Patience wore thin for Aycock's Clark, Eutsey
By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on June 12, 2014 1:48 PM
aetzler@newsargus.com
PIKEVILLE -- Charles B. Aycock seniors Michael Eutsey and Neil Clark wondered what they did wrong.
They had the size. They had the speed. They had the stats. But no colleges heavily recruited either one to join their football program.
They had almost lost hope.
But Golden Falcons head coach Steve Brooks refused to let that happen. He and principal Dr. Earl Moore pushed to get schools to come see Brooks' players.
Finally it paid off.
Eutsey, the area's leading receiver in 2013, and Clark, the area's fourth-leading rusher, signed to play football at Methodist University on Wednesday morning.
"It's a lot of relief," Eutsey said. "We had a good season. We were expecting coaches to come at us. But it was limited, few coaches came to us ... Then close to the end of the school year nobody came to us and then, Methodist came out of the blue when we were ready to give up.
"They came and brought hope back to us."
Brooks was equally relieved to get his first two players signed to a college in his head coaching tenure.
"I'm shocked it got to this point," Brooks said. "Those two have the ability to play at the Division I level. They're going to be very successful at Division III, but I never would have thought it would be this late in the ball game."
And it couldn't have happened to two better examples for Brooks' program. Clark and Eutsey have unique, but different family situations. Clark is from a military family. His mother, Jamie, has been stationed in Germany for the last year and was able to make the trip home to see Clark sign.
"She wasn't able to see any of my games this year, so her being here means a lot," Clark said. "I haven't seen her in a year."
Eutsey doesn't have a close relationship with either of his parents. His sister has helped raise him and his younger brother, as well as his niece and nephew. They were all on hand to see him sign.
Brooks said these unique situations shaped the leaders they became when the first-year head coach took over the program this past season.
"They had to grow up fast," Brooks said. "I think that's why it allowed us to do things for them offensively and defensively. They're able to handle responsibility ... I can count on those guys to do what I needed them to do.
"I think they're more ready to go to college than most kids."
Eutsey, a 6-foot-2 physical receiver with hands that engulf a football, racked up 781 yards and eight touchdowns last season for the Golden Falcons.
His best attribute comes from a part of the game that isn't measured in the stat book -- blocking.
The receiver Brooks calls "by far the most physical I've ever had the chance to coach" also played linebacker, and he takes that mentality to the offensive side of the ball trying to destroy the man in front of him.
Clark rushed for 1,415 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, but in college he'll be doing the hitting rather than receiving the hits. Clark will play defensive back for the Monarchs in another transition that no one expects will be too difficult.
"I think (his) foot work is going to help," Eutsey said. "He got some good footwork. It's messed me up a couple times."
Clark's footwork and hip fluidity figure to help ease him into his new role. Brooks said he thinks Clark will also make a big impact on special teams as a return man.
Clark and Eutsey join a Monarchs team that finished 8-2 last season and averaged 40 points per contest and threw for 330 yards a game. If Clark's transition goes as smoothly as his former coach thinks, he figures to help a defense that gave up 344 yards per game through the air.
Eutsey and Clark have both moved around in life. Eutsey is from Florida, and Clark is originally from Mississippi, but came to CBA from Japan. So, the transition of leaving for college isn't a big deal to them.
But they're glad they'll have each other to lean on if things get hard.
"If he's having a bad day or I'm having a bad day, we'll be able to talk to each other," Clark said. "Any situation, on the field or off the field. We're close enough to know, so if we need to we'll be able to talk."