By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

LANDIS — There’s a lane on a football field, a space between that mass of humanity where the offensive and defensive linemen are creating mayhem in the trenches and the area where a receiver and a cornerback are scrapping on the outside.

Coaches refer to that narrow corridor as the alley. As the name implies, it can be exciting and dangerous. The alley is not for the timid.

Safeties like South Rowan’s Zach Barham play back deep in the middle of the football field, with the primary responsibility of defending against intermediate and long passes, but safeties also have to help against the run because they are the guys who aren’t being blocked.

Safeties must quickly read the stances of the offensive linemen. They’re looking for high hats or low hats. High hats mean the offensive linemen are standing straight up to protect the quarterback, indicating a pass play. Low hats, crouched offensive linemen, reveal that it’s a running play.

As soon as Barham is certain it’s a run, he finds his target — the ball carrier. He slides and glides into position and then he sprints toward the alley. Running the alley or filling the alley, coaches call it.

Barham has got to get there in a hurry, but he also has to arrive under control and in position to make a tackle. He has to be fearless, but he also has to take the best possible angle to intercept his quarry. There’s science and physics involved. It’s an art. There’s more to it than just flying around.

Barham, a senior, is 5-foot-8, 155 pounds, which is a nice size for a high school baseball player — which he will be in the spring — but not ideal for a football safety colliding with much bigger backs.

Ask South Rowan defensive coordinator Ronnie Riddle about Barham’s size disadvantage and he shakes his head defiantly.

“No, Zach is 180,” Riddle said. “All our guys on defense weigh 180, At least that’s what we tell them. We don’t care what the scale says.”

For his part, Barham hits like 180.

“I’m not the strongest, the biggest or the fastest,” Barham said. “So when I’m coming downhill to hit someone, I’ve got to use everything I have.”

South’s defense has played better this year than it has in quite a while. The Raiders (3-5, 2-3) have won some games with their defense and they’ve stayed in some others with their defense. Improved defense is a reason why they still have a chance to have a winning conference record and still have a chance to make the 3A state playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

“We’ve got a special senior class,” Riddle said. “We’ve got a lot of guys who took some bad beatings earlier in their careers. They were like those little brothers who get abused by their older brothers. But they’ve gotten bigger and better over the years. A lot of them have changed their bodies. They’re still here, and now we put some pretty tough kids out there.”

Barham had nine tackles in the loss to Carson that ended the 2023 season.

He is averaging 3 tackles per game this year, not because his play has dropped off, but because South linemen and linebackers are making more tackles closer to the line of scrimmage. That’s a good thing. He has a fumble recovery and has broken up several passes.

“Zach plays a critical role in our defense,” South head coach Chris Walsh said. “You’d love for him to be 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds and run a 4.4. He’s not that guy, but he’s always in position and he is always looking for contact. He’s been that way since he was a freshman.”

Riddle has been coaching at South for 12 years. He can’t remember a better defensive performance during that span than the one the Raiders provided recently in their stunning 17-0 homecoming win against Concord.

Barham was at the forefront of that victory with his first two interceptions of the season.

“When you haven’t beaten a team for 40 years, it’s a great feeling to win, and it’s going to be memorable for all of us,” Barham said. “We trusted each other, we played our hardest and we did our jobs. There were a lot of cool moments. I had an interception in the fourth quarter. I stretched out for it like I was trying to make a catch in the outfield. I had a bunch of interceptions back when I was on jayvees, so it felt good to finally get some this year.”

While he is built for baseball and South’s baseball teams usually have been far more successful than football, Barham said he’s 50/50 as far as the two sports.

“I love both sports about equally,” he said. “But it’s football season now, so I think of myself as a football player.”

Walsh pointed out that Barham had family members in attendance at the Concord game who had never seen him play football before. That helped inspire him. They should come more often.

Quite a few 155-pounders have been playing like they weigh 180 for South, which also owns a South Piedmont Conference comeback road victory against a Central Cabarrus squad that boasts impressive athletes.

“It’s the best defensive group we’ve had in the four years I’ve been at South,” Walsh said. “The best because it’s the most physical. We play some great teams in our league, but win or lose, we’ve fought every game.”

South is preparing for a still winless, but steadily improving East Rowan team this week. Riddle says the team prepares like it’s playing Alabama every week. Whether it’s Robinson or East Rowan that’s next on the schedule, the Raiders focus on themselves and try to get better.

“We’ve got a lot of blue-collar guys who go out there and quietly do their jobs,” Riddle said. “Some great guys. The kind of guys you enjoy being around.”