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Tackle talks on line

BY MIKE LONDON
SALISBURY POST

There’s no denying that Kirkpatrick, a bull-necked, 285-pound senior, is strong.

Wonder assistant coach Jeremy Ryan volunteers the vital statistics: a bench press in the vicinity of 400 pounds and a squat in the rather exclusive 500-pound neighborhood. “He’s a beast,” says Ryan. “A man-child.”

There’s also no denying that Kirkpatrick, No. 77 in your program, is mostly silent. He’s a young man of many blocks, but few sentences.

“Kurjuan’s a quiet one,” chuckles Wonder head coach Bruce Hardin. “Sometimes at practice, we’ll have to check on him and (Duran) Lipscomb to make sure they’re still breathing.”

But Kirkpatrick makes big noise on football Friday nights. That’s when he lets his deeds speak loudly. From 7:30-10 p.m. there’s no question he’s very much alive and sticking.

It’s early, but Kirkpatrick has already become a surprise star on the Wonders’ offensive line.

Surprising, because most of the previous entries on his gridrion resume’ concern his defensive play.

“We had tough personnel decisions to make this year,” says Hardin. “One of them was Kurjuan. Offense or defense? He looks comfortable. It looks like the right choice was made.”

“Kurjuan’s still got things to learn and his technique can get better,” says Wonder offensive line coach Tony Paroli. “But he’s got good explosion, good feet, and he’s very bright.”

Paroli knows a good left tackle when he sees one, because a couple of decades ago, he was a pretty fair left tackle himself — for the Duke Blue Devils.

“Left tackle’s the most important job on the offensive line as far as pass protection,” Paroli says. “That’s the guy who’s got the quarterback’s blind side.”

Kirkpatrick kept Sun Valley defenders off Wonder quarterback Justin Hardin last Friday night long enough for him to toss five touchdown passes before halftime.

Kirkpatrick spent the second half working on his run blocking. The Wonders have piled up 843 yards rushing in three games — without Nick Maddox — and much of it has come behind a certain burly left tackle.

“A lot of teams are exclusively right-handed with a right-handed quarterback,” said Paroli. “But with Kirkpatrick at left tackle, we’ve got balance. We can go left.”

“When the play is called in Kurjuan’s direction, I’m confident,” says Wonder running back Marcello Stanback. “I know he’ll get his block, and he’ll hold it forever.”

There was one scary play on Friday night on which Kirkpatrick proved that Stanback can boldly follow him anywhere. The big man simply bulldozed Sun Valley’s All-State linebacker Kenneth Hammond, removing him from Stanback’s path like an unwanted trash receptacle. Stanback turned the corner for a big gain.

“Kirk got him,” said Stanback, using the shortened version of Kirkpatrick’s mouthful of a name. “That play against Hammond got him hyped.”

Did he say anything?

“Well, no,” says Stanback thoughtfully. “But after that, the big man was really on the prowl.”

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The big man is on the prowl on Monday as practice is about to begin.

“North Rowan been talkin’ trash about us?” Kirkpatrick demands with a menacing glare.

Quickly assured that no one is talking trash about the Wonders — least of all Kirkpatrick — he allows himself a satisfied smile.

“Good,” he says, “because I don’t talk trash. Talk doesn’t matter. I just want to get the job done.”

Kirkpatrick biggest obstacle to getting the job done this year has actually been asthma — not opposing defensive linemen.

“He has trouble with that asthma sometimes,” says coach Hardin, shaking his head, “because sometimes he can’t remember who he handed his inhaler too. I’ve spent some weekends with it in my back pocket.”

Through it all though, “Kirk” has earned the utmost respect of his teammates and coaches.

He didn’t have to give a campaign speech for the Wonder players to name him one of the squad’s four summer captains. His actions and his work ethic said it all.

And fortunately — even after he rose to the rank of “Captain Kirk” his teammates resisted the temptation to start calling his vehicle the “Enterprise.”

Kirkpatrick rarely regrets the move to offense, but this particular week is one in which he will miss his former duties. Because this is the Friday night that Wonder pass rushers have the “fun” of chasing North’s elusive quarterback Mario Sturdivant.

“Gonna miss that,” says Kirkpatrick. “Gonna miss that a lot. But it’s OK. Coach Paroli is teaching me a lot, and the offensive line is fine. I just want to get that job done, you know.”

That’s what they’ll have to carve on the big kid’s tombstone 80 years from now.

“He got the job done.”

“Kirk is someone everyone looks up to,” says Stanback. “Especially the underclassmen. They know he’s gonna give us 100 percent in practice every day, and 100 percent every Friday night.”