After going 10-2 and making it to the third round of the playoffs, one would think that Flour Bluff’s best players would be getting some recruiting attention. However, two of the teams’ staples on a defense that allowed just an average of 16.5 points per game in district play, Kadon Luke and Javaris Lawson, haven’t seen much college interest at all. Luke received his first collegiate offer last week and Lawson’s offer list remains blank.

Luke, one of the top players that Flour Bluff safeties coach Lester Johnson says he has ever coached, is a ferocious free safety and projects as a nickelback at the collegiate level. The First-Team All-South Texas selection finished the season with 85 tackles, four interceptions, and four forced fumbles.

Johnson says that Luke resembles Drew Coleman, a player who he played with when he was in high school that eventually played defensive back at TCU and five seasons in the NFL.

“Everything that he does is like ‘wow,” Johnson said. “Physically he reminds me of him [Coleman] so much the way he is so fast in and out of breaks in every single drill. Not just in some drills but every single drill.”

Similar to Coleman, Luke has a bit of an undersized frame at 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds. But, what Luke lacks in size he makes up for in physicality. So much so that Johnson had to hold him out of tackling drills in the last five practices of spring football season, something he’s never done before, because he was afraid that he would injure his other players.

“Kadon gets so low, such good leverage that I’m scared to let him tackle our kids,” Johnson said. “I talked with the head coach and we agreed to hold him out of individual tackling drills in the last five practices of spring ball.”

Johnson says that what separates Luke from other safeties is the competitive edge that he carries with him through everything that he does.

“No matter what drill we do, we could be doing cartwheels and Kadon’s going to do everything in his power to win,” Johnson said. “Everything that we do, Kadon wants to be the best. Nine times out of 10, Kadon is going to finish first, he just has that nature inside of him.”

Lawson is a physical freak but perhaps his biggest strength is his field vision and his ability to see plays before they happen. His vision was put on full display as he tracked down Veterans Memorial quarterback Landry Gilpin and sacked him in the endzone for a safety last season.

“I caught on to the quarterback’s movements,” Lawson recalled. “He would turn around and run five yards back and check left, check right and then check left again. So during his checks, I kept running and as soon as he checked left the second time I jumped on him in the end zone.”

Lawson’s ability to sniff out plays before they happen is something that he attributes, not to his on-field playing career, but to his to years of experience playing Madden NFL.

“I’ve been playing it ever since I was four years old. Now that I’m older, I see things in the game and I’m like okay I saw a team use that just last week,” Lawson said.

Lawson’s knowledge of the game helped him put together a stellar 2017 statline including 94 tackles, 15 tackles for a loss, and six sacks last season. But Lawson’s influence on the field goes beyond the stat sheet.

“There are times when we’ll call the defense and he’ll check out of it. It’ll be something that we talked about situation wise throughout the week. Without us telling him, he’ll have the offense diagnosed and everyone lined up,” Johnson said.

Though they play different positions Luke and Lawson are constantly in each other’s ears pushing each other to get better.

“We’re really close to each other. We’re constantly pushing each other in the weight room and at practice and during conditioning. We push each other so much and really complement each other,” Luke said.

As for why the duo hasn’t received much recruiting attention, Johnson speculates that it might have to do with the region that Flour Bluff is in.

“For whatever reason, the big D1 schools don't come south of San Antonio a lot. I think it's their perception of the style of football that we play,” Johnson said. “They feel like they need to prove themselves against the Austin and Houston areas.”

Despite the lack of attention that the two have received so far, Coach Johnson is confident that the duo will start receiving the attention they deserve sooner than later.

“These guys are just so intense and such good kids. They would never do anything to embarrass a program,” Johnson said. “They’re going to see a lot of late action, coaches are going to meet with them and realize that they can help their program.

Kadon Luke Highlights
Academics: 4.0 GPA, 1120 SAT, and 24 ACT

Javaris Lawson Highlights: