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Star role is nothing new for Pinkston
Allison Phillips photo
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Published: August 22, 2008
Mooresville senior Jjshaun Pinkston is a patient running back.
He always waits for his hole to materialize before taking off upfield, and all he needs is a sliver of space to turn a 4-yard plunge into a 40-yard touchdown.
It's safe to say he makes the most of his opportunities.
And that's exactly how his Mooresville career began, with Pinkston as the unexpected starter as a freshman.
"To be honest with you, we did not want to do that," Blue Devils head coach Barclay Marsh said. "Jjshaun's freshman year, we had an injury right out of the gate to our tailback. Jjshaun was the next best one, so we had to bring him up."
Three years later, not much has changed.
Pinkston is still the featured running back, still a major part of Mooresville's run-based offense.
"The only thing that's different is I'm not nervous," Pinkston said. "My first year on varsity I was kind of nervous. After two or three games, I got used to it."
There was certainly not a case of nerves last season when Pinkston rushed for a career-best 1,573 yards and 17 touchdowns.
None of those scores were cheap, 1-yard dives either. Pinkston had seven touchdown runs of 50 yards or more.
He hopes to improve all those numbers this season.
"I want to beat my rushing record, score more touchdowns and win more games for the whole team," Pinkston said.
If he passes last year's benchmarks, it will probably be a result of his fearless running style.
A 5-foot-7, 175-pound running back, Pinkston has a power-running mentality trapped in the body of a scatback.
He's deceptively strong and prefers to pound the ball up the middle, behind the Blue Devils' big offensive line.
"Obviously he has good speed, but he has excellent vision," Marsh said. "And he has no fear. He gets most of his yardage inside the tackles, he's not a wide-running guy."
Starting as a freshman has put Pinkston in exclusive territory as his high school career winds down.
Mooresville has a rich football history and rarely has players start on varsity for all four years.
"I remember Corey Alexander doing that," said Marsh, who knows his Blue Devils history. "And he's probably the only one I remember doing it."
Pinkston is also well aware of the program's history, and that's what makes his Mooresville career so memorable.
And there's still one more year to add to his legacy.
"I've loved playing in Mooresville," Pinkston said. "Everyone in my family played at Mooresville, like my dad, John Pinkston. I've sort of followed in his footsteps and I would like to continue playing in college."
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