KANNAPOLIS – A.L. Brown senior Zeb Ritchie doesn’t look like a guard – unless maybe you’re talking about lifeguards.
It’s not like Ritchie lacks muscles. He’s put together and looks like he’d make one heck of a safety.
But the starting left guard for one of the best teams in 3A? Aren’t o-linemen supposed to have at least a hint of a belly? As the lady used to say in those old Wendy’s commercials, “Hey, where’s the beef?”
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Ritchie said. “I’m not a big guy. That means I have to dedicate myself every summer to the weight room. You work as hard as you can to get as strong as you can. Coach (Todd) Hagler pushes us. He’s amazing. Even on the days when you’re down, he pumps you up.”
Head coach Mike Newsome nominated Ritchie, a two-year starter, as the Wonders’ “hero” for Friday’s 62-6 romp against South Rowan.
Then Newsome and Todd Hagler engaged in a mild debate over exactly how much weight the 5-foot-10 Ritchie actually carries.
Newsome guessed 180 or maybe 185, while Hagler went with 190. The official listing is 210, but that’s enough of a stretch to put that roster in the fiction section of A.L. Brown’s library.
Whatever the scale says, Ritchie is productive. Sure, he looks undersized next to 6-foot-7, 260-pound tackle Brandon Parker, but Ritchie knocks people down the way Mike Tyson once did.
“He’s very strong for his size,” Hagler said. “He could’ve been one of those guys in leather helmets that used to play both ways and special teams.”
Ritchie is a good guy.
Hagler told a story about Ritchie finishing his reps in Hagler’s weightlifting class and then coaching a kid that was struggling.
“It was a kid that didn’t play football – or play anything,” Hagler said. “Zeb is just that kind of guy.”
Ritchie graded out at 92 percent on Friday, and Hagler can be a tough grader. Ritchie also knocked down five Raiders, which Hagler declared to be his new high.
“I just remember two of them,” Ritchie said. “I pulled on our 29-G play and saw a cornerback. I gave him my best shot and he fell down. On another one, a guy got around Brandon, so I slid over and knocked him down.”
Hagler’s favorite Ritchie moment?
When reserve Malik Patterson broke loose for a 73-yard TD in the win at Shelby, Ritchie stormed down field and sprinted past Patterson.
“I am faster than most linemen,” Ritchie admitted.
Ritchie also has what Hagler called “pretty steps.”
“He does everything right,” Hagler said. “He plays so freakin’ hard and is so good technically that if he were 6-foot-4 everyone in the world would recruit him. Give me six like him and we’d be pretty dangerous.”
The Wonders are dangerous enough as it is.