which includes a shift from center to

guard, could help create a smooth transition into college football, where

Montana coaches have told him they will try him first at center.

“Playing guard has been a big adjustment,” Marshall said. “I lined up

parallel to the center at first (the typical guard and tackle alignment

is about a foot behind where the center bends over the ball to execute

the snap). It took a few days to get used to doing things differently,

like pulling.”

Marshall has also had to alter his upper-body technique.

“Being back a little at guard, the defensive guy gets more of a start

before you’re able to make contact,” Marshall said. “At center, you feel

like your in control more, because you are the one who starts the play.

And, while my right hand is snapping the ball, I usually utilize my left

hand to make first contact. You want to get (the defender’s) momentum

going backward. That’s a little harder to do at guard.”

Marshall typically directed opponents backward for the Sailors,

helping first Chris Manderino (2,141 yards in 2000), then Dartagnan

Johnson (1,870 in 2001) combine for more than 4,000 rushing yards.

The Sailors line last fall also included two-time All-CIF tackle

Robert Chai (playing in the North-South Shrine All-Star Classic Saturday,

before heading off to UCLA), and two-year starter Bryan Breland (a

two-time all-district and all-league performer bound for Santa Ana

College).

Marshall said his former teammates’ ability to bond, then play as a

group, was something he will always value about his prep career.

He also enjoyed the added responsibilities that went with the center

position.

“As a center, you have control over the whole line, making (blocking)

calls,” he said. “The mental part of the game is something I really

enjoy. It’s fun to try to react to new challenges. And we faced just

about every defense you could see at Newport.”

Marshall, also a shot putter and discus thrower at Harbor (reaching

the CIF Southern Section Preliminaries in the discus as a senior) worked

diligently in the Sailors renowned strength program to ensure the player

he faced in the mirror each fall was better equipped to handle defenders.

He said strength and quickness were his primary assets, while his Newport

coaches consistently cited technique as another of his attributes.

Marshall, who said his efforts to gain weight during his senior

football season were futile, has been pleasantly surprised by his

offseason advances in weight and strength.

“I’ve gained 30 pounds and all my lifts have gone up (from 245 to 285

in the bench press, for one). The coaches at Montana think I’ll

eventually get up to about 280.”

It appears his physical prowess is still on the rise. A daunting

concept for those who will line up across the neutral zone in the years

to come.