PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The West Boca Raton Community High School football team is rolling this year. Entering Week 8 of the high school football season, the Bulls are 5-1.
The team is led by two dynamic sophomore cousins, Javian and Mason Mallory.
WPTV headed down to southern Palm Beach County to speak with the Mallory boys about school and football. This year the two have stepped it up not only on the field but also in the classroom.
"You are having a wonderful season," asked WPTV reporter Todd Wilson. "Did you envision this?"
"Of course, you know, I got hurt about this time last year versus Coconut Creek," Javian Mallory said. "I just knew I had to come back way better than ever, stronger, faster."
Training three times a day during the summer has paid off. The rising star has already tallied 14 touchdowns on the season.
"How many yards have you totaled so far this year?" Wilson asked.
"I think I'm around 750 [yards]," Javian Mallory said. "That's just rushing, but all-purpose is like 900."
But his main concentration is in the classroom.
School is going pretty good. I have five As and two Bs right now," Javian Mallory said. "What people don't understand is if I don't have good grades in the classroom, I wouldn't be on this football field right now."
Javian is the team's star running back, but the team's starting quarterback is his cousin, Mason Mallory.
"How many yards do you have so far?" Wilson asked Mason Mallory.
"So, 700 in passing, and I want to say like 75-100 rushing," he said.
Those impressive totals go along with Mason's 13 touchdowns.
Mason Mallory said he never expected to be this good considering football wasn't his first choice.
"Honestly, I didn't because I haven't really been playing football," Mason Mallory said. "I was really a basketball player this whole time. Everybody in my family played football, so I was like, 'Why not give it a shot.'
So, what would he consider a good season?
"Two-thousand five-hundred passing yards, 25 touchdowns and under two interceptions and a state championship obviously," Mason Mallory said.
Coach Dylan Potts really has an excess of riches on this year's team.
"I always say when your best players on the team also are your best leaders and the best kids academically, you know you're going to have a chance to be good," Potts said.
Javian Mallory is ranked as the No. 1 running back in the nation in his class and has top football schools across the country recruiting him.