Humble Beginnings
Birmingham defensive ends Malik and Marquis Jackson have developed into two of the most dominant defensive players in the region this year, but they didn't look like much when they first showed up at the school as sophomores.
``They wanted to play linebacker,'' assistant coach Kevin Thomas said.
Neither were getting much playing time in Birmingham's experienced linebacking core, so Thomas asked Marquis if he wanted to try his hand on the defensive line, where there were a few openings.
``We tried Marquis out on the line at the Occidental camp, in a game against Bakersfield, who was ranked like No. 9 in the state at the time, and just dominated,'' Thomas said. ``He was so good, I was like, `You're starting. Right now, you're a starter.' Even though he was just this little sophomore.
``A few weeks later, Malik came up to me and was like, `Coach, you think I could try defensive line too?' That's how it started.''
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