Karvon Jefferson envisioned himself as a future offensive star when he was a fresh-faced freshman.
That seems like such a long time ago now for Jefferson, who is heading into his senior season as a standout at Lutheran North.
Now, all he envisions is laying the most brutal hits he can.
And sometimes, his bone-crushing hits aren't saved for just the opponents.
"Yeah, sometimes you have to tell him to chill," Lutheran North senior Trey Bass said.
Ever since he fell in love unloading his wrath on the ball carrier, Jefferson has been terrorizing opponents all over ºüÀêÊÓƵ.
"I tried to play a little bit of receiver, but it wasn't really me," Jefferson said. "I knew I wanted to play defense. You know, it's been defense my whole life. To me, I really just enjoy hitting people, so I don't really care who it is."
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The No. 19 recruit on the Post-Dispatch Super 30 countdown of the area's top senior college football prospects already has settled on his college destination. He has verbally committed to Ball State but also had offers from Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Central Michigan, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Lindenwood, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southeast Missouri State, SIU Carbondale, Tennessee Martin and Wyoming.
But Ball State was one of the first programs to extend Jefferson an offer, and he felt the same connection to his future coaching staff as he has the last four years at Lutheran North.
"They were my first big offer my sophomore year," Jefferson said. "When I was at home, they would text me to make sure I was good. I'd send the coaches there my films and my drills, and they'd tell me if I was doing anything wrong and how it was supposed to look. You know, that's what I get from coaches here. It felt like home."
Though Jefferson has always had the confidence he was a big-time player, it was a particular tackle on Hannibal running back Aneyas Williams — who now is a freshman at Notre Dame — during a state quarterfinal victory last season that sealed in Jefferson's mind how high his ceiling could be.
"I think it was outside zone or triple option and he bounced it outside," Jefferson said. "I made the big hit that like made the crowd go crazy. I'm D1, no one can tell me anything different."
The 6-foot Jefferson has been dominant as a linebacker for the Crusaders, but he will move back to safety for his senior season.
"Teams kind of figured out that if we just account for him, then you know, that eliminates a lot of our tackles," North coach Kyle Wagner said. "So you can score a lot of points if you can get away from Karvon. Whereas, as safety, you know, nobody's drawn up schemes to go and pick up a safety. He's pretty good in coverage and it's menacing for a guy to play middle linebacker for three years if a receiver tries to catch a slant or post with him coming down on them at 200 pounds."
An All-Metro first-team selection last season, Jefferson had 97 solo tackles and assisted on 59. He also had seven sacks.
In the past two years, the tackling specialist has been in on 304 tackles.
Though he's shifted to be farther away from the action, it doesn't bother him in the slightest.
"It doesn't matter to me," Jefferson said. "Wherever I play, that's where I'll play to help the team. I'm fine with helping the team as long as we're winning and we're doing our jobs. I'm OK with it."
Having a terrifying monster behind him has helped fellow senior captain TJ Thornton in scrimmages and offseason workouts.
And seeing Jefferson lay the lumber on his own teammates has the defensive back anxious for the season.
"Teams may have people as big as Karvon, and we can't tell them to chill out, so it helps us prepare," Thornton said.
The Crusaders will be ready to unleash Jefferson on their opponents after losing in last season's Class 4 state semifinals.
"I make sure I do extra work on my own because I know if I'm not doing it, then I'm decreasing the team's talent, and I don't want to do that," Jefferson said.
While Wagner has one more run with his tackling savant, the Lutheran North coach knows precisely what Ball State is getting in Jefferson.
"They're getting a kid who should be able to come in and help them from day one," Wagner said. "And I think that they understand that they know that he's the guy who'll show up and be ready to play from the start."
Before he becomes a Cardinal, Jefferson has a few goals left as a Crusader.
"My goal is to get a state title and maybe 12 interceptions. We're going to work this year," Jefferson said.
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