KFBCA Top 11: Jalen Marshall

The Kansas Football Coaches Association picked their All-State teams December 5th and 6th, including their Top 11. Kansas Pregame is providing capsules for each of the Top 11 selections. Check out St. Thomas Aquinas defensive lineman Jalen Marshall's capsule below and check back for more capsules throughout the week.

Jalen Marshall, DL, 6-5, 275, St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas made it all the way to the semifinals of this year’s 5A playoff bracket before getting knocked out 35-19 to eventual state champions Mill Valley.

As anyone familiar with a team coached by Randy Dreiling will know, Aquinas employs a physical - and consistently successful - brand of football, which was good news for the 6-5 275 pound all-state defensive line selection, Jalen Marshall, a Top 11 choice by the KFBCA.

The season wasn’t always smooth sailing for Marshall and his teammates. At one point Aquinas held a 2-4 mark after a brutal four-game stretch against Eastern Kansas League opponents and a dominant Missouri private school, Christian Brothers in St. Louis. While that may sound like a point where many teams would fold, EKL teams by this point know to expect brutal regular seasons in the hyper-talented league.

“While we were playing those difficult teams it could be tough at times, but we knew that it would make us a better and more physical football team, so it was all worth it,” Marshall said.

The Saints rebounded to a 7-5 finish with their playoff run, including regular season wins over eventual 6A champs Blue Valley Northwest and three and one point losses to powers Bishop Miege and Blue Valley in Weeks 3 and 4 of the season.

Marshall was a pivotal piece of the Aquinas defense, as many opponents were simply overwhelmed by his overpowering nature.

“His biggest strength was his size and strength,” Dreiling said. “He was a very good run-stopper for us, hard to block one-on-one.”

While many players punching at his weight class might allow themselves more liberties with their duties, expecting their raw power and ability to do the trick, Marshall made a point to remain diligent from play-to-play.

“My mindset before each snap as a defensive lineman was to do my job, hold my gap and if it was a pass play then get to the quarterback as fast as possible,” Marshall said.

Marshall did his job well, accounting for 61 tackles, 10 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, and an unquantifiable amount of times he forced coaches to alter their entire game plan to avoid him. 

“The thing I like about playing D-line is that I can change the entire game by myself,” Marshall said. “If I take control of the other team's offensive line, it makes it super hard to run the ball, and I can also not allow the quarterback a lot of time to pass the ball.

After his dominant high school career, Marshall made the decision to commit to the Missouri Tigers out of a number of options in the Big 10, Big 12 and SEC. He signed Wednesday.

“I love the fact that Mizzou is in the SEC because when you play great competition it only makes you better,” Marshall said. “I  wanted to go somewhere that’s not super close to home or not too far and Mizzou is the perfect distance. Also the culture that coach Drinkwitz is building is something that I wanted to be a part of.”

Marshall continues the tradition of outstanding defensive line play for the Saints under Dreiling including Angel Dominguez, Matthew Roberts, Peyton and Caden Reeves and others and was joined up front this season by the next Aquinas defensive line standout in 6-2, 230 pound junior Sa’o Siavi’i.

While Siavi’i will return next season to hold down the Aquinas defensive line tradition, Marshall will look to start his college career in the SEC.

The KFBCA Top 11 and All-State selections consist of seniors from the Class of 2022 nominated and voted on by members of the Kansas Football Coaches Association. For more info about the KFBCA find them online at www.kfbca.com.