By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
SPENCER – When Joe Nixon realized he would have to replace injured quarterback Alexis Archie with tailback Jareke Chambers on Friday night, he didn’t give a pep talk to Chambers.
He gave one to Will Robertson, the left tackle.
“He’s like, ‘We have to pound the ball since we don’t have a strong-throwing quarterback,’ ” said the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Robertson. “Jareke got thrown into the fire.”
Robertson and the offensive line stepped up in a 35-6 win over Chatham Central that left North in second place in the Yadkin Valley Conference at 4-1, and 6-3 overall. The Cavaliers rushed for 366 yards and dominated the line of scrimmage.
“We knew we weren’t going to throw a lot so we depended on Will to dominate his side of the line,” Nixon said. “The thing about Will is, he plays extremely physical. And he’s a smart player. It doesn’t take him long to catch on to what’s going on out there. He can relay it to me on the sidelines.”
To prove it, Robertson realized early on Friday night that one of the better plays was 60-draw.
“I run my guy off and it usually works pretty good,” Robertson said.
That’s an understatement. Three Cavaliers rushed for at least 85 yards, including Chambers (140) Denzel Price (106) and Jalen Sanders (85).
Robertson is certainly looking forward to Friday’s home game against West Montgomery.
“It’s Senior Night,” he said. “The boys are going to want to play hard. We look at it as a must-win game. We need to pull this one out to get a good draw in the playoffs.”
It’s Robertson’s size and intelligence that has college coaches recruiting him. He has already made visits to Appalachian State, Elon and Wofford.
“I really like Appalachian State,” he said. “I love Boone and that area.”
But the senior leader also loves Spencer and he is enjoying the chance to go out on a high note.
“At this point last year, the team was basically falling apart,” Robertson said. “People were looking forward to the end of the season rather than looking toward the playoffs and trying to make a run. It’s definitely an improvement.”
Once in the playoffs, Robertson can tell his coach no pep talks are needed. Just like Froday night’s win, he and the rest of the offensive linemen will be ready.