The lights shine down on the players dressed in purple and white as the energy from the crowd fills the W.W. Thorne Stadium. A familiar name will be on the roster.
As the Wildkats take on Aldine Davis Friday night, there will be many people looking upon the Lagway name as Jamal makes his varsity debut. The crowd will once again look to a Lagway to make big plays and impact the game.
Everyone in Willis and most of Texas knows DJ Lagway attends the University of Florida and is the starting quarterback. Before he graduated in 2024, he was named the Gatorade Football Player of the year. After graduation, he won multiple awards, including the Maxwell Award Watch List and multiple freshman All-American honors.
After setting such an impressive example, his brother Jamal Lagway is now following his brother’s lead. The brothers play different positions, but they are still always compared to each other. Although Jamal does not play quarterback, he is constantly compared to his brother.
“lt is different as they do not play the same position,” junior Jace Rainer said.
The brothers are both natural leaders.
“DJ and Jamal are both leaders on and off the field,” Coach Darryl Simons said. “DJ was an action leader, he was more quiet but led the team through actions. Jamal is a word leader. He is incredibly personable and always brings intense energy.”
Similar to Coach Simon’s opinion senior Eli Bracken sees Jamal’s leadership as his teammate.
“Jamal is a good leader especially in the locker room,” Bracken said.
Multiple of his teammates including senior Tyler Andrade, junior Preston Stephenson, junior Parker Stephenson and junior Jace Rainer all feel Jamal is an asset to the team.
“Jamal is incredibly encouraging and always energetic,” they all said.
Having a brother who has been successful in a sport can be a lot of pressure. Having to live up to expectations others might place on the last name can add to the expectations.
“Sometimes I feel like I have to be as good as DJ,” Jamal said. “It can be very stressful.”
As one of Jamal’s coaches, Simons knows what’s best as he has spent much time with Jamal on and off the field.
“Jamal shouldn’t feel pressure to be as good as DJ because he’s not DJ,” he said.
Despite already being on varsity, Jamal is only a sophomore. This can create unfair expectations considering Jamal is being compared to DJ, a sophomore in college, but Jamal has high hopes and goals for the future.
“I want to be a 5-star my senior year, have 10+ offers from colleges and play in the All American Bowl,” he said.
His teammates believe he has outstanding potential.
“I think he can grow because he has multiple years to improve,” Andrade said.
Jamal also believes that because of his brother he has a better advantage to play college ball.
” I think that I have more opportunities to be successful because of my brother’s example,” Jamal said. “I know the necessary steps to get recruited, as well as training opportunities with colleges and coaches,” He also said,” I would be grateful for any college to recruit me, as I don’t have a preference on where I go, just where I end up.”
