By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — The Elijah of the Old Testament was a miracle worker who stopped the rain and brought down fire from the heavens.

North Rowan’s Elijah doesn’t perform miracles, just hard work. He’s one of the Cavaliers who has gotten better every week of the season and he’s one of the reasons they’re still playing in the third round of the 1A state playoffs.

“He’s become a really excellent player, no doubt about that,” said North head coach Josh Sophia. “Improvement every week. In our two playoff games, he’s been all over the place. He’s a big guy, but he’s an athletic guy.”

Jefferies is easy to spot on the field. He checks in at 6-foot-4, 305 pounds.

He’s versatile and can play either of the interior defensive line positions. He can play nose guard or the “3 technique.” That’s a defensive tackle who lines up on the outside shoulder of an offensive guard.

The Cavaliers (10-2) began this season with the idea of employing  their bigger and better linemen both ways, but eventually the decision was made to let players focus on one side of the ball or the other. That allowed Jefferies to devote himself to defense. He still may appear on offense occasionally in short-yardage and goal-line situations, but basically he’s a defensive guy now.

“Trying to play both ways, guys were getting gassed,” Sophia said. “This has worked out well for us. It’s one of the reasons we’ve gotten a lot better upfront as the season has progressed.”

Jefferies had two sacks and another tackle for loss in North’s 49-34 win against Corvian Community School in the second round of the playoffs.

“I think it was a good decision to let me focus on defense,” Jefferies said. “I’ve been able to make a lot more plays. I’ve got more energy.”

Jefferies is a recognizable name in Rowan athletics.

Louis Jefferies Jr. and his younger brother Romus, the sons of a World War II veteran who became a minister, were legendary Dunbar Tigers in football and basketball in the 1960s.

Louis Jr. went on to play basketball at Johnson C. Smith and Barber-Scotia, while Romus was such a football standout at Livingstone that he is in the Salisbury-Rowan Sports Hall of Fame.

Elijah has heard all the stories about his famous relatives from back in the day, but the former player who has meant the most to him is his uncle, Wesley Jefferies, who was a standout lineman for North Rowan eight years ago and played college football all over the country. Sophia likes to joke with Wesley that he was the first player ever to have a 14-year college career.

Wesley did have quite an odyssey. He played for college programs in California, North Dakota, Minnesota and Mississippi. Now he’s an assistant coach with the Cavaliers.

“Wesley has been training me ever since I started playing football my freshman year,” Elijah said. “He’s helped me a lot. There have been a lot of athletes in the family, and I’m doing my best to keep that tradition going.”

That means improving every week.

That also means putting solid plays on film for college coaches because he hopes to play next-level football.

“I’ve gotten better with my assignments and my alignments as the season has gone along,” Jefferies said. “We’re doing a much better job of stopping the run now. I’ve helped clog things up. I’m helping our linebackers make the tackles.”

Fourth-seeded North hasn’t lost to a 1A team this season. It appears that Mountain Heritage (10-2) will be the best 1A the Cavaliers have seen, even better than Thomasville.

Mountain Heritage is a running team. Jefferies will be in there trying his best to clog things up, so that linebackers Khor’on Miller and Jeremiah Alford can make the stops.

No miracles. Just another tough lineman doing his job.