Hodges making mark on Warriors’ ‘D’
By Stuart Steele
MDJ Sports Writer
As a sophomore in 2021,
North Cobb linebacker G rayson
Hodges broke out.
He posted 96 tackles, second
on the team only to now-Tennessee
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linebacker Josh Josephs
and four sacks as a key member
of the Warriors’ defense.
“I j ust learned the defense
early, so I knew what I was doing
that way,” Hodges said. “I
got comfortable and just played
my game, did what I do best.”
Even with Josephs gone,
Hodges said he doesn’t feel his
role on the team has changed
going into his junior year.
“I feel it’s the same as last
year because I was a leader
of the defense last year,” he
said. “How I was the quarterback
calling out plays and all
that. Pretty much the same,
j ust older with guys looking
up to me now.”
Hodges said he’s been working
on improving his physical
attributes as well as his vision
this offseason.
“My speed and pursuit, being
able to be where I need to be
j ust all over the field, knowing
where. I already had good
vision, but I’m working on my
vision to make it even better.”
North Cobb coach Shane
Q ueen said that Hodges’ command
of the defense reminds
him of one of the all-time great
inside linebackers.
“He’s another coach on the
field,” Q ueen said. “He knows
where we’re supposed to be,
where we’re lined up, he gets
all the calls at middle linebacker
like Ray Lewis, he’s gotta
get all the checks. He reminds
me of somebody like that in
high school that studies film
and knows exactly what our
expectations are on defense.”
Hodges will be one of the primary
leaders for North Cobb’s
defense this fall along with senior
cornerback Q uentin Ajiero.
He said that even though the
team has high expectations and
works hard, it’s still a closeknit
group that knows how to
have fun.
“State is the expectation.
We’re going to do our best on
defense. I don’t want anybody
to score on us this year. Nobody.
V ery few yards,” Hodges
said. “O ur offense is going
to put up a lot of points. We
want to do our thing.”
“It’s like a family, we all get
along, it’s a bond,” Hodges
said. “We all hang out after
school, we’ll go out to eat or
j ust go to somebody’s house
and hang out at the pool. It’s
very family-oriented.”
Hodges said practices are very
competitive, and the defense
gets to see offensive talent it
likely won’t have to face in the
season, particularly quarterback
Malachi Singleton and
running back Ben Hall.
“It helps the defense out a
lot because we’re really not
going to face anything like
that,” Hodges said. “We’ll be
prepared for anybody coming
our way.”
Q ueen said Hodges’ work
ethic has impressed him both
on and off the football field.
“Coach Henghold had done a
good j ob with him. He brought
him up as a freshman and he
played against Lowndes in the
playoff game. Then he started
all season last year,” Q ueen
said. “He does the right thing
in the weight room, the classroom
and studying the game
from a film standpoint. He
plays fast, because he doesn’t
have to think a whole lot, he’s
seen it all week on film.”
Hodges said he hopes to
continue to play football at
the next level, but also has a
career path in mind for his
post-football life.
“I want to be a veterinarian
when I get older, I want to go
to a vet program, a school with
a vet program, that’s what I
want to do when I get older,”
Hodges said. “Since I was little,
I always wanted to be a
veterinarian.”
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