“Honestly, the first part of the season we didn’t even have a defense,” he says.“We didn’t hit anybody and we didn’t have many people flying to the football. And we’d hit stretches where we’d completely fall apart.

“(Head coach) Bruce (Hardin) was upset and I was upset. I told him the offense would just have to find a way to win until we could build a defense.’’

Go ahead and put Wightman’s building program in the mission accomplished file. In its first five games, the Wonders gave up 20 points per game. But in its last seven contests — a stretch that has included West Rowan, East Rowan, Northwest Cabarrus and Concord — the Wonders have allowed an unheard of four points per game.

“The kids have learned not to try to do so much as individuals,” said Wightman. “They’ve learned their roles and to trust their teammates to do theirs. The result of that is you see a whole lot of green jerseys around the football on every play.”

Wightman’s new and improved defense has forced 38 turnovers, while the Kannapolis offense has only made 14. That plus-24 turnover ratio is the single biggest reason why the Wonders are 12-0 heading into Friday night’s 3A state playoff game with Concord.

If you’ve seen Catawba get after it this season, you may have noticed a defensive back named Alvis James. James is a football magnet. Any ball that is fumbled or deflected or blocked will inevitably wind up in the hands of James. And he knows what to do with it when he gets it.

The Wonders have the same sort of player in senior outside linebacker Marcus Rivens. Rivens has moved all around on the Wonder defense the past two years, but like James, no matter where he lines up, the ball has a way of finding him.

Rivens’ position coach, Scott Rodgers, says opponents try hard to avoid Rivens’ territory, but he still has four interceptions this year.

Opponents also try desperately to kick the ball away from him when he returns punts, but in the last four weeks he has taken a pair of kicks that happened to bounce in his direction, 65 and 87 yards, for game-breaking touchdowns.

Last year he also had four interceptions, including his all-time favorite play— a pick he returned 102 yards for a TD to get the carnage started in the 97-0 massacre of Northwest Cabarrus. Two weeks after that record-breaker, a fumble leaped into Rivens’ arms in a first-round playoff game with Fred T. Foard. That one, Rivens could only take back 72 yards before the referee raised his arms to signal a touchdown.

“Guess you’ve got to give the coaches credit,” says Rivens, modestly . “They always have me in the right spot.”

Besides being in the right spot, Rivens has the right stuff inside.

He’s an all-star, even though he’s tiny for a linebacker at 175 pounds and doesn’t possess blinding speed.

Coach Rodgers says he runs only a decent 4.7 in the 40 and his teammates tease him that his track-star sister, Tiffany, is faster.

“Marcus may not have great speed,” said Rodgers, “but what he is, is smooth. He’s a smooth operator. The coaches watched the film of that punt return touchdown (against SouthIredell on Friday), and we just looked at each other. It wasn’t the biggest play I’ve seen him make, but it was definitely the most beautiful.”

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Rivens started his Wonder career as a jayvee running back and Rodgers says he could have been a fine ballcarrier if the defense didn’t need him.

Rivens chuckles about his brief career at running back. He scored a ton of TDs on the jayvees as a sophomore, but there was always this guy named Maddox around to run the ball for the varsity — at least until this season.

“Back then, I was about the scrawniest thing you’ve ever seen,” Rivens says. “I only weighed 145.”

Rivens weighed a lot less than that when his grandfather made him get on the football field for the first time when he was 6 years old. Rivens calls that day the best thing that ever happened to him.

“I can’t explain it,” he says. “But I just love football so much. I’m having the time of my life. I love to play and I love to practice. I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss football when it’s gone. I even get a smile on my face when I come down the steps to go to practice.”

“He does have that smile on his face 24-7,” said Rodgers. “There aren’t any better kids than Marcus. I’m in the main building and the teachers always come after me if one our football guys gets slack. No one’s ever said that Marcus isn’t getting the job done in class.”

Or with his wardrobe.

Rivens was recently voted the school’s best-dressed senior. At least when he’s not attired in his battered No. 22 jersey.

“That’s all my mom,” says Rivens. “She picks the clothes out.”

Not many linebackers would admit that their mom got them a best-dressed award, but then no one has ever accused Rivens of being an ordinary linebacker.

“He makes all the big plays,” said Rodgers. “The other kids respect him, and they know they can count on him every night.”