By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

MOUNT ULLA — The ground numbers weren’t pretty last season.

West Rowan played 12 football games and was out-rushed eight times. West went 2-6 in those games, somehow managing to beat Concord and East Rowan despite serious rushing deficits.

On the flip side, when West out-rushed the opposition, it went 4-0.

So a point of emphasis for the Falcons this season is to get back to the basic principles that made the program outstanding for a long time. Run the football; stop the opposition from running it.

In that legendary stretch in which West won 46 straight games from 2008-10, it was out-rushed only twice. Once by Carson when Shaun Warren broke an 88-yard run with the outcome long decided and once by Hibriten in a tough playoff game. Hibriten narrowly out-rushed the Falcons 164-163.

West plans to run the ball more frequently and more successfully this season, more like the old days, and it means that two large guys wearing No. 50 and No. 51 are going to be as important as anyone on the team.

Guard Dawson Sheesley (6-0, 285) and tackle Logan Younce (6-2, 245) man the left side of West’s offensive line. Sheesley (50) and Younce (51) are seniors. They’re three-year starters and returning first team all-county players, so the Falcons will run behind them as much as they can and as far as they can.

“They’re a little different,” West head coach Joe Nixon said. “Dawson is a nose-to-the-grindstone kind of guy. Logan works equally hard, but he likes to have a little fun while he works. What they have in common is they’re both veterans who put everything they have into what they do. They’re physical and they understand that the o-line has to be the hardest-working group of guys that there is.”

As a youngster, Younce liked basketball  best, but he gradually gravitated to football.

“I did OK at it, always started, and I found out I liked to hit people,” Younce said.

As freshmen, Younce and Sheesley were both defensive linemen. They made the transition to offense together as sophomores.

“It’s been a lot of work, but I’ve enjoyed all of it,” Sheesley said. “As an o-line, we have a lot of pride, and it’s all about getting West Rowan back to where it needs to be.”

West has some huge people on that o-line including another returning starter —  6-foot-6, 260-pound junior Jonny Hassard. They’ll be opening holes for Jaden Perry and Dylan Sigmon and protecting QB Payne Stolsworth.

“We’ve got bigger people this year and stronger people than last year and we should be able to drive the ball at people,” Younce said. “We’ve been working since January, and everybody knows their stuff. The seniors have tried to set a good example.”

There will be  inevitable ups and downs. West lost to Mooresville on opening night, and the schedule is brutal, with a much improved Cox Mill team replacing South Rowan, and with North Rowan, Davie County, A.L. Brown and Concord providing  challenging non-conference games.

If West can survive that stretch of non-league games without getting banged up, it could make a run at the North Piedmont Conference championship. That’s what Sheesley and Younce are working for.

“There’s always room for improvement,” Sheesley said. “We’ll make some mistakes, but we’ve just got to keep working.”