How TaQuon Marshall spent his bye week

Georgia Tech quarterback TaQuon Hall with the Waverly Hall Yellow Jackets October 7, 2017. (Special to the AJC)

Georgia Tech quarterback TaQuon Hall with the Waverly Hall Yellow Jackets October 7, 2017. (Special to the AJC)

Georgia Tech quarterback TaQuon Marshall has spoken fondly of Harris County and the support that he has received from family and friends there.

Saturday, he repaid the love.

Back home during the Yellow Jackets’ open date and the school’s fall break last week, Marshall spent part of his Saturday watching youth football games and talking with players.

A photo of Marshall posing with the five- and six-year-old Waverly Hall Yellow Jackets made its way around social media as delighted parents shared the image of their sons posing with this fall’s most famed Yellow Jacket. (Full disclosure: The reporter has a nephew on the team.)

“Taking time out to speak to kids and tell them they can achieve their goals was awesome. All the kids were so happy to see TaQuon,” Jason Brown, a coach of the Waverly Hall team, said in a text message. “This was HUGE! Let’s think about this for a second. ... TaQuon had an off weekend from football in Atlanta and decided to come all the way back to little ole Harris County to speak to kids. WOW! What a class act and just a great person!”

Marshall himself was once a Waverly Hall Yellow Jacket, a small town in Harris County, about 75 miles southwest of Atlanta. Marshall, from Hamilton, made his loyalty to the county clear following his breakout game in the season-opening loss to Tennessee.

“We’re a very small town, everybody knows everybody,” Marshall said. “It was awesome getting a lot of text messages and Instagram messages and stuff from them showing that they’re supporting me and they have my back the whole way. So it was very exciting.”

Marshall will have an appointment of differing significance this Saturday. Tech will play at No. 11 Miami.