At least Mason Harris knows when and where to take his frustration out.
The Ridgeland High School senior wasn’t happy with his performance on the football field in the Panthers’ first four games, so he decided to do something about it. Against Dalton, a team Ridgeland had never beaten in 18 tries, Harris had what he called a “dream” game.
The future South Carolina Gamecock produced the game’s first points when he stripped Dalton’s Tre Beck of the ball, broke a tackle and raced 46 yards for a touchdown. He later made two sacks, one of which caused a fumble, in the 21-0 win.
“I needed it because I hadn’t been playing as well as I needed to,” said Harris, who alternated between end and linebacker on defense to go with his duties at “quick” tackle on offense. “I knew I could do better and play hader than I had, and to do it against a good team like Dalton made me feel good.”
He even fulfilled a personal goal by making the early big play.
“That’s been one of my dreams, to get a fumble recovery and score a touchdown,” Harris said, beaming. “That it happened against Dalton, a team we’ve never beaten, made it even better. I even got to show off my running skills to Coach [Mark] Mariakis. Maybe he’ll let me get the ball a few times a game now.”
Not likely. Mariakis can’t afford to move his valuable two-way starter from his current duties, though he has no doubt Harris would shine in any role.
“Mason can play anywhere. He’s that kind of athlete,” Mariakis said of the 6-foot-3 Harris, who was timed under 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash at South Carolina’s camp earlier this year. “As we saw Friday, he can take over a ballgame. We had seen that before, but what we saw Friday was an even different gear, especially considering what the game had riding on it.”
Mariakis had seen Harris pressing in earlier games to make plays and adjust to being a first-time two-way starter – and two switching back and forth from end to linebacker, depending on the situation.
“We started moving things around after the second game,” Mariakis said. “We needed to put people in the best place to make plays, and this allows him to use that athletic ability even more. He likes to show off his versatility.”
Harris admitted that playing linebacker is more of a challenge, but he knows he’ll likely end up at that position in college.
“At end you just hit the guy in front of you and go make the play, while at linebacker you have to read the play and you never know who’s going to block you,” he said. “I like it, though, because I get to run around and use my speed. I’ll probably play there next year, so it’s nice to get a head start.”
After losing their opener to Allatoona, the Panthers have won four straight games heading into tonight’s visit to Region 7-AAA and Walker County rival LaFayette. A third consecutive region title is within reach, but Harris expects this team to achieve more.
“First of all, we can’t look at teams like LaFayette and say, ‘Hey, we beat Dalton, we should have no problem with them,'” Harris said. “We have to stay focused and know that any team can beat us. If we just play Ridgeland football, we can do a lot of great things this year.”
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6296.