High school football: Golden Rule
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 5, 2023
Salisbury's Jamal Rule 23 breaking through a hole in the line. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Jamal Rule 23 dives over the goal line for his first TD of the night with East's Joe Burleyson 18 trying to make the stop. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Macari House blocks for Jamal Rule. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Deuce Walker 1 scoring a TD after a pass reception. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury' s kicker Hank Webb 12 kicking off. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury Hank Webb 12 scoring a TD after a pass reception. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Jaylin Graham-Taylor 4 returns an interception for an early Salisbury TD. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Jaylin Graham-Taylor 4 returns an interception for an early Salisbury TD. He celebrates with DJ Adams 8 photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's 15 returning a punt.. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Saderion Robinson 77 controls the middle of the line with East's Brandon Grooms 72. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury QB Mike Geter 2 hands off to Jamal Rule 23. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury 's Jamal Rule 23 off to the races.. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
East Rowan's Gavin Walker 14. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
East Rowan's 7 photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
East Rowan's Jaden Reid 44 returns an interception for a long TD. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
East Rowan's Carter Honeycutt 31 kicking an extra point. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury' s 15 returning a punt. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury' s Deuce Walker 1 running after a pass reception with East's Parker Yelton 8. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Coach Clayton Trivett. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Coach Clayton Trivett. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
East's Coach John Fitz. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury' s Dashawn Brown 5 making a tackle on East's Gavin Walker 14 photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
East's Gavin Walker 14 hands off to 25 who has the ball under his arm. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury kicker Hank Webb 12 kicking extra point with 10 as holder. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Emmanuel Asare 25 prepares to tackle East's QB Will Klingler 2. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Jamal Rule 23 and East's 9. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's QB Mike Geter 2. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's big defensive lineman Saderion Robinson 77. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
An East Rowan pass was just out of the reach for AJ Goodman 24 with Torian Brown 18 covering. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
East's QB Will Klingler 2. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's Deuce Walker 1. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
A moment of silence as East player Josh Payne was taken to the hospital from the field. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury and East Rowan Players gather together on one knee for a moment as East player Josh Payne was taken to the hospital from the field. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
Salisbury's football runs onto the football field. photo by Wayne Wayne Hinshaw, for the Salisbury Post
By David Shaw
For the Salisbury Post
SALISBURY — Good luck trying to catch up with Salisbury’s Jamal Rule these days.
The junior running back was the fastest player on the fastest team Friday night at Ludwig Stadium — where he rushed for 276 yards and made five end zone appearances before making an even swifter, post-game exit.
“He isn’t here. He’s already gone,” a teammate bellowed across the clamorous SHS locker room, just moments after the unbeaten Hornets dropped a 59-7 anvil on visiting East Rowan. “He probably had somewhere to go.”
Rule is certainly going places. With the acceleration of a Maserati and a few Globetrotter moves at his disposal, he’s emerged as Rowan County’s most productive ball carrier this season. In three lopsided Salisbury triumphs, he’s racked up 621 yards by land and another 61 through the air — including the 9-yard spiral he caught from cerebral quarterback Mike Geter on the game’s fifth play from scrimmage. He’s averaging better than 200 yards per game and 11.1 per rushing attempt, fueling what’s already become a 10-touchdown season. Stats like that ain’t cat food, folks.
“When Jamal’s running like that,” Geter said after tossing his third, fourth and fifth TD passes, “he’s not going to stop. You won’t catch him.”
Opponents and small-town reporters have learned Rule has two speeds — fast and see-ya-later. After Friday’s debacle, losing coach John Fitz was asked a casual, uncomplicated question and his answer was light-shedding.
“Is Salisbury that good?” he responded. “They’re that athletic. It’s hard for me to say because we didn’t challenge them enough tonight, but they’re very good. They’re fast at running. We’re not.”
No one was faster than Rule, the 185-pound dynamo who first appeared on radar as a hopeful sophomore a year ago. It was early in a Week 3 rock fight in Granite Quarry, where he was unexpectedly called to active duty following an injury to all-county running back JyMikaah Wells. At the time, Rule saw the opportunity as an open window and scurried through it.
“He got his chance that night and made the most of it,” said teammate Deuce Walker, a menacing defender and velvet-handed receiver. “He took off and he’s still going. And now it’s his time to shine.”
Rule zigged and zagged his way for 159 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown in his first prominent appearance that fateful evening last September, then formally introduced himself a week later by slashing for 226 yards and two scores in a 41-0 beatdown at South Rowan. Wells returned in Week 5, relegating Rule to a supporting role, despite his leading man performance.
“He’s a special player,” gushed Clayton Trivett, a front-row witness as Salisbury’s second-year coach. “We knew last year, when he backed up JyMikaah, how special he could be. He keeps showing us what he can do. And that’s all it is. He’s waited for his opportunity and here it is.”
Rule is always one good block from jetting into the secondary, then whirling away from would-be tacklers. A dozen times against East, he sent defenders tumbling like bowling pins on double-digit runs. His longest was a 51-yard burst into the end zone that turned the match into a mismatch and triggered a running clock with 3:14 remaining in the third quarter.
“He had what?” questioned center Anthony Young, the compact senior who looks like he could bench press the concession stand. “You wanna know why? Because he was running behind me and this OL. He’s a hard runner, a rock dude, and shaky. The first tackler is always going to miss him. It takes more than one man to put him down. He’s like (NFL free agent) Leonard Fournette, the way he runs through people hard.”
Even Geter, the steadfast signal-caller with more than 3,000 passing yards and 88 career touchdowns, got caught up in the Jamal Rule worship service. “He’s more of a Derrick Henry type,” he said with a smile. “A guy who goes out and gets it done.”
Perhaps a word of caution is needed here. Before we christen Rule as the best thing since Wonka bars, bear in mind he’s an 11th-grader who operates behind a unit that’s tough, strong and dependable — traits that make a good pickup truck and even better offensive line. Listen to right tackle Antonio Young: “For a junior, he’s a good leader who goes 100 percent every time. As a runner, he’s a dog. He’s just really good — and he’s getting better.”
So while third-ranked Salisbury continues to play Whac-a-Mole with weekly precision, Rule quietly spends his Friday nights reading blocks, finding holes and watching his star ascend. That’s something even he can’t run from.
