St. Charles East’s Justin Jett has already had a more accomplished career than most high school football players. And he still has his senior season left.
The bruising fullback came up with a huge junior season in 2017, rushing for 1,306 yards and 18 touchdowns on 199 carries. He’s in line to break several school records.
Jett is ready to do it again in his fourth and final varsity season for the Saints — who are ranked No. 3 in the preseason by The Courier-News.
“It’s going to be pretty fun,” Jett said. “It’s bittersweet. It’s sad. You don’t want it to end. I know these nine weeks and the postseason will go by like that.”
There couldn’t be a player more suited to St. Charles East coach Bryce Farquhar’s old-school offense than Jett. They arrived at the same time four years ago.
“Everybody will focus on Justin,” Farquhar said. “He’s got great numbers. He understands everything about what we do offensively. It’s been good to see him through these four years.
“I’m kind of sad that it’s his last year because he’s been around so long. We’re expecting big things out him this year.”
Jett will spend plenty of time following the lead of Dustin Barrett and Justin Hull. The 6-foot-5, 285-pound Barrett is one of the top junior linemen in the state. The 6-3, 290-pound Hall finished third in last year’s Class 3A state wrestling meet as a heavyweight.
“I have a 600-pound wall moving forward,” Jett said. “It’s no big secret that we have a very threatening side of the line. That’s been pretty great having that caliber of linemen in front of me.
“It’s a great feeling when you have that dominance. You know you can run pretty much the same play down the field if we wanted to and there’s no answer.”
As a fullback, Jett realizes how fortunate he is to be at East.
“Not a lot of offenses would I thrive in as well as I do in this one,” Jett said. “It’s very satisfying being able to do as well as I do and fit the system as well as I do.”
Jett has been adding some more responsibilities to his plate as well. He will be lining up on defense for the first time.
He played linebacker the first six weeks of the summer, and then when he filled in at defensive end rushing the passer, he was a natural.
“It’s exciting, just that first step, going off the edge and getting there,” Jett said. “Both ways will be pretty demanding physically, but I’m accepting the role.”
The Saints have joined the newly formed DuKane Conference this season. All eight schools in the league have impressive football pedigrees, meaning each week will be a battle.
“Hands down, this will be the best conference in the state,” Jett said.
Jett is holding out hope he will play in college. He has no offers yet. He said business school, not necessarily football, is his priority.
“Hopefully I’ll impress somebody — we’ll see,” Jett said. “I just want to ball out this year, regardless of what happens next year. I’m just going to leave my mark here the best I possibly can.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
