Tampa, March 29, 2018- The Tampa Catholic Crusaders finished the 2017 overall season at 7-4; not their best record but topped 2016 thanks to their main backfield contributor. 5’8” 155-pound junior, Jalen Bussey is a stocky running back with tweener talent- playing both sides of the football. His agility in and out of the hole combined with his break-away speed helped Tampa Catholic tremendously on the scoreboard this past season. He’s heading into his final season in the green and white in top gear- the only way he knows how.
On 11 games played, Jalen put on a show in his 3rd year, with 618 total rushing yards on 106 carries, averaging 5.8 per carry, 56.2 yards per game, and 8 total touchdowns- two receiving.
With 818 collective all-purpose yards, Bussey is an undoubtable offensive factor. Jalen was selected as the semper fidelis Player of the Game against Tarpon High School, with 10 carries for 70 yards but perhaps his all-time performance came at Belleview in a 40-0 blowout win, steam-rolling their defense, putting up 117 yards on 14 touches, averaging 8.4 yards per carry and a touchdown!
On the receiving end, Jalen’s top performance took place against Bishop Verot, where he put on a touchdown clinic with two touchdowns on 2 catches for 134 yards, averaging 67 yards!
According to Maxpreps – career numbers are as follows…on 18 games played he’s tallied 703 rushing yards, a 6.0 YPC average, on 117 carries, 39.1 rushing YPG, accountable for 60 of the team’s touchdown points, 917 all-purpose yards, and accumulated 10 total touchdowns.
Catching the rock, he totaled 206 yards on 16 receptions, averaging 12.9 yards, 11.4 YPG and a long-catch of 71 yards to the house with 2 touchdowns.
Safe to say Jalen Bussey is cruising his way through his high school career in stardom, and with one year left to add to the books, he’s on track to break 1,000 yards in the 2018 season.
Vaughan Sixbury, BCP Contributor
