JASPER, Tenn. - For the better part of his first three varsity football seasons, Jacob Saylors proved to be a special talent.
A starter since his freshman year, he earned all-state recognition as a sophomore and junior and accumulated 74 touchdowns, 18 interceptions and more than 4,100 yards while helping Marion County reach three straight Class 2A state championship games. There was no doubting his skill on the field.
But despite all that success, it was an otherwise disheartening moment that actually proved he brought more than just eye-catching ability to the Warriors.
During the final moments of last year's state title game, with Marion trailing Memphis Trezevant by three scores, Saylors took a wicked hit near the sideline and laid on the cold Tennessee Tech turf for several minutes. Having already watched two other Warriors carted off the field to be taken to an area hospital, coach Joey Mathis knelt down, patted Saylors on the chest and said, "Son, you've done all you can do today."
Marion's Jacob Saylors (8) follows his blocking on the way to another Warrior touchdown. The Polk County Wildcats visited the Marion County Warriors in TSSAA football action on October 27, 2017. But instead of taking the out his coach was granting and limping to the sideline to wait out the closing minutes, Saylors looked up and replied, "Just give me a minute coach, and I'll be good."
"I wanted to hug the kid right there," Mathis said. "It was a very physical game, but that told me what kind of heart Jacob has. The game was basically over. There were just a couple of minutes left, but he was tough enough to want to go back in and finish out the game with his team.
"That let me know that no matter what happens, that's a kid that wouldn't ever give up."
A lot of folks likely did give up on the Warriors after they stumbled to a 2-4 start this season. But what was lost in that struggle was the fact that Marion was replacing eight offensive starters - including its entire line - from last year and had graduated 16 all-region or all-state players over the past three years.
An inexperienced team faced a brutal schedule that included six state-ranked opponents, but just as some believed buzzards were circling the season, Saylors stepped up and helped Marion change the outlook down the stretch.
"Our biggest problem was just inexperience," Mathis said. "We had to establish more than just Jacob on offense and get those young backs some carries so we would know what we had to work with. Everything we did earlier was geared toward building for the playoffs.
"The season certainly wasn't going the way we wanted it to, and Jacob got a little banged up early, but once he got healthy and could handle more of the load, he brought energy back and has set the tone. We have other weapons now, but we know when the game is on the line, Jacob is our guy."
The turnaround began with a monster performance by Saylors in the Warriors' eighth game, an upset win at Class 3A's state-ranked Loudon. It included a 34-yard touchdown run on a sweep that converted fourth-and-goal and came about only after he broke six tackles and cut back across the field to outrun the pursuit.
The next week, he put on another spectacular show in a Region 3-2A win over Polk County that earned Marion the second seed and a home game in the first round of the state playoffs. He continued his tear last week with two interceptions and more than 100 rushing yards to help the Warriors roll in their postseason opener.
Over the past three weeks - all wins - Saylors has rushed for more than 600 of his season total of more than 1,600 yards. A two-way starter with 32 total touchdowns this season, the 5-foot-11, 190-pounder will rarely come off the field tonight when the Warriors (6-5) travel to Trousdale County (8-3) with a chance to continue their late-season redemption and reach next week's quarterfinals.
"When things weren't going the way we wanted earlier this year, the only pressure I felt came from me being a senior and not wanting to end my career in a bad way," said Saylors, who was named a Mr. Football semifinalist last week and has helped Marion win 44 of the 55 games he has played in during his career.
"I was frustrated, for sure, but the worst thing would've been for me to show it and have bad body language around the younger guys. We needed them to see a positive attitude.
"We knew we were better than our record was showing, and even though pretty much everybody in the state lost faith in us, I think we've got a lot of our swagger back. We believe there aren't many teams left who want to see us now."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.