By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Salisbury’s football game at East Rowan on Friday was barely under way, but it only took one snap for head coach Clayton Trivett to know he’d found a linebacker.

“Samarion Collins made one of those hits that you can hear on the sideline,” Trivett said. “And then you hear the crowd go, ‘Ooooooh!’ So they heard it too.”

Collins, known as “Porkchop” to his coaches and teammates, is shorter than the average linebacker at 5-foot-6, 176 pounds, but he packs a punch.

“I had some good hits, that early one on the quarterback, yeah, I could hear our fans yelling,” Collins said. “I had another good hit later on a running back, just by being where I was supposed to be, filling a gap.”

Collins is the younger brother of Saderion Robinson, the massive young man (6-1, 340) who was a human roadblock at nose guard for the Hornets last season.

“I think Saderion got all the height in the family,” Collins said with a laugh.

Collins was a jayvee running back as a sophomore and was promoted to play some H-back for the varsity in last season’s playoffs.

He turned in a solid summer, did well in the 7-on-7 scrimmages, but the Hornets were in good shape at running back.

“We didn’t know exactly where he would fit in, but we were pretty sure he was going to be a good football player,” Trivett said.

After Salisbury (2-1) lost 47-33 to Walkertown, the Hornets re-examined their defensive personnel. One of the changes made for the East game was inserting Collins as a starting linebacker.

“Coach (Wesley) Jackson, our defensive coordinator, phoned me Friday and told me I was going to start against East Rowan,” Collins said. “I was excited the rest of the day. I’ve played in varsity games, but starting a game is different. It just felt different to walk out there as a starter.”

Opportunity knocked. Collins answered the door. He’ll start again this week.

“He’s not tall, but he’s a thick kid and he played downhill,” Trivett said. “For his first varsity start, he did very well. He was physical. He showed us he’s not afraid to hit anyone.”

East (0-3) is struggling, but Salisbury still had an impressive bounce-back performance. East totaled 3 passing yards, negative rushing yards and no first downs.

“We played the way we’re supposed to play,” Collins said. “I didn’t realize East didn’t make a first down until later on, but that means we all did our jobs.”

While the Hornets’ Labor Day loss at home to Walkertown was a surprise, mostly because the Hornets routed Walkertown a year ago, Walkertown (3-0) is probably better than people realize and is starting to appear in some rankings.

“Well, they beat us and Forest Hills in the same week,” Trivett said. “So I’d say Walkertown is pretty good.”

Worried about more weather issues, the Hornets have moved this week’s varsity game with a talented Person squad up to Thursday at 7 p.m. Person (3-0) is making a long trip from Roxboro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

saderion robinson