Dynamic Duo

Woods and Rogers Have Fought Through Adversity and Now Ready for Big Senior Seasons

By JEFF WICK

The Fayette County Record

Long before they were high school superstars piling up college recruiting offers, La Grange seniors Jaren Woods and Bravion Rogers were stars on a slightly smaller stage.

They used to be teammates in La Grange pee-wee football.

“I was the quarterback, he was the tight end,” laughed Rogers. “Jaren was the tallest guy on the team. I remember I used to get mad at him because he had some nice gloves and I wanted them. I’d throw the ball to him but he couldn’t catch it.”

Woods remembers things a little differently.

“Bravion back them was just a littler version of the athlete he is now,” Woods said. “Everybody wanted his speed. Everybody wanted to be him. But should he have been quarterback? No. I dropped those passes because I had to run so much for them. They were not good throws.”

The Leopard duo can laugh about good times in the past, and dream about even better times in the future.

Both longtime friends have emerged as some of the best players in the state.

Woods is a 6-foot-4, 265-pounder who will be starting on the offensive and defensive lines for the Leps.

Rogers is a 5-foot-10, 185-pound speedster, who is ranked the No. 4 cornerback prospect in the entire country. He will start at running back and cornerback for the Leps.

Woods has verbally accepted a scholarship offer to Baylor, picking them over offers from Vanderbilt, Auburn, Cal, U of H, North Texas, TCU, UT, Texas Tech and Yale.

“It felt like home,” Woods said of Baylor.

Rogers meanwhile, recently decommitted from A&M after verbally accepting a scholarship offer from the Aggies back in April. He’s got scholarship offers from 21 different top programs, including Alabama, USC, Georgia and LSU among others.

“I went to A&M and it felt like home, and I liked it,” Rogers said. “But I decommitted to just open up other opportunities and see what else is out there. A&M is still in the running for sure.”

Rogers had also visited Alabama and LSU on his own, but has yet to take any official visits paid for by the universities. He can take up to five of those. He said he plans to visit Alabama, LSU, A&M and hasn’t decided on the other two, and said he doesn’t plan to decide on a college until after the high school season.

“This is a dream come true, but when you get there (to college), it’s a business, so you have to make a good decision,” Rogers said.

Both Woods and Rogers have gotten to this stage in their careers by fighting through lots of adversity.

Woods’ mother, a single parent, died in 2019 as he was about to start high school. His dad lives in Alabama.

“I can’t imagine, losing the person that is most important in your life as an eighth grader and to overcome that,” La Grange head coach Matt Kates said. “For two or three months he didn’t even know where he was going to live. Fortunately for him he came back to La Grange and the Scott family (who Jaren lives with now) has been a Godsend for him.”

Woods has a whole new perspective now.

“It made me realize that nothing is promised in this world,” Woods said. “Don’t take anything for granted.”

Adversity came Rogers’ way in the classroom this spring, when, one year after going to the state track meet in three events, he failed a class and was ineligible.

“I learned I’ve got to take care of my business in that building (pointing to the high school) before anything over here at the field,” Rogers said.

“With both of them, I think you have to give a lot of credit to their teachers, the counselors, in helping get them towards the finish line, which is graduation,” Kates said. “It’s exciting when there is a lot of attention from college coaches in La Grange, Texas.”

With things in other aspects of their lives falling to place, Woods and Rogers are now excited about a fun senior season together with their Leopard teammates. This La Grange team could be the best in years.

“My goal is to just enjoy this time because after this season everybody’s going their separate ways,” Woods said. “And for the team, we went 7-5 last year, and I just want us to have a better record than we had last year. If that happens this year will be a success.”

And as good and Rogers and Woods have become, their best days are still ahead of them.

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