Tuesday, March 15th, 2022
Otte to play football at Jacksonville State
By Gary R. Rasberry
Submitted Photo
Marion Local's Peyton Otte, center, committed as a preferred walk-on at Jacksonville State on Monday after leading Marion Local to a state title in 2021.
Peyton Otte is heading south and hoping to make an impact for a program that is moving up.
The Marion Local football standout will be attending Jacksonville State University in Florida as a preferred walk-on with the chance to earn a scholarship.
The Gamecocks entered Otte's vision through Dusty Rutledge, the former Parkway player and one-time head coach who serves as the football chief of state for new coach Rich Rodriguez.
"(Rutledge) contacted coach (Tim) Goodwin because they've been friends for a while," said Otte, who will be a pre-med major. "Coach Goodwin gave me his contact info. We had a conversation and they said they wanted me as part of the team. I went to down to visit, saw it and loved it down there. Made my decision right after that."
Jacksonville State has been a contender in NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision since 1995, finishing as national runner-up in 2015. In 2023, the Gamecocks will move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision and join Conference-USA.
Last season under former coach John Grass, JSU went 5-6 and 3-3 in the combined Atlantic Sun/Western Athletic Conference's AQ7 partnership. The Gamecocks' biggest win came early last season when they defeated Florida State in Tallahassee.
Now Rodriguez, who has coached at West Virginia, Michigan and Arizona, is getting the team ready for the jump to the next level.
"He's steering the program in the right direction. There's a lot of buzz on the campus," said Otte. "It's an exciting time to be a part of the team."
Otte brings a lot of options to Jacksonville State in terms of where to play. Otte was an All-Ohio wide receiver at sophomore before moving to quarterback for his senior season. At quarterback, Otte rushed for 1,445 yards and 22 touchdowns and passed for 1,482 and 12 scores as the Flyers went 16-0 and captured the program's 12th state title since 2000.
Defensively, Otte also excelled at cornerback, earning first team All-Ohio honors this past season at defensive back with 34 tackles and two interceptions.
"You have to earn everything you do," said Otte. "You do it through hard work, which is how our community is. I'll take that with me, along with everything I learned from the great coaching staff we have at Marion."
