SPORTS
BALLIN’ OUT
By Lawrence “King Law” Davis
After the Triangle Pigskin Preview and the CIAA Football Media Day, I had
the opportunity to interview two area coaches – Shaw University Head
Football Coach Robert Massey and NC State University Head Football Coach
Dave Doeren. Here are the highlights of those interviews.
SHAW
Lawrence Davis (LD): What was your main focus in this off
season for your team?
Coach Robert Massey (RM): We had to sign
some offensive linemen (OL). we have a special
running back in Marquise Grizzle. He can make an
average lineman look good and can make a guy
miss in a phone booth. So we want to protect him.
We got local offensive lineman Brandon Thompson
from Hillside. We also had to strengthen up our
receiving core. We also lost Darnell Brown, who is
three hours from graduation. He will come back to
help as an Assistant Coach so we can make sure he
gets across that stage.
LD: Where will your leadership come from this year?
RM: Trevious Folston was starting quarterback (QB) when the old
QB got hurt at the end of the
season. Folston was a natural
leader, transferring in last year
from Jacksonville State. Of
course Grizzle is a leader, he
leads by example. Offensive
Lineman Kendall Evans is one of
our few starting OL returning.
He is very knowledgeable of
our offense, vocal and hard
working. Defensively, we can
talk about Chris Ellerbe, who
had 8 interceptions and was
ranked 3rd in the nation behind
Darnell Evans, who had 11 last
year; Derrick Herring, defensive
lineman and Evan Strange just
to name a few. We lost our
kicker but we just signed a kid
out of Hillside, Ian Burkes, who
will only do Field Goal and PAT
(punt after touchdown) situations. We don’t want to put all the pressure
on him although he can do both [punting and field goals].
LD: How will QB Folston affect your offense?
RM: At 6'7, 235 pounds, and a true dropback QB, Folston can run our
spread offense, but it allows us to be under center some. When you run
a spread offense, you tend to do most of your play calls from the line
of scrimmage. Sometimes its repetitive stuff; if you are having success
you are going to use it as much as possible. So that gives the defense
time to pick up on some of your calls. We are going to huddle up some
too, so when we huddle, they won’t know [our
tendencies]. He also has a strong arm…that helps!
LD: Who are some players who are under
the radar that we need to keep an eye on?
RM: Derrick Herring will start as true freshman.
He has been overshadowed by quicker guys
around him but he is the heart of the D line. Also,
Shaw CONTINUES ON PAGE 25
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