By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — Salisbury High senior Jelani Ziyad was in class when he was summoned to the office of head football coach Clayton Trivett.

Ziyad wasn’t sure exactly what he’d done wrong, but soon he found out that that he’d been called to the office not because he’d messed up but because he’d been doing everything right.

“There was a visitor in coach’s office, an assistant line coach from Wingate,” Ziyad said. “He told me Wingate wanted to get me down there for a visit as soon as possible. He was telling me about all the things Wingate had to offer.”

Ziyad did make that visit to Wingate, he liked everything he saw, and he was one of the National Signing Day recruits announced by the Bulldogs. He picked Wingate over Winston-Salem State, a school he visited the week before he toured the Wingate campus.

The sturdy, 275-pound defensive tackle had been to a camp at Wingate, and he believes that’s what put him on the Bulldogs’ radar.

Ziyad explained that he’s getting a partial athletic scholarship and he’s also getting a stack of academic scholarships because he’s an excellent student who plans to major in journalism and mass communications.

“I’ll have a chance to earn more athletic money each year,” Ziyad said.

Ziyad might do that. He’s come an awfully long way in the past year. He wasn’t a starter until his senior year of high school, and he understands how unusual his situation is. He feels blessed. He’s thankful for the Salisbury coaching staff and for the strides he made with the Hornets. He intends to make the most of his college opportunity.

Ziyad began high school at West Rowan, following his older brother, Qadree Ziyad, who had been a strong player for the Falcons and had moved on to play college football at Lenior-Rhyne.

But things didn’t work out for the younger Ziyad at West. He transferred to Salisbury prior to his junior year, but that move didn’t pay off right away. Salisbury was better than he realized, and the guy in front of him at defensive tackle was very special. That was Anthony Dodd, who would be voted Central Carolina Conference Lineman of the Year.

So Ziyad, who had entertained visions of stardom, instead had to accept a backup role.

“Our defensive coordinator Wesley Jackson was really important to me during that time, and I think owe more to him than anyone,” Ziyad said. “He told me my time would come and to keep working hard and not get down on myself. He told me to watch everything that Anthony Dodd did and to learn from it. Watching Anthony, I realized I wasn’t strong enough, didn’t use my hands well enough, wasn’t good enough.”

Not long after Salisbury’s 2022 season ended, Ziyad went to work on making sure that he would be good enough when the 2023 season arrived.

He got in the weight room that off-season and changed his body. He made major jumps in strength, adding 50 pounds to his bench press and squat. As a senior, he was bullying offensive linemen, but he still had a quick get-off and surprising agility for someone so thickly built.

There were no weak spots in Salisbury’s front four of ends Jaden Warren and Da’shawn Brown, nose guard Saderion Robinson and Ziyad. All four made All-Rowan County and All-Central Carolina Conference.

The Hornets (12-1) allowed fewer than 10 points per game for the season and had three shutouts.

Ziyad remembers the East Davidson game as his best outing and with good reason. He had two sacks and forced a fumble. He also had a half-dozen tackles, unusual production for an interior lineman. Normally, Ziyad’s role was clogging things up, so the linebackers could make the stops.

“Not long before that East Davidson game, I had a disappointing game against West Davidson and I was still pretty upset about it,” Ziyad said. “So I turned it up a notch. “They run a lot of inside zone and power and I knew I had to control B-Gap (between the offensive guard and tackle).”

When Salisbury bottled up East Davidson’s running game, the Golden Eagles had to throw a lot more than they wanted to. Salisbury picked off four passes with Deuce Walker and Torian Brown getting pick-sixes. A potentially competitive game became a full-scale rout.

Ziyad, who had five sacks as a senior, understands he’ll have to keep improving to make an impact in the South Atlantic Conference. It’s a strong Division II league. Wingate was often one of the front-runners under former head coach Joe Reich and hopes to continue that success under new head coach Rashaan Jordan.

“Between now and the time I report to Wingate, I’ve got to do everything I can to keep getting stronger and faster,” Ziyad said. “I realize it’s going to be a very big jump next year. I’ll be a freshman trying to compete with guys who are 21 or 22.”