By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — There were summer days when South Rowan defensive end Ashton Frampton ate five meals, woke up in the middle of the night — and ate again.

Frampton has gone from being a 160-pound defensive end who was getting pushed around to being a 200-pounder who plans to do the pushing.

And shoving.

His opening night was impressive — 12 tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble — in a 21-17 South road victory against Union Academy.

“He’s always been a tough kid, but he became a weight-room junkie and now he’s also the strongest guy on our team,” South head coach Chris Walsh said. “Ashton and our other defensive end, Bryan Velasquez, played sensational games on Friday. They made plays. They were tireless.”

Frampton, the grandson of Carl Ford, who has broadcast many South Rowan games over the years, has been on the varsity for a while. He was called up as a sophomore when he was 5-foot-8, 150 pounds. He took his licks, but he kept coming back for more.

Frampton held his own as a still-undersized junior, but he decided to make some changes after Carson blasted the Raiders 54-30 to end the 2023 season.

“I could see how upset our seniors were after we lost that game, and I knew my last ride in high school football was coming up,” Frampton said. “I made up my mind I was going to do everything I could to be as good a player as I could be. I really wanted to make an impact as a senior, so I hit it hard in the offseason.”

A lot of people talk the talk about getting after it, but Frampton walked it. The weight room became his home away from home. South could have charged him rent.

“I lifted three hours a day, six or seven days a week,” Frampton said. “I’d eat four or five meals a day. Lots of protein shakes.”

By working out the free weights while simultaneously turning the family refrigerator into a revolving door, Frampton succeeded at a physical transformation —from 160 to 200 pounds of muscle in a matter of months.

“I got a lot stronger, but I also got more explosive,” Frampton said. “Last Friday night, honestly, I felt like a completely different person on the field.”

South got in a 10-0 hole. Penalties piled up. Turnovers happened. Not much went right for a while.

“Brooks (Overcash) had four interceptions, but two were on tipped balls, crazy balls that went straight up in the air like volleyball sets,” Walsh said. “Another one, the ball goes right through the hands of our  receiver. But we’ve got veteran guys. They knew we were messing up, and they knew they had to do a better job, and they did. Union Academy is no joke. They’ve got that handful of special guys who can beat you.

South wound up winning the game, with the defense contributing mightily. Walsh gave a shoutout to all the defensive coaches.

While Frampton had two sacks, he figures his best play came against the run.

“They have a stud running back (Eli Williams) and they ran a toss outside,” Frampton said. “Right before he got to the sideline, he was breaking down, and I took a swipe at the ball. I knocked it loose and (safety) Zach Barham recovered it. It turned out to be a big play because our offense scored off of that  turnover.”

It’s a play Frampton probably wouldn’t have been able to make last season, but he’s a different person now.

“He’s changed a lot of stuff,” Walsh said. “He’s really strong, really focused. We’ve had a lot of guys buy in to what we’re doing, and I’d say he’s bought in hard.”