STARKVILLE — Starkville Academy football coach Chase Nicholson knew who he was going to turn to for leadership on the offensive line this season.
The Volunteers returned three seniors starters from last year’s squad, but center Houston Massey was injured in the team’s first game and hasn’t returned. Without Massey, left tackle Carter Wood and left guard Seth Watson were left to be leaders up front.
“They knew their role and they knew the expectations we set for them,” Nicholson said. “We looked to them game in and game out to be the two guys that step up and lead and be an example for the rest of them.”
Wood and Watson will lead the Volunteers (6-1, 1-0) into a Mississippi Association of Independent Schools AAA, District 2 matchup against Leake Academy (5-2, 1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday in Starkville.
Nicholson and offensive line coach Tony Stanford knew the two seniors could handle the pressure of being leaders. Nicholson even said they never felt pressure.
“I feel like it’s kind of my responsibility to make sure everything moves finely tuned like a machine,” said Wood, who is in his third year as a starter and is the team’s most experienced offensive lineman. “It’s not a big responsibility because I know everyone else knows what to do.”
Watson is in his second season as a starter, but knew he was going to have to help to Wood as a leader. The transition began in the spring, and Wood admits he didn’t know how the offensive line was going to perform when the season started.
Wood and Watson are a little surprised with how the younger guys have met the challenge and performed under pressure, and they have seen those players make big strides.
“They’ve come leaps and bounds,” Watson said. “They’ve been so much better than the first day they started. They’ve learned so much.”
Junior Torin Hamilton took over for Massey at center, and even though this is his first year on the offensive line, he hasn’t missed a beat. Freshman Walker Tranum has fit in nicely at right guard, while freshman Douglus Kelly has served as a backup tackle and guard. Both were on track to play junior varsity this season, but a lack of numbers forced Nicholson to add them to the varsity roster.
The play of the offensive line has helped Starkville Academy’s offense flourish. The Volunteers have amassed 2,350 yards (1,383 rushing, 967 passing). Starkville Academy has 20 rushing touchdowns and is averaging 198 yards rushing per game.
“We’ve had our bad games, we’ve had our good games,” Wood said. “I think we’ve done well knowing the game is on our shoulders and what we do defines how the game goes.”
Wood and Watson were able to get a familiar face to re-join the football team. When his sophomore season ended, right tackle John Foster decided he wasn’t going to play football in his junior year.
Foster didn’t play any sports during that time. He said he wanted life away from sports and focused on hunting and working.
But as he sat in the stands Friday nights last fall, he began to miss football more and more, so with the help of Wood and Watson — Watson mainly — he returned to the team.
He immediately took on a leadership role.
“I felt as a senior I should probably step up and show my role on this team,” Foster said. “They kind of look up to me, the younger people do, to do my job and do it right.”
The two other seniors and Nicholson expected Foster to come in with that attitude and appreciate that he has taken on that role.
Even though Foster didn’t play last season and might not know all the things Wood and Watson know, he still has been someone the younger players look to.
“He’s a vocal type of leader,” Nicholson said. “He comes to practice every day with a smile on his face, and that’s contagious for the guys.”
Conditioning was the biggest adjustment Foster had to make. He admitted he was out of shape and wasn’t ready to compete for 48 minutes every Friday night.
With only 25 players on the roster, the offensive line rotates six players. Junior kicker Sam Cox has played up front, but Nicholson doesn’t want him out there much. Defensive players Dillon Carrell and Logan Stanley also can play offensive line.
“It’s been a great mesh of all those guys,” Nicholson said. “We still haven’t seen them play their best game yet. They’re steadily getting better each week.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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