LANDIS — South Rowan junior offensive left tackle Brad Mulkey, all 6-foot-5 and 390 pounds of him, scratched his chin as he reflected on his varsity football debut last Friday.

“The only difference was seeing people in the stands,” Mulkey says finally. “We had, oh, maybe 10 fans for Thursday jayvee games. But Friday was packed. That’s exciting. You get a rush that makes all that hard work all week worthwhile.”

Mulkey wasn’t the only Raider offensive lineman who found himself in strange surroundings when South pounded East Rowan by a shocking 56-7 in Granite Quarry. Just one familiar number (67) — 195-pound left guard Nathaniel Faggart, who looks more like a wide receiver than a wide body — started up front. But the rebuilt line did just fine. In its first Friday under the bright lights, the unknown unit rose from the team’s biggest question mark to a potential area of strength.

“They didn’t grade out perfect by any means,” said South head coach Rick Vanhoy. “But for their first game they did well. We’ve got a great tradition for offensive linemen here. This group certainly has the potential to keep it going.”

The names are mostly new to area football fans.

There’s Mulkey, sophomore William VanWieren (235 pounds) and junior Josh Miller (205), all up from the jayvees. Seniors Brett Lloyd (260) and Brent Sheets (255) have played supporting roles before, but now are counted on as leaders. Other key components are Faggart, veteran center Tripp Isenhour (235), who missed the East game with a strained knee but will return tonight for West Rowan, and tough 205-pound Joel Reyes, a stud linebacker who spells Isenhour.

South’s forte is running the football with stellar backs Keith Garrett and Tore’ Girty. Girty scored on the game’s first play from scrimmage Friday, while Garrett had a 70-yard romp. The G-Men and their backups poured through craters all night. The Raiders rang up 394 ground yards — more mileage than they amassed in any game in ‘99.

“When you have backs like we’re blessed with, you don’t have to make a dominating block,” said offensive line coach Larry Deal. “If we give Garrett or Girty just a bubble, they can go a long way. And that’s the first thing I told the guys after Friday’s game. I said, ‘Go tell the backs thank you, because they really made you look good.’”

Deal still refers to the Raider linemen as “the guys,” because unlike their celebrated “Hog Pack” predecessors, the new kids who block have yet to acquire a nickname.

“No one’s laid anything on them yet,” admitted Deal with a smile.

Roosevelt had the New Deal. So maybe these post-Hog guys are the New Squeal.

Then again, maybe not.

Even Mulkey doesn’t have a nickname yet, although it’s only a matter of time before the big guy is known as something a bit more colorful than Brad. One writer suggests the “Landis Load.”

“Brad is a load,” said Deal. “He can’t move all that far, but he moves pretty quick. And once he gets on you, well, he’s got you.”

With the notable exception of Mulkey, the new Raider linemen are sleeker than last year’s bunch, which featured behemoths Brian Billings, Patrick Gaddy and Michael McLemore.

“As a group, the new guys have very respectable speed,” said Deal. “They average 5.1 (for 40 yards), so we’re faster afoot than we’ve been. We can employ different blocking schemes.”

Deal, who played on the offensive line at East Carolina in the ‘60s as a 217-pounder, agrees with Vanhoy that his charges have room to get better. But, yes, he’s excited.

“As a group, they came off the ball very well,” said Deal. “That tells me two things. First, they are secure in their assignments. Second, they have a real desire to get after somebody. This is not a group that worries about contact.”

Both Vanhoy and Deal lauded the work of volunteer coach Brian Blackwell and his role in the linemen’s progress.

“Brian gives Larry another set of eyes out there,” said Vanhoy. “He’s been a tremendous help.”

The lineman have also helped themselves. They made their homes in the weight room this summer.

The 6-3 VanWieren has star potential. He’s put on 40 pounds of muscle in the last year — without losing an ounce of speed. A polite kid with an easy smile, the Raiders got him to wrestle last season “to toughen him up.”

Then there’s Lloyd, who joined Greg Yanz’s swimming team last winter to get buff.

“I was the biggest thing in the water,” Lloyd jokes. “I didn’t win any awards, though — except maybe for All-Gut.”

Most amazing of all is Faggart, who uses his exceptional quickness to excel. Your first impression is that he’s nuts to play in the trenches, but in reality, he’s a superb student who takes courses like Advanced Placement Calculus and is ranked second in the senior class. He had an interview with the Air Force Academy planned after Thursday’s practice.

“When you lose people like Billings, Gaddy and McLemore, you feel it,” said Faggart, when asked to compare the two units. “But this year’s group is not only faster, it’s stronger. We’ve got the quickness to have some fun. We’ll get out there and knock the crap out of a cornerback and then just keep right on going downfield.”

Vanhoy and Deal love to hear aggressive talk like that from a guy with a world-class GPA. They also love the fact that their scholarly O-linemen can make adjustments on the fly.

“Last year, West’s defense gave us fits and we had trouble adjusting,” said Deal, not-so-fondly recalling a 49-12 thrashing in which South was held to 134 rushing yards. “This year, maybe we can counter.”

“West’s defense is a difficult challenge,” sighed Vanhoy. “Can our linemen cut them off? Can our kids get to those linebackers (S.J. Culbertson and James Francis)?”

Those questions will be answered tonight in Landis. It shapes up as the game of the night. Maybe of the season as far as the county is concerned. South’s success — or failure — up front could decide the outcome.