LANDIS — After playing a huge role in Friday night’s 44-6 win over Salisbury, South Rowan’s Brandon Yow didn’t hear a word of the post-game speech.
The two touchdowns he scored seemed awfully far away. The throbbing sensation in his knee was front and center.
“I was in pain,”Yow said. “I was trying to listen, but I was hurting too bad.”
Instead of joining his teammates in the mass huddle, Yow leaned against his dad on the fringes of it. Having worked so hard to reach this point, the senior hardly had a chance to enjoy the moment.
According to his coaches, though, Friday night was just the beginning. Besides, the bruised knee is feeling fine by now.
“That was nothing extraordinary out of Brandon,”Raiders receivers coach Josh Vinson said. “That’s what we expect out of him the rest of the year.”
The opportunity to star is a welcome one for Yow. He spent his first two years at South Rowan playing in the secondary, but decided to try offense so he wouldn’t be stuck behind all-world cornerback Ricky Childers.
Last year Yow played varsity for the first time. He caught a mere four passes for 49 yards, thanks to South’s focus on the ground game. For the most part, the Raider receivers opened holes on the outside for big gainers Keith Garrett and Toré Girty.
“We called ourselves ‘wide blockers,’ ” Yow said with a smile. “We were just joking around, but we didn’t pass a lot.”
And when the Raiders did throw the ball, the targets generally were Garrett and Girty. When Yow and fellow wideout Brad Lanning caught touchdown passes Friday night against Salisbury, it marked the first time since 1999 that a wide receiver found his way to the end zone.
Yow got his first catch of the season early in the third quarter. Cutting across the middle of the field with one defender on him, Yow caught Hoke Shirley’s 15-yard pass in stride — and darted untouched for a 56-yard score.
“Being a receiver on this team can be kind of lonely,”South head coach Rick Vanhoy said. “Our passing game is mostly possession catches. If he can turn them into a touchdown, even better.”
For an encore, Yow trotted onto the field for kick return duty later in the quarter. The coaches have been using Yow on punt returns, but decided to try something new.
It worked.
“He catches a touchdown, then he came back on kick return and did exactly what you should do: wait, set up your blocks and go,”said Vinson in describing the 67-yard score.
Yow’s knee got banged up on his next punt return, which didn’t work out at all: a fumble, a long limp to the sidelines and the chance to watch the rest of the blowout from the bench.
“That’s great to see out of a kid who’s been with us four years,” Vanhoy said. “Brandon probably did not get the playing time he would have liked, but he stuck with it.
“Some kids come over after being middle school stars — some of them pan out and some don’t,”Vanhoy added. “He’s gotten a little better each year and that’s what you want to see.”
Vanhoy pointed to Yow’s time in the 40-yard dash as an example of how hard the senior has worked. At least three-tenths of a second have been shaved off his time, to where Yow is down to the 4.6, 4.7 range.
“He showed that speed the other night,”Vanhoy said. “He’s an example of somebody who said, ‘Look, I need to make myself a better player,’ and he has.”
Vanhoy quickly points out that Yow isn’t perfect, though.
“If there’s any criticism I have of Brandon it’s that he’s too tough on himself,” Vanhoy said. “He feels like he should catch every ball that comes his way. But that’s what made him a better player.”
Sure enough, Yow mentioned a ball he felt he should’ve caught in the first half before his third-quarter touchdown. Now that he’s had that taste of success, he wants to make sure the ball keeps coming his way.
“I knew I could catch it. My teammates and coaches had confidence in me, too,”Yow said of his long scoring strike. “If they throw it to me, I’ll catch it.”
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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4287 or shanf@salisburypost.com
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