SPENCER — Lamar Geter is finally getting people to pay attention to his actions on the football field, not the words coming out of his mouth.
The same amount of smack is still emanating from Geter’s rapidly moving lips.
He has just learned since the end of last season how to trump that with his play.
“If you would have told me that Lamar Geter would have been one of our better receivers this year and have been playing, I would have rolled my eyes at you,” North Rowan coach Roger Secreast said.
Geter is turning heads now. After going through Week 1 without a catch, Geter has seven receptions for 107 yards in the Cavaliers last two victories.
Geter, a senior and first-year starter, had four catches for 78 yards last week in a
26-14 win against West Rowan.
“He’s an interesting character,”Secreast said. “He’s about driven all of his teachers crazy with his mischief. But he’s grown up a lot this year.”
Said Geter, “Yeah, I’ve got to keep the boys laughing. At the same time, I know there’s a time to be serious.”
Geter underwent a transformation — albeit a subtle one — after spending the last two years as a reserve.
Geter mostly watched last year as standout wideouts Dre Byrd and Chris Phillips had a majority of Alfonzo Miller’s passes thrown their way.
Secreast said Geter had the talent to start at other schools in the county, but he couldn’t get his motor-mouth junior to stay focused.
“I’ve had so many sit-down talks with him in the last four years, I don’t know which one worked,”Secreast said.
Geter said he actually took it upon himself to change. He still likes to joke around, but he’s all business on the field during practice and games.
Geter learned that lesson from his predecessors at wideout, and he sees himself as a role model for players who are backups to him this year.
“Last year, I had to follow behind Byrd and Phillips, and I really didn’t like that,” said Geter, who didn’t catch a pass as a junior.
“I learned from them that you’ve got to be a leader for the jayvee players and the players under me. I have to show them how to play the game.”
Geter hasn’t toned down his comedy act before practices, though. He likes to steal his teammates shoes and hide them in other players’ lockers.
Geter admits that his No. 1 target is senior linebacker Leonard Atkins, who doesn’t seem to mind Geter’s antics.
“You can’t get tired of it,” Atkins said. “It’s so funny.”
Geter got the better of Atkins this summer. Atkins was throwing an alley-oop pass to James House in a pickup basketball game, and Atkins’ momentum carried him underneath House.
Atkins’ teeth went into one of House’s knees, and House later had to go to the hospital after the knee got infected.
Geter starting telling everyone that Atkins had rabies.
“He wanted to make Leonard use Listerine every day before practice, telling him he was poisoned,” Secreast said.
Said Geter, “I’ll never play basketball with L.A. again, ever.”
Atkins isn’t on the varsity basketball team with House and Geter, but they still have at least eight football games left together.
Secreast said he expects Geter to continue to improve as his confidence increases.
Geter has become more relaxed as the season has progressed, but he has been the most valuable at anxious times.
Geter’s final three catches against West all came on a drive in the fourth quarter that gave North a game-clinching 12-point lead.
Three of Geter’s four catches against the Falcons moved the chains for the Cavaliers.
“I call myself a ‘go-to-man’ on third down,”Geter said. “I ain’t scared to take a hit. I’m the one that always seems to get open.”
Geter is doing that now more than ever, and everyone else is hearing about it.
Secreast is happy Geter finally has something to brag about.
“He likes to talk a little bit, he is playful,”Secreast said. “We just didn’t have a whole lot of faith in him. When he was coming around all summer, I saw a big change in him, from class clown to class leader.”
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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com
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