Saints' Walker, Carlton have embraced leadership roles

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on October 3, 2015 11:52 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

DUDLEY -- Manny Walker and Quentin Carlton have emerged as "iron men" for Southern Wayne midway through a challenging football season.

Neither steps off the field -- even for a sip of water.

And the Saints go as they go.

"No doubt about it, they're our two best athletes on the team," SW head coach David Lee said. "Our kids play hard and our kids are capable of some things. But if we're going to have any big plays made, we need them to make the big play.

"I think they understand it, they've embraced it and ever since (Aryc) Chrisman has gone down, they've had positive attitudes."

Chrisman suffered a bone-jarring, season-ending tackle in the Goldsboro game that rendered him motionless for a short period of time. A pre-existing condition urged the neurosurgeon to warn Chrisman that another severe hit could result in permanent, life-altering damage.

Until Chrisman's injury, Carlton had never take a snap under center.

The 5-foot-10, 181-pound junior signal caller has accepted the role and thrown for 124 yards, including a 21-yard touchdown pass to Djimon Ward, in his last two outings. The Saints have close to 250 yards passing as a team.

"He's staying after practice and getting extra reps in," Lee said. "He's really stepping up and I'm so proud of him."

Listed on the area's preseason "players to watch list," Walker -- a two-way starter -- hasn't disappointed Lee. The 5-11, 160-pound junior is the main workhorse in the Saints' rushing attack, but even better on defense and special teams.

Walker returned a "pick six" and a kickoff 79 yards to the end zone in a heart-breaking loss to North Lenoir. He had another "pick six" against New Bern, which resulted in a 98-yard TD.

"Manny is a good athlete," Lee said. "He and Quentin have done everything we've asked them to do, even though that means stepping out of their comfort zone and doing some things they didn't expect to do when the season started.

"Since Chrisman went down, both of them have worked extremely hard. If we're going to win games going forward, we're going to have to have a total team effort -- but -- those guys are going to have to step up for us, there's no doubt it."

As iron men should.