FULTON –Rashad Pargo knows the pecking order.
After using his first season at Itawamba Community College to redshirt, Pargo, a former standout at Aberdeen High School, was able to watch his former AHS teammate make an impact with the Indians as a freshman.
Nearly one year later, Pargo had worked hard in the offseason to put himself into the mix as a freshman. He feels confident the work he did to become stronger and quicker will help him play a variety of roles for ICC.
Pargo also knows Buchanan will be a factor in everything the Indians do this season.
“He is The Man,” Pargo said Wednesday at the ICC football team”s media day. “He is my mentor.”
Buchanan had 13 catches for 203 yards and three touchdowns in 2010. He has embraced a bigger role in an offense that will feature a new coordinator (Aaron Flores) and a running game led by Keon and DeShawn McGaughy of Shannon and Itawamba Agricultural High, respectively, and quarterback Canden Dallas, of Pontotoc.
The offense hopes to help ICC build on a 5-4 season that included a 4-1 finish. The Indians finished tied for second in the MACJC North Division and missed out on their first playoff appearance since 2007 due to tiebreaker rules.
Second-year head coach Jon Williams will look to Buchanan, one of four former Aberdeen High players on the roster, to take on a bigger leadership role as a sophomore.
“I tell our guys all of the time there are no freshmen and sophomores here,” Williams said. “You”re juniors and seniors. However you were as a junior or senior in high school, that is how you should be your career here.
“Erik is more of a lead-by-example guy. We have asked him to get out of his comfort zone a little bit and be that vocal presence we need.”
Williams said it is a work in progress for Buchanan, who has bulked up to 6-foot-2, 200 pounds. Buchanan is one of seven wide receivers on the roster with Pargo and former Starkville High standout Justin Rogers.
Buchanan said his goal is to do better than he did in 2010. He said he learned a lot last season and has added to that knowledge in the offseason. He feels comfortable in the new offensive scheme and is eager to be an even bigger piece to the puzzle.
“I feel I have gotten bigger and I have gotten faster,” Buchanan said. “I worked on a lot of the little things –footwork and getting off the ball — to get me better and to help me have a better awareness.”
Buchanan said he did all right as a freshman. He said he got a lot of playing time and opportunities, but he is confident this season can be even better. He said more people on the team have “bought into” Williams” philosophy. He also believes he and the other sophomore leaders will be able to set the example for their teammates.
“It is a little bit different (from when he was a senior leader at Aberdeen),” Buchanan said. “I have grown to know my teammates, and now that I know all of my teammates it is cool. I am starting to lead everybody because I know that is what worked at Aberdeen. If you have leaders, you”re going to win, so I am going to try to be more of a vocal leader and have everybody look up to me.
“If I do what I am supposed to do, the rest of the team will follow.
Williams said the addition of Flores won”t change Buchanan”s role on the offense.
“He is expected to be a playmaker at wideout,” Williams said. “No matter what offense we run and no matter what team he is on, he is expected to make plays.”
Pargo said Buchanan already has made an impact as a leader. He credits his former high school teammate for helping him stay focused and to stick with football. He said there was a time he considered quitting, and he said Buchanan”s help convinced him to stay in school and not to quit and wind up walking the streets in Aberdeen.
If Buchanan”s work with Pargo is any indication, he seems to be ready to step into that leadership role.
“Last year, when I first came in the spring, everything was going horrible,” Pargo said. “Now it seems like I am going to be the top man because I am catching the ball. But Buchanan is the main man on campus. Emo is going to be Emo. Buchanan is something serious. He catches the ball real good. He tells me to calm down and to chill out and to keep my head together.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.