Yang helping Rattlers to an undefeated start through three games

By Buck Ringgold

Chakong Yang has very vivid memories of the first game he played as a freshman at Magazine High School.

“I was kind of nervous because, you know, some kids were bigger than me and I was like kind of little,” he said. “But once I got into playing and getting used to it, then I wasn’t really that scared anymore.”

Yang is now a senior for the Rattlers, playing both running back and linebacker, and has started since that freshman year.

“Yeah, it is very hard to believe I’m a senior. … It’s just gone by really quick,” he said.

As a freshman, Yang went 5-foot-7 and weighed approximately 150 pounds.

Since then, he’s grown another inch and put on about 20 more pounds.

“Once I moved up (to varsity), it got more intense and people were better than you, so I had to like work pretty hard to get better,” Yang said.

It included the obligatory visits to the weight room and plenty of running. But Yang also lives on a farm, and doing duties around the farm also helped his football abilities.

“My parents always kept me on the farm,” he said. “So that’s why I’ve been getting kind of stronger.”

He is also the youngest of three brothers, with both his older brothers having played football, so Chakong always leaned on them for advice.

“They just kept telling me about movement and how to get stronger and also better footwork, all that stuff.”

Last season, Yang rushed for nearly 450 yards and scored two touchdowns. He’s primarily used as more of a fullback/blocking back type.

In his freshman season, Yang scored five TDs in a game against Hector, still a career high.

Yang, who finished with 71 tackles at linebacker as a junior, has liked how his senior year has gone so far. Magazine, which was picked to finish seventh in Conference 1-2A, won its first three games.

“We’re doing good right now; me and my team are working pretty hard, learning some new plays. … Yeah, it’s going pretty good right now,” he said.