
Photo by Erin Nelson.
Vestavia’s Jake Levant (44) tackles Hewitt-Trussville’s Cade Carruth (16) during a gamebetween Vestavia Hills and Hewitt-Trussville on Oct. 4, at Husky Field at Hewitt-Trussville Stadium inTrussville. The Rebels defeated the Huskies 19-14.
Jake Levant has numerous scholarship offers to play college football, but an injury during his freshman season propelled him to new heights.
He was able to play one game during his freshman season with the Vestavia Hills High School football team before injury struck.
Levant was unable to get out of bed for two weeks and was off the field for six months after suffering a compound fracture in his right tibia bone near his knee.
He said his injury put the game he has played since the second grade in perspective.
“The injury made me realize how much I loved and missed football and that I had definitely taken it for granted,” Levant said. “I still have a herniated muscle on the front of my shin from the surgery, which reminds me not to take the game for granted.”
The Rebels are off to a 5-2 start this year with Levant leading the defense, which has allowed only 13.3 points per game through Oct. 11. Levant started the year as a defensive end, but because of an injured teammate, he has since moved to inside linebacker. He has also earned a few carries on offense in short-yardage situations.
Levant has verbally committed to Tulane University in New Orleans, but he has offers from schools such as UAB, Harvard, Columbia, Yale and many others. Levant said his speed, size and football instincts are what attracted schools to recruit him.
Levant, who is 6-foot-1 and 222 pounds, also boasts an ACT score of 34.
Special teams and defensive end coach Brent Welborn said Levant’s understanding of the game is special.
“I’ve coached for 24 years, and he’s as good as I’ve been around,” Welborn said. “He understands and executes concepts. It’s hard to change from a defensive end to linebacker and learn to call a defense. He’s been able to handle that.”
Levant chose Tulane because of its balance of football and academics. He said he is ready for the challenge Division I football brings, but he said getting an education will help him more in the long run.
But until his time as a college athlete comes, Levant is focused on winning at Vestavia. The Rebels have not been in a playoff game since 2015, and Levant wants to change that.
“Nobody on our team has ever seen Vestavia make the playoffs since we’ve been in high school,” he said. “I was in the eighth grade the last time Vestavia made the playoffs, so our whole team, and specifically our seniors, want that kind of success more than anything.”
Levant’s ultimate goal is to do something Vestavia hasn’t done since 1998 — win a state championship.
“Our goal since the week after our last game last year has been to win a state championship,” he said. “It’s an incredibly difficult task and something that hasn’t been done in Vestavia in awhile. But we all believe that we have outworked and invested more than any other team in the state. We’re just hoping that God can bless us with that type of success. But until then, we know the most important game is the one in front of us every week.”