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Put some shoulder pads on West Rowan noseguard Brant Marlin and his coach, Scott Young,
has no worries.
It's when Marlin plays football without pads that Young might get a bit nervous.
Take last week, for instance.
The Falcons were preparing for perhaps their biggest game of the season. They were ready
to get down to business for a trip to cross-county rival East Rowan.
On Monday, Marlin walked up to Young and explained that he had broken a toe on his right
foot playing football.
Two-hand touch football with members of his church.
"It's kinda funny," Marlin said after helping lead West to a 28-7 victory Friday
night. "We were playing with the assistant pastor and it was the young guys against
the old guys."
Marlin and the pastor got tangled up and the next thing the junior knew, he was out of
action. And there's no truth to the rumor that Young is trying to sign the assistant
pastor as a reserve linebacker.
It might be "kinda funny" now, but it wasn't when Marlin visited the family
doctor, who told him he would miss three weeks.
Young's response? "Let's go to a sports doctor."
Marlin played Friday night.
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Boy, did he ever.
Marlin was in on two sacks and almost everything that came up the middle. He harassed East
quarterback Drew Davis on a regular basis.
But the most ferocious play may have come when he didn't even make a tackle.
A high snap went over Davis' head. When he recovered and looked up, Marlin was standing
over him, as if to say, "I'm O.K."
And so is his team.
West is 5-0 and much of it has to do with the character and sheer guts shown by the
6-foot-1, 235-pound Marlin Friday night.
"Yeah, Marlin had that injury but still played, and that tells a lot about our
team.," said center Daniel Kluttz.
Marlin said he wasn't about to miss a Friday night game.
"The whole defense plays together," Marlin said. "It doesn't really matter
who's out there. We just try to play hard on every play. I didn't want to miss it."
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Young switched Marlin from defensive
end to noseguard this season because he had the Drechsler boys (Luke and Josh) to play the
end positions.
"Marlin struggled some with it early as far as getting down in the four-point
stance," Young said."That's why you weren't hearing a lot about him early. Right
now, though, he pins his ears back and comes."
Marlin was one of several sophomores who was on varsity last season and he says they have
been bonding since little league.
"We all grew up playing together except (senior Jason) Fink," he noted. "We
know what each other's going to do."
The Drechslers, Fink, Marlin, Cody Ingram and J.D. Watkins have keyed West's best start
ever. The school has never before started a campaign with five straight victories. And
with each win, the defense is getting a little more recognition.
"Defense won the game Friday night," Young said. "I told the guys that the
bottom line was, East couldn't win if East didn't score. And East's only score came after
we fumbled around the 20. I was really proud of our guys. The defense was
fan-tastic."
Especially Marlin.
"Brant isn't a very good practice player," admitted Young. "But when the
lights come on, he makes things happen. He's big and physical."
Marlin is just one of 11 hard-hitting Falcons on defense. It's almost as if each position
tries to outdo the other.
Can the line make the biggest hits? Or will it be the linebacking corps? Or maybe Marcus
White and the defensive backfield?
"We're all aggressive," said Marlin.
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In fact, Marlin is so aggressive, it
has become a Monday tradition for him to show up with another injury.
One week after facing his coach with the bad toe, he approached Young this Monday with his
right arm in a sling.
"Ican't lift my arm up past here," he grimaced, showing Young.
The coach looked away and smiled.
"He'll play Friday," Young said of the home meeting with Northwest Cabarrus.
Of course Brant Marlin will play Friday night.
That's when the lights to the football field will be turned on. |
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