By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

Fourth in a series of high school football reports …

SALISBURY — Will Salisbury still be Salisbury?

That’s going to be one of the most compelling story lines for Rowan County football this season.

In the last two seasons, the Salisbury record book for career and season stats had all the pages ripped out, got a complete overhaul courtesy of the fearsome foursome of JyMikaah Wells (Class of 2023), Mike Geter (2024) Deuce Walker (2024) and Jamal Rule.

In three seasons at quarterback, Geter broke the career school marks for total offense, passing yards and touchdown passes. Walker raised the bar at SHS for career receptions, receiving yards and TD catches. Wells smashed program records for career rushing yards and TDs before handing the baton to Rule, who followed him last fall and dazzled, breaking the school single-season records for rushing yards and touchdowns.

Geter and Walker both won Rowan County Male Athlete of the Year awards. They were special athletes and they were teens who carried themselves like men. They lifted their teammates. They frustrated opponents. When Geter and Walker received diplomas last spring, Salisbury head coach Clayton Trivett knew an era was ending, but he wasn’t worried. After all, he still had Rule to build a team around.

Then Rule left in June, transferring to Charlotte Christian and also reclassifying to the Class of 2026, so Charlotte Christian’s opponents are in for two tough seasons trying to deal with him.

Rule was the hub of Salisbury’s offense, the state’s leading rusher. He carried 274 times in 2023 and averaged 10 yards per carry … yes, 10 yards per carry.

Replacing Rule’s insane production, yardage and 39 touchdowns will be, to say the least, a challenge for the coaches and teammates he left behind.

Trivett is confident the Hornets, 12-1 a year ago and once again Central Carolina Conference champions, can handle that challenge. He’s looking forward to this season, even though the Hornets, who always have targets on their backs, also have subtracted 10 defensive starters.

Until the loss to Shelby in the third-round of the 2A playoffs, Salisbury was an overwhelming team a year ago. Statistically, the Hornets were one of the dominant squads in county history. Even with a parade of running-clock romps, they averaged 45 points per game. They allowed 9.5.

North Rowan was good. Salisbury beat North 55-14. So the Hornets were really good.

Trivett believes the total dominance of 2022 and 2023 can be a positive factor now.

“The last two years, most of our games got so out of hand that our backups got a lot of reps,” Trivett said. “So we’ve got a lot of guys who haven’t started before, but they’ve been on the field a lot more than normal backups. These guys have also gotten good reps in practice on teams that made playoff runs. We’ve still got a lot of good players in the program. I think people are looking at Salisbury and think we’ve got to be rebuilding now, and I hope they keeping thinking that, because we know better.”

The reloading plan calls for Hank Webb to be the new quarterback. A rangy athlete who also plays basketball and baseball, Webb has been mostly a receiver during his high school career (he has seven TD catches). But he also was Geter’s backup, taking snaps during a lot of running-clock action.

Webb is also the punter and the kicker and is getting college offers for those specialties.

“Hank has a strong arm,” Trivett said. “He’s not as fast as Geter, but he’s smart and he’s a sneaky athlete.”

Hez Krider, who got lots of mop-up carries a year ago after the Hornets pulverized teams, moves up to a starting role. Krider was no slouch. He had 40 carries for 282 yards and three TDs in 2023.

“Great kid who works hard and he’s had a really good summer,” Trivett said.

Jamantay Cox and Jay’lin Johnson also will get carries. Johnson, who has track speed, is also one of the slot receivers. Johnson had two TD runs and a TD catch a year ago.

The receiving corps also includes Macari House, Josh Allen, Evan Koontz, Jaylyn Smith, Bennie Howard, Arel Long and David Shankle. House made 17 catches for 220 yards last season and caught a TD pass. Koontz had six catches.

Trivett, who was an offensive lineman at Catawba, likes the Hornets’ offensive line. They’re in a good situation there with seven starter-level guys for the five spots. Sophomore Hunter Franklin probably will be the center. Tackles are Bo Brincefield, Josh Burns and Tonydale Pagan. Guards are Isaiah Blackwell and Malik Williams. Landon Tucker can play center or guard.

Trivett points out that the Salisbury jayvees have lost only one game during the last four years, so there’s talent and depth in the program, guys who have been waiting for their opportunity to start on defense.

Ny’Gel Eliott has played quite a bit. He and A’Marion Pruitt will be counted on as run-stuffing interior linemen. Syerre Walker is expected to start at the critical position of nose guard.

Defensive ends include Cox, Keial Matthews and Ayvalon Cruse.

The inside linebacker crew includes Emmanuel Asare, Inagi Rustin-Godfrey and Samarion Collins.

Da’Rrius Jefferies will be a player to watch as the “Hornet,” a combination outside linebacker/safety.

Safety Bennie Howard is one of the most recognizable names on this season’s roster because he was an interception waiting to happen last fall. Howard had eight picks and was a state leader in that category,   even though he didn’t start. That’s one of the highest interception totals in school history.

“Bennie played 30 percent of the snaps,” Trivett said.

The corners are expected to be Torian Brown, the lone returning starter from last season’s knockout  defensive unit, and Zahir Brown.

Bryce Dalton, a basketball standout, is making a football comeback and was with the Hornets for all of their summer activities. He could be a difference-maker.

“We’ve been trying to get him out here for a while,” Trivett said.

Dalton is a safety. Ephraim Williams and Brooklyn Jones-Casey are also in the safety mix.

Jackson Sparger, a backup receiver and safety, is the long snapper.

Jason Moore is the new offensive coordinator. He was hired after Darius Robinson moved on to take the head coaching job at Charlotte’s Berry Academy. Wesley Jackson returns as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Also returning on the coaching staff are Tay Little (defensive backs), Matthew Hogrefe and Jeff Burton (defensive line), Garrison Jones (offensive line), Ryan Watts (receivers) and Bennie Raindrop (running backs).

While most of the names in the starting lineup are new and some of the familiar faces are in different roles, the Hornets are confident of another winning season. There are schools that almost have forgotten how to win. The Hornets almost have forgotten how to lose. They haven’t had a losing season since 2016 and they are 56-8 the last five seasons.

“I do think that helps us a lot,” Trivett said. “Our guys have had success and their expectations are high.”