Blocton signing ceremony reiterates Auburn as the choice
Malik Blocton will officially sign a scholarship with Auburn on Dec. 20 but held a special ceremony at Pike Road High School on Monday. (Tim Gayle)
By TIM GAYLE
PIKE ROAD -- Signing day is still a few days away and Malik Blocton will be in Mississippi the rest of the week getting ready for the annual Alabama-Mississippi All Star Game, so the Pike Road senior decided to hold a signing ceremony at the school on Monday morning before he left.
“This was really special, just to see everybody come out and support me,” Blocton said.
The school library was packed with teammates, friends and supporters, an indication of Blocton’s popularity as the leader of a football team that reeled off 11 consecutive wins to reach the 6A semifinals before falling at Saraland.
“I am extremely proud of the man that he is,” Pike Road coach Granger Shook said. “I think … he’s exceeded the expectations of a lot of people. What’s so impressive to me about Malik is he still has so much more to do. He is just getting started. I know that Malik is one of the main reasons why we had the success we had this year. Malik bought into a new staff (and) Malik bought in, on and off the field.”
The assembly already knew where Blocton was going -- his brother, Marcus Harris, is a standout defensive lineman for Auburn University and Blocton committed to the Tigers back in the summer -- but he still went through the motions of donning an Auburn baseball hat for his signing ceremony.
The official early signing period is on Dec. 20, but Blocton will spend the rest of the week in Mississippi for the all-star game before the school goes on Christmas break. And because he was enrolling early at Auburn on Jan. 10, he couldn’t wait and sign in February.
“I talked to (one of the coaches) at my house last night,” Blocton said of the all-star game. “He said this is a business trip. You’ve got to go out there and show out every day because there’s going to be a lot of media down there and a lot of eyes on you. There’s still question marks around my name so I’m trying to go up there and show I’m one of the best.”
There shouldn’t be many question marks for anyone that watched him play this year. He led the Patriots in solo tackles (65), total tackles (118), tackles for loss (30) and sacks (14), while forcing one fumble, recovering two more and returning an interception for a touchdown against Homewood in the second round of the playoffs.
“He played for four defensive coordinators in four years,” Pike Road defensive coordinator Cory Lee said, “and there’s a lot you have to get in, in a short period of time when that happens. Malik was doing a lot of things for us on the field, taking over games like an SEC player is supposed to. The one thing Malik does better than I’ve seen anybody do in my coaching and playing years is the way he’s able to play with his hands.”
Auburn still has a game left to play in the Music City Bowl, but Blocton said he liked what he saw from the Auburn defense and believes he can make an impact with the Tigers next fall.
“I feel like I can make an impact pretty quick,” he said. “I love what I’m seeing out of Auburn. We’re just a couple of players away and I feel like out of this class, my ‘24 class, we’ve got those players that are game changers. We’ve got to come in, play early and make a difference.”