By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
GRANITE QUARRY ó East Rowan defensive coordinator Piotr Kalinowski smiled when he learned linebacker Sam Edmonds had given him credit for a 7-0 shutout win against North Rowan last week.
“We, as coaches, are sometimes overrated,” said Kalinowski, a former defensive lineman at Catawba. “The kids make us what we are.”
If that’s true, then Edmonds and his teammates made Kalinowski look like a genius on Friday. The Mustangs stopped everything North Rowan tried in the season opener.
Edmonds finished with 17 tackles. Fellow linebacker Jordan Hopper was also in on double-figure stops. North managed just 64 yards of offense, zero through the air.
“Coach K called a lot of blitzes that put us in the right positions to make plays,” Edmonds explained. “The defensive line made their quarterback get out of the pocket and that’s when I made the plays. If it wasn’t for the defensive line, the linebackers wouldn’t have made as many plays as we did.”
Kalinowski said there was a lot of truth in that statement.
“The defensive line demanded double-teams and that allowed the linebackers to roam free,” Kalinowski said.
As soon as Edmonds found out he was the Friday Night Hero, he wanted to share the glory, which is exactly what East coach Brian Hinson expects from the leader of the team.
“Hinson said I should step up and be a leader and make something of this team and get some respect,” Edmonds said.
From the first play, No. 32 was dragging down Cavalier runners and defending against the pass. It delighted a packed house of Mustang fans ó not to mention the head coach.
“Hinson said after the game it was the best defense he’d seen in two years,” Edmonds said.
It was obvious early that whoever scored first might win the game. When East quarterback Jamey Blalock took it in for the score, it made Edmonds even more focused.
“As long as we win the game, it doesn’t matter what the score is,” Edmonds said.
East is 1-0 and the Mustangs will need similar results from Edmonds to win again and not repeat a 1-10 season of a year ago.
Edmonds said he is taking his role seriously.
“Hinson thinks my leadership and hard work will rub off on a bunch of these players and make East Rowan a football program that’s good,” he said. “We have to go out there every day and prepare for the team we’re facing that week ó and go 100 miles per hour.”
Kalinowski thinks Edmonds goes faster than that.
“He works his tail off in the weight room, he’s always here and he does what you ask of him,” Kalinowski said. “He plays his responsibilities.”
Those responsibilities will no doubt grow as the season progresses. Kalinowski has complete faith in his star linebacker.
“To see a kid so passionate about football it gives you goose bumps,” he said. “It makes a coach proud.”
As Edmonds proved Friday, that passion also made East Rowan’s defensive coordinator look pretty good.