Tim Mattingly recently met with a teacher in the Bainbridge-Guilford school district, and that teacher told Mattingly of a special connection she had witnessed between a star football player and another player who looks up to that star player.
“She told me that Justin Pepper had just latched onto this kid who maybe wasn’t the most talented player on the team,” Mattingly said. “(Justin) talks to the kid and has kept the other kid excited about playing football. The teacher told me it was incredible to watch the interaction between those two kids. Justin is a heck of a player and a star on the team in this kid’s eye. He’s just a tremendous teammate and a real leader.”
This little story describes the strong character of the Bobcats’ senior quarterback, and he has matched that character with impressive performances on the football field this season.
He leads all area quarterbacks in rushing and rushing touchdowns, is a capable passer, and is a mainstay on the Bobcats’ defense. After leading B-G to back-to-back division victories, Pepper is this week’s Smith Ford LLC/Evening Sun Athlete of the Week.
“He’s an athlete playing the quarterback position,” Mattingly said.
Pepper, who came up to the varsit level as a lanky sophomore, has grown to 6-foot-2, 205 pounds. He participated in offseason football camps, and he has maintained perfect attendance in the weight room. The extra effort put forth by Pepper is showing on the field this season. “My dad and my brother got me into lifting a couple of years ago,” Pepper said. “I’ve kept working out and mostly do it every day.”
Pepper had four TD runs – all of B-G’s scores – in a 26-6 victory over Harpursville, and last week, he sparked the offense with a 51-yard TD pass and a 90-yard bootleg scramble for another touchdown. A threat to run or throw at any time, Pepper has 175 yards rushing and 132 passing. “He’s strong and fast, and we need him to touch the ball,” Mattingly said. “He gives us a threat on the outside when we call the bootlegs, but he also has an arm where he can throw it down the field.”
Pepper described his philosphy when he has the option to run or pass. “I’ll mostly run the ball because I feel I can get the extra yards,” he said. “If I see space, I’ll run, but if a receiver is wide-open, I definitely will throw the ball.”
Pepper’s impact on offense is just one-half of his story. Playing in the middle of an aggressive, attacking defensive scheme, he is required to make a lot tackles at middle linebacker. “He’s a huge factor for us on defense,” Mattingly said. “He sits in the middle and just brings it.”
Pepper will need to “bring it” this weekend when B-G faces its toughest divisional foe to date Saturday afternoon at Deposit. No question, the senior linebacker/quarterback will need to set the tone, and his main responsibility may be shutting down Deposit’s top player, Darin Wignall. “We need (Justin) to have a heck of a game,” Mattingly said. “He’s worked hard to get better, and the other kids feed off of him.”
Pepper understands that each player on his team needs to win his individual battle on defense, none more than himself on Saturday. “We just have to hit them,” Pepper said. “I don’t think they’ve played a team as physical as us, and I know they don’t want this (game) more than us.”
After four quarters of hard-hitting football Saturday afternoon, Deposit may not want to see anymore of Pepper and the Bobcats.