NEW KID ON THE BLOCK, PASS, RUN TACKLE...: GOODSON CATCHES ON AT CENTRAL

JACKSON -- Ask Ray Goodson, and it took several months to be accepted as an Indian.

Ask Jackson coach Carl Gross, it was about five minutes.

Though the hour of acceptance may be perceived differently by player and coach, this fact remains: Goodson wasn't given respect.

He earned it.

"He didn't expect anything to be handed to him," Gross said of the 6-foot-5, 215-pound transfer from Ozark who is being recruited by some big NCAA Division I colleges and is coming off his best game of the year. "This guy didn't just show up to play. He showed up to work and play. Ray'll talk the talk sometimes, but he'll walk the walk. When Ray talks, people listen."

Goodson has been a key component of Jackson's success this season and is partly responsible for the Indians' No. 3 ranking in Class 5A and 7-0 record. With Goodson's speed and catching ability, he is able to burn teams if they try to key on running back Mario Whitney.

Goodson proved his value last week when he caught seven passes for 134 yards and intercepted a pass and returned it 71 yards deep into Hillsboro's territory during a 42-0 rout of the Hawks.

Plus shipping and handling

Goodson is as versatile as a Swiss Army knife.

On offense, he slices as a tight end, dices as a wide receiver and comes with a money-back guarantee as a wingback. On defense, he'll uncork an offensive player at three different positions -- outside linebacker, inside linebacker and defensive back. He'll line up in one spot and shift to another. He'll block, he'll catch and he'll run.

Given that Goodson plays so many positions and is such a valuable component of the team is remarkable considering he moved to Jackson just last January and has had to learn a new system in less than a year -- a system that is much different than the one he played as a Tiger.

Goodson said the difficulties started when he participated in camps during the summer. The Xs and Os seemed to change as new plays were added every week, and he said at first it was difficult to keep pace.

"It's a total 180-degree turn from over there," said Goodson. "All they did in Ozark was run, sometimes up to 40 times per game. Not only that, the routes here are totally different."

Then there was the issue of adjusting to a different coaching style and developing chemistry with the quarterback.

An honor student, apparently Goodson's intelligence spilled out of the classroom and onto the playing field and that was the reason he was able to succeed.

"He has a 150 IQ on the football field," Gross said. "The thing about him is that if he doesn't know, he'll ask questions. He wants to know and I appreciate that as a coach. I could bring him in this week and ask him to play fullback and he'd say OK coach, if that's where you need me.' He's very unselfish."

When asked what position Goodson is best suited for, Gross said, "He's pretty daggum good wherever we put him. I have college coaches ask me that and I tell them you'll have to figure that out.. Wherever you put him, you're putting a quality athlete there."

Work leads to respect

Goodson had more on his mind last January than just wrestling, learning six different positions on the football field and maintaining his grades. He also endured the growing pains of making new friends and adjusting to a new environment.

"Pete Ressler and Seth Harrell kind of took me under their wings," Goodson said. "They showed me the ropes."

Goodson felt uneasy, as could be expected, when he first moved from Ozark.

Despite his credentials -- he was an all-state performer in football, wrestling and track while attending 4A Ozark -- Goodson really didn't feel like one of the guys until summer.

When asked how he was treated initially, Goodson said "Not very well. When I first moved here, I didn't have many friends and some didn't take too kind to me. Plus I just kept to myself and didn't say much and I think that just made it worse."

But Gross said, "He's got that personality where everybody felt like they knew him five minutes after they talked to him. He may have perceived it differently, but I think everybody accepted him quickly."

However or whenever he was accepted, both Goodson and Gross agree that it was during summer workouts when Goodson went from the Ozark outsider to a Jackson chief. He's now a team leader.

Maybe it was because his teammates saw he could bench 320 pounds. Maybe it was because they saw he could run a 40-yard dash in 4.54 seconds. But likely, it was simply because they saw he worked just as hard as they did.

"Everyone admires him because he works so hard," Gross said. "He's 6-foot-5, 215 pounds and he looks like Tarzan. But the thing is, he works like Tarzan."

"At practice, I probably come off as a jerk," said Goodson. "I try to keep the guys up at practice, but during the game I don't say much to them. But we've got a lot of leaders on the team. I'm not the only one."

The next level

Goodson has received interest from some major NCAA Division I colleges in the Midwest, including Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Missouri and Arkansas.

He has already been offered a scholarship by Southeast Missouri State University, which is looking to improve its Division I-AA program.

But Goodson said he wants to concentrate on the task at hand, which is to help lead Jackson deep into the playoffs. He said he wants to visit campuses after the season before he makes any decisions.

Though he was named an all-state linebacker last year, Goodson admitted he's a better offensive player. And that's how he's being recruited.

"I'm not a real good defensive player," Goodson said. "Last year, I led the area in catches and yards, but I made all-state linebacker. Nobody knows exactly how that happened."

This year, Goodson is among the area's reception leaders. He has 17 catches for 343 yards and three touchdowns despite being the team's second option behind Whitney, another phenom who transferred to Jackson.

Back again

Goodson actually spent most of his life in Bloomfield. He moved to Ozark his freshman year of high school because his father's parents lived in Southwest Missouri.

He stayed at Ozark until this past January.

He also has a lot of family members in this part of the state. His father, Ray Sr., and his mother, Tammie, both graduated from Jackson. Most of his mother's relatives live in Southeast Missouri.

The Goodsons made the decision to move partly because they thought Ray would have a better chance at a scholarship at Jackson. His brother, Jared -- who also donned No. 19 -- played under Gross and graduated in 1992 as an all-conference and all-district performer, so the family knew what they'd be getting when they came back to Cape Girardeau County.

It's not like Goodson wanted to play for a better team. After all, Ozark is 4A's top-ranked squad and has been since Week 1, although Goodson thinks Jackson could beat Ozark if the two teams played right now.

But Goodson said he had some problems with the coaching staff at Ozark and he was ready to move.

"I was ready to come back," Goodson said. "I knew coach Gross because my brother played for him. I love playing football for coach Gross and I love wrestling for coach (Steve) Wachter.

"At Ozark, we were successful, but it wasn't a school known to send anyone to a Division I school. We knew Jackson's a 5A school and we knew coach Gross is good at getting people out."