Prep Football: Wonder Signing Day

Published 12:00 am Thursday, February 4, 2016

Jayln Cagle Sandon McCoy Dantrell Barkley Juan Morgan

By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

KANNAPOLIS — A.L. Brown head football coach Mike Newsome rolled highlight films of senior stars and wasn’t sure whether to shout for joy or bawl his eyes out.
It was a National Signing Day filled with mixed emotions.
It’s not easy to say goodbye to a group of seniors that spearheaded a 10-3 season, won a 4A playoff road game and finally brought the ‘Bell” back from Concord. That 10-3 season made amends for a disappointing 6-6 in 2014.
“This was the most special group of seniors I’ve ever coached because of the leadership they gave us,” Newsome said. “They came together better than any group I’ve ever had.”
Joining Newsome up front at a Wonder-green table were offensive lineman Juan Morgan, defensive lineman Dantrell Barkley and running backs Sandon McCoy and Jayln Cagle, although McCoy and Cagle were more than just backs. McCoy also played defensive end, while Cagle was a terror at safety. They were two-way beasts, as Newsome adopted a philosophy of putting his best 11 on the field at all times.
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McCoy, a verbal commit to Army during the season, signed with NCAA D-I Gardner-Webb. He’s one of the leading rushers in A.L. Brown history, a three-year starter who amassed 528 carries, 3,178 rushing yards and 32 ground TDs.
The secret of his success was simple.
“I worked hard to be the best and always did the extra reps,” said McCoy, who plans to major in business.
McCoy (5-foot-11, 202 pounds) visited Gardner-Webb about a month ago, fell in love with the facilities and expects to be a good fit for the Bulldogs’ power running game.
“Sandon battled through injuries and battled through surgeries,” Newsome said. “He always came back stronger than before, and that’s a testament to his character. He’ll be good in college. He was one of the all-time rushers for us, and he could do the same thing for Gardner-Webb.”
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Morgan is headed to Charleston. That’s a D-II school in West Virginia that made the playoffs, and it’s the school where Salisbury’s John Knox was a standout.
Morgan (6-3, 303) has great size. Newsome called him “the anchor” on the Wonders’ offensive line and he also helped out on defense.
Morgan is tough. An ankle sprain put him in a cast as a senior, but he missed only one game.
“He didn’t really come into his own until his senior year,” offensive line coach Todd Hagler said. “He was a good leader and a good teammate. Lots of upside.”
Charleston is a long ride from Kannapolis, but Morgan said he knew it was the right place immediately.
“As soon as I saw the school, my college decision was made,” said Morgan, who aspires to be a coach.
Morgan isn’t sure whether he’ll be a guard or tackle for Charleston’s Golden Eagles.
“They told me I’m big enough to play inside and athletic enough to move outside,” Morgan said.
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Barkley (6-4, 285) also has excellent size and plenty of upside.
He has the skill set to be a Division I player, but first he’s going to have to put in two years at Independence Community College in Kansas.
The toughest adjustment figures to be homesickness for Barkley, who will be 1,000 miles from Kannapolis. On the field there shouldn’t be any problems. He had six sacks, 15 quarterback hurries and 57 tackles as a senior.
“He came out of his shell as a senior and we’re going to miss his size and his ability,” Newsome said. “He can definitely play at a big level. Junior college is a step he’s taking to get there.”
Barkley said his best game this season was against Hough. He had eight tackles, three for loss, in that outing.
He hasn’t visited Kansas yet, but he plans to make the trip in March. He was recruited by CIAA schools (Winston-Salem State, Fayetteville State).
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Cagle (5-11, 195) is headed to Western Carolina. He’ll go there as a preferred walk-on, not on scholarship, but he’s likely to earn one. He’ll be a safety or slot receiver and he could get a chance to run back punts and kickoffs.
Newsome said Cagle turned down several full rides — Howard, Carson-Newman, Charleston (W. Va.). He did so because he wants to play Division I and because he really likes Western Carolina. He also turned down a preferred walk-on spot at Appalachian State.
While he only played in nine games, Cagle was frequently A.L. Brown’s most dynamic player. He had 683 rushing yards, 316 receiving yards and another 600 yards in kick returns. He thoroughly dominated the “Bell Game” in all three phases of the game, and his late-season injury probably shortened the Wonders’ playoff run.
“When he got hurt, it took six guys to replace him, and I’m serious,” Newsome said. “We had to find a runner, a blocker, a receiver, a punt returner, a kickoff returner and a safety.”
Cagle offered a funny story about his first day of practice as a freshman. He was put with the wide receivers and he immediately hurt his toe. He missed the next two days with that injury. When he returned to practice, Newsome wasn’t happy.
“He took my helmet away and told me I couldn’t play on his team,” Cagle said. “But Coach changed his mind later and let me come back.”
That change of heart was fortunate for the Wonders.
Newsome put his heart and soul into this year’s squad, even rolling around on the practice field with Cagle in a giant mud puddle, to demonstrate the toughness the team needed to succeed in the state’s best 4A league.
Newsome concluded the precedings with heartfelt words of advice for the four Wonders.
“You’ve got the opportunity to go and do something great,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of life ahead. Don’t let high school football be the greatest thing that you do.”