By David Shaw
dshaw@salisburypost.com
SALISBURY — You may not have heard of defensive tackle Scott Givens, but that’s about to change.
The Salisbury senior isn’t exactly a household name — even at Ludwig Stadium, his own house. That’s why his breakout, tour-de-force performance in Friday’s CCC showdown with Lexington was impossible to ignore.
“He’s just under the radar,” coach Joe Pinyan said after Givens — 6-foot-1, 260 with truck-width shoulders — made the most notable play of a 37-25 victory. “Week to week you see Keion (Adams) or Clint Comadoll’s name with a bunch of tackles, and the next name is always Scott Givens. He’s never the leading tackler, but he’s always that next name. That’s always stuck out with our staff.”
Givens has consistently done yeoman’s work for Salisbury’s bend-don’t-break defense this season. He was at his explosive best as the Hornets (6-2, 3-0 CCC) thinned out some of the traffic in the congested league standings against the visiting Yellow Jackets.
“It all started in practice leading up to the game,” Givens said. “Pinyan kept telling us what a big game this was. ‘You might want to be on your keys.’ He just got after everyone to give their all. That’s all I tried to do — give it my all.”
His all included 11 tackles, three of them for losses, and a couple of big-boy sacks. He was a triggerman for a defense that forced six fumbles and recovered three of them.”
Assistant coach Steven Swayney successfully nominated Givens as Salisbury’s player-of-the-week, entitling the quiet leader to wear a red practice jersey this week.
“There were two or three other times he could have worn the red jersey but I wouldn’t nominate him,” Swayney said. “All year long I’ve been telling him what he’s been doing isn’t good enough. We’re striving for perfection and he understands that. He’s been asking me why he couldn’t get the jersey. This week he deserved it. He was by far the best one out there.”
Givens said he learned technique from former SHS assistant Scotty Robinson during his subpar 2011 season. “He taught me to read the offensive linemen,” he said. “They’ll always tell you where the play is going.”
Givens rose to the challenge in the second quarter Friday when he sacked Lexington quarterback Raekwon Byrd for a 5-yard loss on first down. It forced the guests into a long-yardage situation and eventully helped Salisbury take a 22-7 lead.
“That play changed everything,” teammate Bobby Johnson said. “He was just doing his job — and that’s to fill up his holes and make tackles.”
Perhaps now Givens is ready for his long-overdue close up.
“I have that feeling a lot,” he said.
Pinyan agrees. “Scott doesn’t really get the limelight, but maybe it’s about time he did,” he said. “He’s just sneaking around doing what he’s supposed to do.”