This is the eighth and final installment of the Post’s series on football practices
of area high school teams.Today:
Davie County.
MOCKSVILLE — Summer.
It’s a magical word for
teachers, full of the promise of empty class rooms, little stress and a well-deserved
break.
But if you’re a high school
football head coach hired in June to take over a team in August, there’s all sorts of
possible things to be said about your summer.
Relaxing and stress-free are not
among them.
“Last year I was hired in
June, I had to assemble a staff, set the offensive and defensive philosophies before Aug.
1 … it felt like a tornado,” Davie County High School head coach Doug Illing
said. “I didn’t feel like I had time to prepare.”
Illing came in to replace Benjie
Brown, who left Davie after two years for a position at Asheboro High. The former
defensive coordinator at R.J. Reynolds High in Winston-Salem guided the War Eagles to a
6-5 record in his rookie season.
A winning record, yes, but well
short of expectations coming off an 11-3 campaign that finished in the quarterfinal round
of the Class 4A state playoffs.
Fast-forward a year, and the
tornado that rocked the Davie football program is nowhere to be found in the calm breezes
in Mocksville.
“This year I had all winter
to fine tune and I feel really ahead of the game,” Illing said.
That less-frenzied attitude is one
the players can sense.
“Last year he came in real
late and no one knew him. It was a big change from coach Brown. It was chaos,” senior
free safety Zeke Earle said. “This year things have been real smooth.”
- new faces: Illing had plenty of
time to tinker with his coaching staff, and three new coaches will walk the War Eagle
sidelines this season.
Bill Oakley takes over offensive
coordinator duties for Davie County, while Keith Whitaker leads the outside linebackers
and Chad Groover the offensive line.
Illing said he’s thrilled to
have some of the top-notch coaches in the state joining his current staff of Devore Holman
(defensive coordinator), Mike Lovelace (wide receivers), Lee Linville (running backs),
Mike Herndon (linebackers) and John Bullins and Jeff Ward (defensive backs).
Oakley coached at Mount Tabor last
year and spent time with Illing at R.J. Reynolds, while Whitaker comes over from Southwest
Randolph, where he was the head coach and athletics director. He assumes assistant A.D.
duties for Davie.
Groover just graduated from
Appalachian State, where he was an All-American on the offensive line.
“He’s brought a lot of
energy and enthusiasm, as well as hands-on experience from college football,” Illing
said of Groover.
- NEW FACES, II: The biggest turnout
in Davie football history, a whopping 113 players, showed up for the first day of
practice.
Many of those players were
freshmen up from the successful Davie County middle schools’ programs — South
Middle defeated North Middle in last year’s championship game — and some of the
freshmen are bringing more than just a winning attitude to the varsity level.
“We had some freshmen come up
to the varsity and we’re looking at them to start for us Friday night (in the
season-opener against Statesville) ,” Illing said. “That sounds really weird to
have freshmen competing for a varsity position, but they’re that athletic and
they’re big enough.”
Sam Stovall, a 6-foot, 235-pound
defensive lineman, and Mike Clement, a fast 5-10, 175-pound defensive back and all-purpose
player, are Davie’s most promising freshmen to this point. While Illing is concerned
about their inexperience and rookie mistakes, don’t be surprised to see them getting
serious playing time.
- no freebies: Another luxury
afforded by 113 football hopefuls fighting for 22 starting positions is the spirited
practices that result.
“When you have that many
people competing at each position, that raises the level of play,” Illing said.
“There’s not just one individual sitting at that position.”
- ready for ridenhour: Not all the
positions are up for grabs, of course, starting with Drew Ridenhour at the QB spot.
The senior signal-caller starts
the 1999 season as the fourth-ranked quarterback in the state, according to the N.C. Prep
Football News publication. Those prognosticators, along with college scouts, love
Ridenhour’s size — 6-4, 210 pounds — his arm strength and his football
smarts.
“I look at that as a boost,
but I’ve got to perform,” Ridenhour said of the ranking. “So far I’ve
performed pretty good. I’m glad people have recognized me, but now I have to prove to
those guys that I can play.”
Illing is one of those already
convinced of Ridenhour’s abilities, but the Davie offense won’t change just so
his star QB can wow the scouts.
“The first thing is for us to
win games, not to produce stats for him,” Illing said. “But with his ability, we
can use him. He’s very strong, he’s got an accurate arm — he can throw it
55, 60 yards.”
Ridenhour said he’s gotten
the most attention from South Carolina, North Carolina and N.C. State and is planning a
look at all of them. He’s always been a blue-blooded Tar Heel fan, though, which
could give Carolina head coach Carl Torbush an inside angle.
- different season, different mask:
Ridenhour traded in his catcher’s equipment for a football helmet after a summer of
American Legion baseball.
Ridenhour, a Mocksville-Davie
Legion player since the ninth grade, collected six hits in six games against the Rowan
County team and was 5-for-10 with five RBIs, four runs scored and a homer in two games
against South Rowan this summer. He could see a familiar face or two in football season
when Davie County battles Salisbury and South Rowan.
But the one Rowan County player
he’d love to face is Brian Hatley, who doesn’t play football for East Rowan.
“Brian Hatley’s a good
friend. I wish he played football — I’d like to go after him,” Ridenhour
said with a laugh. “It’s fun playing against guys in both football and
baseball.”
- First test: Davie County gets its
first for-real outing against West Rowan in a scrimmage tonight at 7 on the War
Eagles’ home field.
- Be sure to pick up Tuesday’s
Post for the 1999 Prep Football Preview edition.
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