Marion County running back Jacob Saylors stiff-arms Tyner defender D'arius Albert during their prep football game at Finley Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.JASPER, Tenn. - There is a bigger goal, but today represents Marion County's last opportunity to become the school's first team to have three 1,000-yard rushers.
It's possible if the Warriors attain that bigger goal - the BlueCross Bowl Class 2A state football championship - that they'll get the 54 yards Hunter Zeman needs to join Hunter McClain (1,086) and Jacob Saylors (1,013).
It is a testimony to their individual abilities but also to the Warriors' veteran offensive linemen - Ty Heifner, Eli Morison, Logan Campbell and Cory Tucker - and tight end Alex Kirkendoll.
"If not for those guys, I wouldn't have a thousand, McClain wouldn't have a thousand and Blake wouldn't be well on his way," said Saylors, a junior three-year starter. "After a big run I thank them. I say, 'Let's go. Keep it up, guys.'"
Added Zeman: "It's so easy for us. All we have to do is follow their blocks. The blocks are there."
The backs also block for each other.
"It's a team thing. If they needed me at tackle, I'd play tackle," Saylors responded when asked about the glory that is part of the running back trappings.
"Joey can block. You could teach off what he does," coach Joey Mathis said. "And Hunter came up to me during the game last week and said, 'Let me block and Jacob run this one in.' In practice, the guys know the assignments so well. We'll move Zeman to fullback or quarterback and move McClain and Jacob to other positions. Sometimes we even pull (quarterback Isaiah) Sampson out."
They have different styles - McClain as the up-the-middle bruiser, Saylors as the scatback and Zeman as the elusive bouncer.
"Jacob's faster. I get run down a lot. He doesn't," Zeman said.
They're more, though, than running backs and/or blocking backs. Each also plays a key defensive role.
Zeman was destined to be the Warriors' quarterback before the emergence of Sampson, which freed Zeman to continue as a linebacker.
"He's a do-it-all kind of guy. In baseball he'd be a five-tool guy," Mathis said. "Anywhere we put him he's going to excel. His football IQ is very high. He has a knack for making the plays. He studies film. He knows leverage. He knows how to be undersized and still run the ball. He'll take a lick and yet he knows how to spin out or give with it. I don't know if he's taken a solid lick in four years, because of that.
"I don't know where they're most valuable, but in addition to offense and defense I do know without them there would be a drop-off on special teams," the coach added.
The three backs clearly reflect the unassuming unselfishness that pervades the team.
"It's not all about running the ball. None of us are selfish," said Zeman, who has carved his own niche while emerging from the shadow of his brother Blake, a powerhouse runner and linebacker just a couple of years ago. "We focus on the task at hand. If somebody gets big yardage it's a victory for all of us, and then if we score it's another victory."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.