MOUNT ULLA — Every year when Post sportswriters and county football coaches get together to vote for the All-Rowan team, you can count on each coach being disappointed that a deserving guy was left off the squad.
For West coach Scott Young, the guy the voters missed the boat on last year was his senior defensive lineman Josh Drechsler.
A disappointed Young related after the voting that even the Falcon coaching staff had no idea just how good Drechsler was until he missed a game with an injury late in the season.
Then, right out of the blue, everything went haywire with the Falcons’ vaunted defense. All sorts of breakdowns occurred against one of the weaker opponents on the schedule.
Drechsler, West’s drop end, hadn’t been piling up eye-popping numbers of tackles, but had always been at just the right place at just the right time, bottling up plays until one of the Falcons’ famous linebackers could finish things off.
Drechsler, said Young, just wasn’t appreciated until he was no longer around.
This season, Josh won’t be around from the get-go. Fortunately for Young, Josh’s brother, Luke, will be. Luke, a senior, will play the rush end for the Falcons and you can count on him playing it very quietly and very well.
“So far in practice, Luke’s been lights out,” said Young, perhaps already cranking up his next all-county campaign drive. “His technique is excellent and he’s been real physical.”
Luke says it’s strange coming to practice and not seeing his brother.
“Yeah, I miss him and I think the team will miss him,” he said. “We were just that one year apart, so we’d always go home from practice and keep wrestling around and stuff.”
Drechslers suiting up for the Falcons is a family tradition.
Luke and Josh’s uncle, David, would be a solid choice as West’s best player ever. Twice an all-county lineman (1976-77) he went on to a fine career at UNC, then played for the Green Bay Packers. At some point, he’ll be enshrined in Rowan County’s brand new Hall of Fame.
Another of Luke and Josh’s uncles, Paul, was a fine player in his own right, and so was their dad, Mark, a bespectacled all-county O-lineman in 1972.
The nice news for Young is that yet another Drechsler has arrived on the scene. The latest Drechsler, Matt, will be on West’s jayvee team this year.
“As long as we’ve got Drechslers, we’re gonna have pretty good football teams at West Rowan,” smiled Young.
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SCARE: Young expects great things from versatile Ben Hampton, who will play mostly quarterback, but will also line up occasionally at tailback or fullback and is taking reps at those positions.
Hampton gave everyone a bit of a scare recently when he sliced up his left wrist while taking the foglights off a truck.
“I cut it right to the bone,” said Hampton. “There wasn’t much blood and I didn’t want to go get stitches, but then Mom called the hospital and they said I could lose feeling in the hand.”
Eventually, the wound did require six stitches, Now everything appears to be OK, even though Hampton says he opened up the cut again in his agriculture class.
Still, Hampton hasn’t missed a beat in practice and the Falcons’ passing game looks formidable.
The best thing about Hampton?
“His head,” said Young. “Real smart player.”
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CHANGE OF HEART: There’s little doubt West’s — and the county’s — top receiver this season will be gifted Horatio Everhart, who reeled in 14 TD passes a year ago, half of them in three state playoff games.
In his early years on campus, Everhart developed a reputation as a kid who wasn’t fond of practice or discipline.
In fact, for various offenses, Everhart didn’t even suit up until the Falcons’ fourth game last season.
But now, as a senior, Everhart has come to town with a gung-ho, team-first attitude that has delighted the West coaches.
“Everyone knows how talented Horatio is, how fast he is, how much damage he can do,” said Young. “But now he’s doing things the right way. The coaches feel a lot of pride about the attitude he’s come in with this year. He’s really trying to be one of our leaders.”
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KICKING IT:West kicker Steven Meseroll was the winner in a big-time punting competition in late July.
“Coach Young called and asked me what I was doing one Saturday morning and I went to a Shrine Bowl competition,” said Meseroll. “We kicked from the 50 and I punted some balls out of the end zone.”
That’s 60 yards.
“I’m not saying he’s the best punter in the state, but he was the best guy there and some good guys were there,” said Young.
Meseroll booted against many of the players he knew from N.C. State’s kicking camp, including Davie star David Wooldridge, who’s being courted by ACC schools.
“I guess I beat David in the punting,” said Meseroll, “but he kicked my butt in the placekicking competition.”
Meseroll, whose dad played three years in the NFL with the Saints and Raiders, is one of the county’s more diverse athletes. Besides his punting/placekicking duties, he throws the discus in track, where he was all-conference, and is a fine swimmer. He was on a 200-meter free relay team that finished sixth in the state.
“I guess those three sports are kind of different,” said Meseroll.
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NUMBERS: West has had a phenomenal turnout for a 3A school. Young said a whopping 110 have appeared for duty and 106 were at Thursday’s practice.
“It’s the most kids ever to come out at the school and just shows what a little success will do,” said Young. “The new guys have included some pleasant surprises who will help us.”
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INTACT: Young’s pleased as punch that his assistant coaches are all back from last season.
“It’s the first time I’ve had that and I’m proud of it,” said Young. “That means they’re happy with the way we’re doing things.”
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SCRIMMAGES: West will take on North Davidson, Winston-Salem Parkland and Mount Tabor in a four-way scrimmage next week in Welcome.
“Those are the big boys, but it’s the only way to get better,” said Young.
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MAKING UP:As you’ve no doubt heard, West didn’t practice Wednesday, interpreting a cautionary memo from authorities as an outright ban on outdoor practice. Nearby South, for instance, did practice that day, although it did so without pads or helmets.
“We were disappointed when we found out,” said defensive lineman Justin McIntyre. “We lifted weights and watched some film.”
Yesterday, the Falcons made up for the missed session, going at it furiously in helmets and full pads under the watchful eye of veteran trainer Larry Sides, who made certain coaches and players used caution and stayed properly hydrated.
“We had a long list of things to get done Thursday after the lost day and we accomplished every one of them,” said Young. “It was a real good day.”
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