VIDALIA — As soon as he was allowed to play football, Vidalia High School’s Garrett Rehms made sure to get started.

But the Vikings’ tight end and defensive end makes sure his grades don’t slip during football season. Rehms currently has a 3.9 GPA and scored a 22 on the ACT.

When it comes to the balancing act of sports and academics, Rehms said it’s just a matter of doing whatever it takes to stay caught up in school.

“I just do what I’ve got to do,” Rehms said. “I do as much as I can in school, and if takes staying up until 12 a.m., I’ve just got to do it sometimes.”

Early in his playing career, Rehms was strictly a defensive player, though he wasn’t always a defensive end.

“Third grade was the earliest they allowed me to play, and I’ve been playing ever since,” Rehms said. “I played linebacker at first, but the past three or four years I’ve been playing defensive end and tight end.”

Rehms said he’d pick defense if he had to choose between offense and defense, but he enjoys playing both ways.

“I doesn’t really matter to me,” Rehms said. “Defense is what I like to do, but I like them both. Football is football.”

Defense involves a lot of quick reactions as the play is forming, Rehms said, and trying to pressure the quarterback is no easy task.

“You have to find the ball and go to it,” Rehms said. “You can’t miss tackles, and if it’s coming your way, you have to make a play.

“With pressuring the quarterback, it depends on if the tight end is on your side, because he’s usually quicker and a little tougher to get past.”

But offensive linemen are no slouches either, Rehms added.

“They’re all going to be a challenge, because they’re varsity football players,” he said. “You just have to work harder than them and doing everything you can do get into the backfield.”

Rehms also enjoys the hitting aspect of defense.

“Instead of just blocking someone, you get to hit and tackle,” Rehms said.

In school, Rehms said math is his best subject, simply because it comes more naturally to him than other subjects.

“It’s not that I like it so much as it’s just easier,” Rehms said

Even though he’s an athlete, Rehms said the teachers at Vidalia don’t show him or his teammates any favoritism.

“They expect us to get the work done like everyone else,” Rehms said. “If you can play, you can get the work done. You’re not an athlete-scholar, you’re a scholar-athlete.”

Rehms is the son of Jerry and Stephanie Rehms.