BY BRET STRELOW
SALISBURY POST

MOUNT ULLA —Gary Scott had barely begun his 2000 season, but he was ready for a change.

A change back to the football life he once lived.

Statesville’s backup quarterback would rush to Rowan County on Saturday mornings to pick up a paper and see how West Rowan’s stats stacked up.

He visited every weekend and got the latest Falcon football news from West’s Joe Jackson.

Scott, who was West Rowan’s jayvee quarterback as a freshman and sophomore, suited up for the Greyhounds on Friday nights as a junior.

But his heart never made the 17-mile trip west on Highway 70.

“I kept in contact with the coaches, kept up with how they were doing, who they were playing,”Scott said. “I was really wanting to play for West Rowan after like the first two games at Statesville.”

Scott is back at West Rowan for his senior season, and he’s better than ever. He took over as the Falcons’ full-time quarterback a game and a half ago and helped lead West to a 29-12 win against South Rowan last Friday.

Scott has completed 11-of-16 passes for 139 yards with one touchdown and one interception in his six quarters as the Falcons’ No. 1 quarterback.

He is finally getting to realize a goal four years in the making, even if there were a few twists and turns along the way.

“I was real disappointed when he left because he was the starting quarterback as a jayvee,”West coach Scott Young said “He had great athletic ability, a good arm. You see the same things out of him now.”

Scott’s development as West’s quarterback of the future was interrupted when he moved to Statesville with his mother before last season.

Scott would have been senior Jared Barnette’s backup at West, and he was no better off at Statesville, where Justin Poirer was the starter.

Scott’s mother soon moved back to Rowan County, and he wanted to return, as well. But he moved in with his grandmother and stuck out the rest of the season as a Greyhound.

Scott moved back in with his mom — and returned to West Rowan — in December.

“It just didn’t work out at Statesville, they wouldn’t let me play much,”Scott said.“I had to come back down to West Rowan where I knew I could get some playing time.”

A more appreciative Scott is getting plenty of it now. He spent much of last season watching as Statesville went 7-4 but missed the playoffs.

Up the road, the Falcons went 12-2 — including 8-0 in the conference — and reached the 3A quarterfinals.

In an ideal situation, Scott would have been Barnette’s backup during that run and led the West offense this season with minimal drop off.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

“It hurt him to be out of the system for one full year,” Young said. “He could be even better if he would have played behind Jared last year.”

Said quarterbacks coach Joe Payne, “Because he went to a wing-T system that primarily ran the ball (at Statesville), he didn’t do much passing there.

“His development down there really didn’t help him as far as developing here.”

Scott played in the Falcons’ summer passing league games. But with Jackson slated to start at tailback, Young put Ben Hampton at quarterback.

Jackson was injured in a four-wheeler accident before the season, though, and the Falcons eventually learned that Hampton could better serve West as a tailback.

Hampton has rushed for 380 yards this season, and Scott is 22-of-52 passing for 231 yards and two touchdowns.

“Ben’s so versatile that we were able to move him to tailback, but Gary has really earned his job,”Young said.

Said Payne, “I have been very pleasantly surprised by his progress. He has worked and made steady progress. Getting a couple of games of experience has helped him as much as anything.”

Scott still needs to improve by making better reads, but he has a strong enough arm to make tough throws in coverage.

West’s win against South Rowan had Scott proclaiming that the Falcons are back on course for the final seven games of the season, which include a home contest against Statesville on Oct. 19.

Scott will get the chance to prove his value to his old team.But more importantly, he can continue validating Young’s decision to give him another chance.

“The coaches up there really didn’t give me a chance to play, but I knew I could play at that position,”Scott said. “They didn’t give me a chance, so I decided to move back.

“I came back, it was even better. Coach Young believed in me, and he’s showing that now by letting me play like I should.”

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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com .