JENNINGS — Karvon Jefferson grinned when asked about matching up against Lutheran North teammate Trey Bass during practice.
"Oh, Trey? He's easy work," Jefferson said with a laugh.
A standout Crusaders defender, Jefferson later admitted he didn't envy opposing defenders who line up against Bass, an explosive receiver, on Friday nights.
It's a good thing the pair will never have to face each other in a game situation, or Jefferson may be left grasping at air like so many defenders in the past three years.
"It's crazy," Jefferson said. "He gets past the defenders like it's nothing. You see him run, that's Trey. That's Trey right there. "
No play better showed off that breakneck speed than his second and last rushing attempt of the season as a junior.
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"It was a reverse, and I'm kind of running lateral off the edge, out in the air, trying to figure out who's going to block," Bass said. "Somebody made a good block, a pancake, and I cut it up. I just outran everybody."
Against Lutheran St. Charles, the No. 29 recruit on the Post-Dispatch's Super 30 countdown of the area's top senior college football prospects blazed 54 yards untouched for his lone rushing touchdown of the season.
It would be a surprise if Bass only has one rushing TD this season as coach Kyle Wagner hopes to utilize Bass'Â blazing speed in the Crusaders flexbone offense.
"Every season, I pick the three guys that we have to have touch the ball the most," Wagner said. "And Trey is definitely one of those three, if not the main guy we want to try to get the ball. He scores nearly half the time that he touches the ball. And I think that that's an incredible skill and stat line. Some guys have played at a high level that can't do that."
A first-team All-Metro selection last year, Bass had 17 receiving touchdowns, 51 receptions and 1,175 receiving yards, second most among returning area receivers behind only Cardinal Ritter's Dejarrian Miller.
The 5-foot-10 dynamo has scholarship offers from Alcorn State, Army, Illinois State, Lindenwood, Northern Iowa, and Western Illinois.
As gaudy as his junior stats were, Bass is ready to trade them all away for a chance to play for a state championship.
"Stats don't matter; I'm going to do whatever we have to do for my team to win state," Bass said. "I'll be the quarterback, but (coach) won't ask that. I'll get 100 pancakes; I'm going to do what I have to do."
Having a new wrinkle to the offense installed in the offseason was not daunting for Bass.
Especially with the coaching staff streamlining it this summer.
"The way that we teach it is really not that much to the kids," Wagner said. "From week to week, we decipher that these are the four pass plays that we'd like this week, and these are the three runs that we liked this week. We'll have a huge menu, and it's always there for us to use. But going into the game, we won't use the whole menu."
Bass said a Class 4 state semifinal loss last season at Hillsboro was an eye-opening experience for him and his teammates.
"We've got to hold ourselves to the highest standard in everything we do, from filming to the weight room to playing against scrimmages," Bass said.
Lutheran North opens the season at defending Class 7A Alabama state champion Central-Phenix City before a matchup with perennial Missouri powerhouse Blair Oaks.
The regular season ends with a showdown against with two-time defending state champion Cardinal Ritter.
While some may balk at the formidable schedule Wagner has cooked up for his Crusaders, Bass is salivating at the prospect of testing himself against the best.
"That's not fun (playing down)," Bass said. "I'd rather play someone who is going to hit back. (Others) may be scared, but I'm not. "
That attitude will pay dividends when Bass officially announces his college decision.
"He wants to compete," Wagner said. "He wants to play against the best and see what he's made of. And I think if you're gonna play at a high level, he's a coach on the field. He understands what we're doing, and he helps other guys. He's a guy that they can count on, and he is a tone-setter. So wherever he goes, whatever position he plays, I think he's gonna do great."
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