By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

Third in a series of preseason football reports …

LANDIS — South Rowan’s Brian Sandoval was all-county last year — as in all-county band.

Sandoval has mastered the tuba, the largest and lowest-pitched of the brass instruments. His next goal is to master a position on the interior of the Raiders’ defensive line. At 5-foot-11, 290 pounds, he might be able do that. He has the body to be an effective roadblock against opposing running games.

“He was kind of concerned about being able to play in the band and still play football, but you’ll see him out there on the field at halftime,” South Rowan head coach Chris Walsh said. “We’ve told him to go for it. We’ve told him to send it.”

“Send it” is the catch phrase for the 2024 edition of the Raiders. To send it in the modern tongue means to push the limits, to hold nothing back.

Sending it in the South Piedmont Conference is a tall order, but the Raiders may be better than they’ve been in a while. This is Walsh’s fourth year, so the players in the program are all his guys now, especially a large (20-plus) senior class that arrived on campus at the same time that he did.

They have bought in to the culture, with lots of off-season dedication, that Walsh has been selling.

The Raiders always have a few rugged guys who would try to tackle a mountain lion. They still have some of those guys, but this time they should have a little more twitch, a little more zip. They’ve got a couple of athletes who can catch the ball and fly. They’ve got a quarterback who has led game-winning drives. They’ve got experience at key places like linebacker and the offensive line.

Not to mention a really good tuba player.

“I think we’ll be pretty good,” Walsh said. “Now how many wins that’s going to translate to in our league, I don’t know. “I do know we don’t have an easy game on the schedule. The 1A teams we’re playing made the playoffs last year.”

Did someone say playoffs? South’s last trip to the playoffs was in 2009. That also was the last winning season. The last time South celebrated a playoff victory was 21 years ago. The last conference championship was in 2001 when South went 4-1 in the 4A Central Piedmont Conference and shared the title with two other teams.

Since South’s 9-3 team of 2009, there’s been a lot of losses. Last season’s 3-7 record didn’t meet every team goal, but it did meet most of them. South stopped a long SPC losing streak by rallying to beat Central Cabarrus. South ended a long county losing streak by beating East Rowan. Both of those victories were important steps toward competitiveness and respectability.

Now the Raiders have to try to build on it, to add a few more blocks.

South has three quarterbacks named Brooks, a fact that defies all odds, but veteran Brooks Overcash will be the trigger man for the offense. This will be his third year as the starter. Overcash isn’t a major running threat, but he can lead and he can throw the football. He’s passed for 2,249 yards and 25 TDs in his career.

“He’s a cool guy — you can push him hard and you can coach him tough,” Walsh said. “I try hard to aggravate him in practice sometimes, but it’s tough to rattle him. He is smart and he is extremely strong for a quarterback. His max lift is the second highest on our team.”

At 5-foot-10 or so, Overcash looks more like a linebacker than the prototype quarterback, but he can sling it.

South won’t have Landon Richards to run the ball. That’s a key loss. Richards and the offensive line pulverized a few teams last season, as Richards recorded South’s first 1000-yard rushing season in 14 years.

Bryson Frieze, mostly a linebacker last season, rushed for 91 yards in 19 attempts and is likely to be the featured back. Frieze is a fearless competitor in the racing world, so he’ll be sending it. Behind him are freshman Jayden Arthur and sophomore Owen Smith, talented youngsters who have impressed the coaching staff.

South graduated towering tight end Alex Furr, a Gardner-Webb recruit. James Ritchie is expected play most of the snaps when South employs a tight end.

The Raiders return two experienced wide receivers. Jadon Moore has amassed 32 career catches for 551 yards and seven touchdowns. Marshal Faw, a Catawba baseball recruit, has 21 career catches for 265 yards. Faw is fast. Moore, a track sprinter, is one of the swifter athletes in the county.

“Faw does a lot of baseball, so we don’t see him much in the summer, but when he shows up for football practice, it doesn’t take him long to get up to speed,” Walsh said. “He’s an athlete.”

Moore is one of those rare athletes who can kick — and return kicks. His wheels make him a threat to go all the way on every kickoff return, and he also has won games by kicking field goals. He punts, catches passes and plays defensive back. He may run the ball some. He won’t leave the field very often.

Moore’s listed position on South’s official roster says it all — N/A.

Other potential pass-catchers are Gavin Bisco, Cayden Wood, Macon Fuller, Braylon Pelshaw, Cameron Barth and Landon Deal, who was the jayvee quarterback.

Faw is a grandson of long-time South coach Ernie Faw, while Deal is a grandson of Larry Deal, who was one of the legendary coaching figures in South athletics.

Guard Ryan Walden returns as the vocal leader of the offensive line. Deacon Abernathy, Gage Overcash, Micah Fry and Silas Veleke are being counted on. South also got a transfer tackle who is expected to start, as Brayden Mahaley came over from North Rowan. Mahaley is a baseball player and was friends with some of the diamond Raiders.

“It’s not going to be a huge offensive line, but it’s a pretty athletic one,” Walsh said. “Coach (Ian) McLemore can do some things with those guys.”

While South has a large senior class and a larger freshman class (32 strong), the Raiders still won’t be deep at the varsity level. Some athletes will play both ways.

The middle of the defensive line is expected to be Sandoval and tenacious Javier Gonzalez, with Bryan Velasquez and Ashton Frampton, who had added some size, getting after quarterbacks from the outside.

Inside linebacker Conner Richards, Landon’s younger brother, is an old-school tackling machine and will bruise ball carriers. Ritchie is a veteran linebacker who earned postseason accolades last season, including All-South Piedmont Conference.

On the outside, Bisco came up with several key turnovers last season. Freeze is tough, and Smith is already developing a reputation as a hard hitter. Trevon Sloan is another good athlete.

The defensive backs will include quick Tristian Littlejohn, Ricky Moore, Zach Barham, Deal, Faw and Moore. A summer basketball injury sidelined Elijah Anderson.

Assisting Walsh are McLemore, the head jayvee coach as well as the offensive line coach, defensive coordinator Ronnie Riddle, defensive line coach Ethan Martin, defensive backs coach Austin Chrismon, tight ends coach Jarrod Smith, running backs coach Zane Tutterow and 0-line coach Daniel Pennell.

“A good mix of veterans and some young guys,” Walsh said. “A lot of guys with ties to South Rowan who care deeply about South Rowan football.”

While the Raiders have enough talent and experience to make everyone optimistic, realistically, there’s still a gargantuan gap to make up with the top tier of the SPC. South was outscored by 23 (41-18) on an average Friday night in 2023 and lost 63-0 and 65-0 to bullies Robinson and Northwest Cabarrus.

South isn’t going to make up that wide of a gulf in one season, but the Raiders do have a chance to take positive steps and build positive memories as the program prepares for realignment with the 2025-26 school year.

“We’re excited,” Walsh said. “We’ve got some dudes. These guys want to win football games.”