South Pointe head football coach Bobby Collins didn’t panic.
When projected starting quarterback Cam McMillon had knee surgery earlier in the offseason — an operation that will keep the junior out until midway through the regular season — Collins looked to his defensive backfield and called on starting safety J’Zavien Currence to fill the role.
The four-star defensive back is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 7 safety in the country and No. 2 overall in the state of South Carolina for his class, fielding over 40 Division I offers including the University of South Carolina, Clemson and Michigan. However, the opportunity to play starting quarterback was not going to pass him by.
“It came to be when Coach Collins called me into his office and asked me if I wanted to play quarterback, and I said, ‘For sure,’” the 6-foot-3 junior said. “When I was younger, I always played quarterback, and it was always fun doing it. It’s changed because I have to balance it out. After practice, I’m training defense, but in practice, I’m a quarterback mainly.”
Currence has started at safety for South Pointe since his freshman year, racking up 103 total tackles, 14 pass deflections and five interceptions over the past two seasons.
He’s also served as backup to starting quarterback Malachi Marshall during that time, completing five of his nine passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for two additional scores as a backup last season.
The junior picked up a lot from Marshall, who is now a freshman at Stony Brook University. From backing up Marshall in games to going against him in practice, Currence is aware of the differences between them and hopes that he’s able to use his own strengths to lead South Pointe to wins.
“In practices, there’s some throws I’ve seen (Marshall) make that’s just like, ‘Come on, what am I supposed to do about that?’” Currence said. “I’m taking some game from his footwork; he had good footwork. His eyes were iffy sometimes, but he got the ball in places where he wasn’t supposed to get the ball in those places. He did some amazing things with his arm last year, kept his composure in closing games and things like that.”
The plan is for Currence to start at both quarterback and safety for the Stallions this season.
Collins is confident in Currence’s ability to lead the offense. Currence has shown a lot in summer practices and college camps, and Collins has set some benchmarks for his new starter to hit.
“Score 35 points a game, don’t turn the football over, and lead,” Collins said. “Nobody’s looking for him to be Superman; we just want him to be the player that we know he can be.”
That 35 points-a-game mark is important for Collins.
South Pointe averaged 35.6 points per game when it last won a state championship in 2021; the Stallions have averaged 24.8 points per game and 28.2 points per game in the two seasons since.
The reason for that, first-year offensive coordinator Brad Van Horn said, is because the team struggled to establish an identity offensively. Heading into this season, however, South Pointe is going to rely on the strength of its rushing attack behind the return of 1,000-yard rusher Mason Pickett-Hicks; a stout offensive line headlined by USC signee Anthony Baxter, and the athletic ability of Currence.
“We’re definitely going to try to lean on people,” Van Horn said. “But what we’re going to ask J’Zavien to do is to make us right in the passing game and make us right in the zone read game. Just being able to make (the opponent) play on us on the backside and then make sure that we get the ball on the perimeter to our playmakers in space and just play fast.”
Currence has been training in football since he was nine years old and has had a lot to look up to.
His older brother, Jamari, also starred at defensive back at South Pointe from 2015-2017 before playing at James Madison University. During that time, J’Zavien has also seen and taken notes from players such as former South Pointe quarterback and current Los Angeles Rams defensive back Derion Kendrick.
That enrichment has given Currence the intangibles to be successful, and helping him adjust to the new position is everything he’s learned during his time starring on the defensive side of the football. It’s also given him confidence in the success of the team moving forward.
“I bring leadership (and) big plays for sure,” Currence said. “I’m going to bring the offense together, hold the team together. We’re going to beat teams bad, beat teams real bad. We’re going to put up some points.”
South Pointe opens the 2024 season at home against Spartanburg. The Stallions opened last season with a 16-14 road victory over the Vikings.
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