Trevon Evans stiffed armed three would-be tacklers before he kicked it into high gear en route to a 54-yard touchdown in the first drive against Sefner Christian Academy. The George Jenkins running back then busted it outside for a 48-yard touchdown versus Lake Placid.
The kickoff classic was jamboree-style Friday at George Jenkins, which was used by the players and coaching staff to gear up for the 2024 regular season: George Jenkins starts its season Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Lake Region. The senior running back racked up a total 188 yards and three touchdowns in jamboree action.
“It feels really great. It feels good to be a main factor of the team to have that impact on it, just be that person to be relied on, depended on to get a us a touchdown when we need it.,” Evans said. “It feels good to be one of those guys.”
But Evans couldn’t be one of those guys last year. Two years ago, Evans was a football player at Kathleen High School, and when he transferred to George Jenkins for his junior year in 2023, he was ineligible to play the entire football season because of his academics.
Specifically, Evans was having some difficulties in his Algebra II honors, chemistry and English honors courses. Evans was busy with several honors classes his sophomore year because he did really well academically his freshman year.
“They just kind of gave me trouble. I was asking teachers for help when I really wasn’t understanding the work. It was just a lot of work piled up (and) I kind of fell behind, and I really didn’t get any work done,” Evans said.
That wasn’t the be-all and end-all for Evans. Family in Evans’ corner — as well head football coach Paul Freeman ― implored to the then-sophomore that academics come first, and without it he wouldn’t be able to play football or sports in general. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, Evans agreed and leveled up.
After he transferred to George Jenkins, he took more classes and studied harder, smarter.
“I really just focused on school, just really trying to push those grades to get higher, doing anything I can to get my GPA up because I really wanted to play and I couldn’t miss out next year. I just did everything I could: tutors, schoolwork, I and I just stayed on top of it. My mom helped me out and made sure I got everything done. I was mainly getting myself ready, so I didn’t fall behind,” he said.
The hard work paid off for Evans, as his GPA gradually increased.
Freeman said it was Evans’ epiphany that assisted the Tampa native in reaching the mountaintop.
“(He) dedicated himself to summer workouts,” Freeman said. “Organizing his own ride to make sure he didn’t miss one. Communicating when things came up. That type of work ethic has solidified him with his teammates and really bought in to our ‘family first’ mentality, so much so that his mom told me at picture day that ‘he’s a completely different young man in the classroom and in athletics.’
“He’s earned everything he’s worked for up to this point, saying to me that he’s ‘gotten a second chance and wants to take advantage of it.’”
Stars aligned for Evans, too, as former George Jenkins running back Eddie Lake transferred to Daytona Beach's state champion Mainland High School ― the same team that lost to Lake Wales in the 2022 state championship.
With the position opening, Evans has already started the work to fill those shoes and then some. Evans said this season is all about bolstering his skill set to play college football.
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: George Jenkins' Trevon Evans back on football field after ineligibility
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