Aug. 21, 2012 — Victories aren’t always reflected on the scoreboard.
Saturday kicked off the 2012 high school football season for the Rowan County Vikings and, although a win was not obtained, there were plenty of things to be positive about.
The Vikings of this season are a team looking to find an identity and their opening game against Montgomery saw Rowan begin to see a shadow of the team it can become.
With new quarterback Justin Graham under center, the green and white faithful were wondering how the sophomore would handle the pressures of following former Viking ultra-athlete Adam Wing.
Curiosity was met with reasons to be excited. Graham took advantage of his God-given ability to scramble, something that could serve as a great tool for Rowan in the coming weeks, especially with an undersized front line.
From my sideline perspective, the young quarterback appears to be getting much more comfortable with his new position.
Calm and collected for much of the game, Graham’s potential should no doubt continue to grow into ability as the Vikings head towards district play.
In the backfield, Keontae Moore and Chris Baker showed a lot of promise. Graham, Moore and Baker helped the Vikings gain nearly 200 yards on the ground.
This is perhaps the most promising aspect of Saturday’s opener. If Moore and Baker can continue to run the ball well for the Vikes, pressure to throw the ball will be alleviated at the quarterback position, making Graham’s growth a simpler process.
When looking on the defensive side, Rowan County used its athletic ability to bring heat to the Indians backfield. Last year’s team may have scored a lot of points, but defense was a particular point of improvement for the 2012 year.
With an offense still trying to learn what it needs to do in order to be successful, a strong defensive game could serve as the deciding factor of whether the Vikings will still be playing come November.
While Montgomery County was big and physical, the Vikings showed that having athletes can be just as important.
Athletic ability can be a critical asset and this could certainly be Rowan County’s saving grace in 2012.
I wanted this post to serve as a reminder that sometimes you can use a loss as a means of a measuring stick.
What are we good at? What are our weaknesses? How can we fix them? Many of these questions were answered Saturday night and I’m sure Coach Kyle Singleton is already examining all of these while getting set for this week.
Stay positive my friends, it is a long season and the two main goals are to have a winning record and make the playoffs.
My evaluation of Saturday’s game is that both of these are not only possible but also likely.
Here’s to sailing forward.
Grant Stevens can be reached at gstevens@themoreheadnews.com or by telephone at 784-4116.
