Family run business
1,000-yard rushers, Davis brothers help leadway for Katy
Jalen and Seth Davis are making the most of their first, and perhaps only, chance to share a backfield.
The brothers, both running backs, are key players in what has been another deep postseason run for Katy, which on Saturday will try to reach its 15th state championship game. The Tigers meet Buda Hays at 2 p.m. at Waco’s McLane Stadium in the Class 6A Division II semifinals.
Jalen and Seth each surpassed 1,000 yards rushing in the first quarter of the same playoff game this year. Jalen did it on a 63yard touchdown run, and Seth followed suit on a 47yard score in a 60-7 arearound win over Lamar.
It’s doubly impressive at a school with a tailback lineage few can match. Two playoff rounds later, the senior Jalen (1,298 yards and 22 touchdowns) and sophomore Seth (1,456 yards and 14 touchdowns) are still piecing together a season to remember.
“It was exciting,” Seth said after the win over Lamar. “I’m happy I get to do it with my brother. It’s going to pay off later.”
This isn’t a case of ubercompetitive brothers trying to one-up each other. They’re enjoying the moment.
When Jalen took his first steps in football, Seth wasn’t far behind.
“We’d gethomefromflag football, and Seth would take his bottle, turn it upside down and start kicking it like it was a football,” said the brothers’ father, Don Davis.
The brothers’ careers blossomed in the Fort Bend Youth Football League with the New Territory Knights, but the two years separating them kept Jalen, now18, and Seth, 16, from playing in the same age group.
They might have missed the chance to finally play with each other this season, too. Former Pearland fourstar senior running back Brandon Campbell originally transferred toKaty before deciding to sit out the 2020season. Sethwas a viable candidate in the search for depth at running back, but Katy coach Gary Joseph wondered if the sophomore could hold up at the varsity level, considering his 5-6, 150-pound frame.
“Then the first game he played this year, he showed some flashes against Clear Springs,” Joseph said. “All of a sudden, he started gaining confidence. And the second game of the year, I think Jalen was hurt, and Seth just took over.”
No one is happier about Seth’s rise than his older brother.
“I always knew he was capable,” said Jalen, a BlueGrey All-American drawing interest from San Jose State and Stephen F. Austin, among others. “He just needed to get that confidence. Once he got it, itwas over. I’m glad to share the backfield with him.”
Ask Joseph, and he’ll tell you divvying up the workload between the interchangeable brothers is the biggest coup. Jalen has only two games this season with 20-plus carries, and Seth has none, allowing them to stay fresh.
Don Davis also is excited at seeing his sons share arguably the most physically demanding position in the game. He credits the coaches for instilling the team concept in the duo. Neither cares who gets the credit.
Perhaps Jalen and Seth were destined to become a running back tandem. Don played fullback at San Antonio Marshall in the early 1990swhen former NFL AllPro Priest Holmes was punishing defenses. Don also played in the National Indoor Football League with the Waco Marshals.
Don considers Jalen a running back’s running back. The senior embraces contact and creates rushing lanes. Seth is a patient runner. The game comes to him.
The brothers have plenty of differences in how they approach life off the field, too, which plays a part in their success on it.
Jalen’s mother, Latrisha Gray, is Choctaw. Don says Jalen’s personality reflects much from that Native American culture; he is even-keeled and would rather go outside than be a homebody. Seth’s mother, MicheleDavis, is Panamanian. Don says one might often find his younger son spending free time with family.
Don doesn’t take watching his sons play together for granted but he says it isn’t much different than watching them train together, play video games together and grow up together in general. They’ve always been on the same team in his eyes.
Team Davis.
But Don can envision a time down the road, perhaps when his sons are in college, that would leave any parent conflicted.
“It’s when they’ll end up playing against each other,” the father said. “That’s when it’ll hurt.”