By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
MOUNT ULLA ó When practice began back in August, the West Rowan coaches said A.J. Little had the speed, instincts and athletic ability to be a consistent contributor to the four-time defending NPC champions.
The only thing Little lacked ó and perhaps the most important thing ó was confidence.
“We, as coaches, had more confidence in him that he did,” West head coach Scott Young said.
“A.J. always had the ability,” defensive coordinator David Hunt added. “It was a whether A.J. believed he had the ability.”
Little, a 5-foot-9, 145-pounder, admitted self-confidence was a problem ó until a 48-0 win over Carson in the seventh week of the season.
He ended one drive with an interception, one of three by the West secondary. From that point, Little has come up big.
“Since the Carson game, I’ve been playing well,” Little said. “I have a lot of confidence now.”
Just ask South Rowan, which was stifled to the tune of 56-7 last week. Little corralled two interceptions and now leads the county with five picks.
He returned one for a score, but it was called back due to a block in the back.
The other interception was an acrobatic, leaping grab of a Blake Houston pass that could make any highlight film.
“I just read it, saw the ball and went into the air and got it,” Little said.
“It was as pretty of an interception as you’ll see in high school,” Young said.
Little’s success makes him think of his brother, Tyrell, who was also a defensive back for West.
“I looked up to him,” the little brother said. “I still do. He was better than me. Way better.”
If A.J. continues at this pace, Tyrell may have to move over.
“It’s nice to see here lately the confidence beginning to grow,” Young said. “Carson tried to challenge him. He came up big. South tried to challenge him.”
Same results.
But this week is the real challenge.
Second-place Mooresville comes in playing for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. And West lost its leader in the secondary, Marco Gupton, to a knee injury.
“We’ll have to step up and play harder,” Little said.
Hunt likes the newfound confidence from his undersized cornerback.
“At first, he wasn’t sure he could take the physical nature of the game,” Hunt said. “A.J.’s still not one of those ‘I’m going to nail him in the nose’ kind of guys, but he reads routes fairly well and knows his responsibilities.”
Mooresville doesn’t pass much. Rather, it hands off frequently to Jjshaun Pinkston, who has over 2,000 yards rushing.
Will Little be keeping an eye on the Blue Devil runner?
“I’m not going to be looking at Pinkston,” he said. “I’m just going to do my job.”
And he hopes that Mooresville’s quarterbacks challenge him.
“My confidence level is going up,” Little said.
Along with his number of interceptions.