By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY— A Thomasville sweep against Salisbury last Friday ran into an unexpected problem — nose guard Ny’Gel Elliott.

“Well, my teammate A’Marion Pruitt slowed the back up some,” Elliott said modestly. “So I was able to split a double-team block and still get out there and grab a leg to make the tackle.”

Salisbury defensive line coach Matt Hogrefe said that was Elliott’s most impressive play in a 32-6 road victory at Cushwa Stadium, but it wasn’t an easy choice. He had to think about it for a while. Elliott turned in a handful of gems.

Nose guards aren’t supposed to be able to beat two blockers and sprint to the edge to make a tackle for loss, but Elliott isn’t a typical nose guard. At 5-foot-11, 220 pounds, he looks more like a defensive end, a position that he also has played some for the Hornets.

“Definitely not the biggest guy,” Salisbury head coach Clayton Trivett said. “But he’s got a great motor and he’s very quick and very strong. He’s a tough man to block.”

It’s only a coincidence that the two capital letters in Elliott’s first name are NG — the standard football abbreviation for Nose Guard — but it’s a cool coincidence.

Elliott is one of many Hornets in the Class of 2025 who were talented backups last season to standouts in the Class of 2024. Almost all of Salisbury’s defense was all-conference last fall.

Elliott put in his work every day, didn’t complain, took advantage of his practice and on-the field reps and was ready when his time came to shine as a senior.

Salisbury lost 10 defensive starters, but the Hornets’ still have been stout  defensively, except in the Walkertown game. Salisbury is 4-1 and is ranked 11th in 2A West by MaxPreps. Not bad for a rebuilding year.

“We have played pretty good defense, but we all know we can play better,” Elliott said. “The Thomasville game was a good game for us, but I think our best effort was the Person game.”

While he played quite a bit as a second-teamer last fall and was confident  he’d be a starter as a senior, Elliott didn’t spend the spring and summer sleeping all day and eating burgers and doughnuts.

“I had one simple goal for the off-season — to get better,” Elliott said. “And I did get better in a lot of ways. The biggest improvement has been in my get-off. I’m much quicker off the ball than I was last year.”

Elliott’s get-off made him a force against Thomasville. He had a sack and three tackles for loss. He beat a double-team for the sack, overpowering blockers with a bull rush to get to the quarterback.

Nose guard is a tough position. A double-team block is automatic on virtually ever play. That’s the nose guard’s thankless job — to take on two guys, to sacrifice his own stats so the linebackers can make tackles at or very close to the line of scrimmage.

“We ask Ny’Gel to dominate the opposing center and he did a great job of getting push and re-setting the line of scrimmage against Thomasville,” Salisbury defensive line coach Matt Hogrefe said. “He commands a double team. He’s been one of our defensive leaders, definitely the leader of our defensive line.”

Elliott has a team-high 4.5 sacks and nine QB hurries this season.

He’s not certain if the next step for him is going to be college or military service, but his coaches have no doubt he’s going to be a success story.

 

 

 

 

 

High school football: Elliott emerging as leader for Hornets

 

Gr