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There was no wrong time for Einstein's Malcolm Crockett to be on the football field this year.

Just a sophomore, the 170-pound athlete did so many things spectacularly in 2008, the Titans coaching staff simply couldn't keep him sidelined.

On offense, he became Montgomery County's breakout superstar, leading all ground-gainers with 1,506 yards. Defensively, he was almost as dynamic, finishing second on the squad with 70 tackles from a "rover" position specifically designed to take advantage of his versatility.

Even when he wasn't supposed to be on the field, Crockett found a way to flourish.

"No joke, us coaches came together [against Bethesda-Chevy Chase] and we said ‘We've got to get Malcolm off the field; he's on the field every play,'" said Einstein head coach Mike Bonavia. "We have a decent guy that returns punts and kickoffs and we'd kept him in, but he got hurt. So I said, ‘Okay Malcolm, you're going back there.' First punt return Malcolm takes to the house, 170 yards to run [61] yards. We look at ourselves like, ‘You stupid coaches. You could've had five of those."

You'd likely have to go back to record-breaking Sherwood quarterback Deontay Twyman — who finished the 2004 regular season as the county's leading passer — to find a sophomore year comparable to Crockett's.

Though young and not nearly finished filling out, he proved almost unstoppable after taking over full-time at halfback midway through the season for injured senior Terrance Love. Crockett logged consecutive 300-yard games against Northwood and Watkins Mill, topping 100 in five of his six starts.

Though he was projected mostly as a linebacker entering the fall, where he played as a freshman, Crockett's emergence wasn't entirely unexpected. While most of Einstein's roster is comprised of players who picked up the sport upon entering high school, according to Bonavia, Crockett has played organized football for roughly eight years.

Prior to his prep career, he starred on the highly-decorated White Oak Warriors of Pop Warner Youth Football, a team that has won five national championships since its inception in 2002.

White Oak alums have dominated the county scene in recent years, such as Twyman, two-time Gazette Player of the Year Melvin Harris, Rutgers safety Joe Lefeged and Quince Orchard senior/Maryland-commit Travis Hawkins. Crockett's uncle, Bryant Davis, is the commissioner of the league.

"It definitely helps you a lot," Crockett said. "I think people that don't know how to play, you can even tell in practice how much it [makes a difference] with their technique and form. If you start at a young age, by the time you get to high school, you know how to play."

Crockett was predictably named the team's Most Valuable Player at the Einstein awards ceremony, though not just for his gaudy stats.

"This kid is just a coach's dream," said Bonavia. "The most important thing with our program is, we're weeding out just the knuckleheads. Those days at Einstein are over. The best thing about Malcolm is he's, really, just such a good kid. You know sometimes the MVP; people think it should go to a senior. Uh-uh, it's about being productive with your time."

And even despite his MVP season, Crockett hasn't reached his potential, a scary prospect for Einstein opponents in the future. The Titans improved from three to five wins this season, but he plans to be the guy to push the program into the county's elite.

You wonder how much he can improve from the superstar numbers he put up this fall, but his attitude makes you think he will.

"I need to get better; I'm going to live in the weight room," he said. "I'm going to get a lot bigger. You know those plays where you almost break it but someone grabs your collar? Or where it's fourth-and-1, fourth-and-2 and you want to fall forward but you don't have the upper body strength to get that extra yard? I want to get stronger so that doesn't happen anymore."