FOOTBALL TAB: Philosophy never changes for Rebels, who like to run the pigskin

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on August 19, 2016 1:48 PM

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CALYPSO -- Plastered on the back wall of North Duplin's weight room is an 8.5-by-11-inch white paper that reads "3.5+3.5+3.5 = FIRST DOWN."

The same paper can be seen on the wall outside the coach's office, and below a whiteboard listing weightlifting statistics.

That's the message Rebels' head coach Hugh Martin preaches to his team each season.

But this year, he will have to do it without his two main ball handlers on offense, JP Payton and Emiliano Mora. In the 2015 season, the former North Duplin stars combined for 1,643 rushing yards and 25 rushing touchdowns.

"We're not retooling anything as much as just trying to figure who's going to go where," Martin said. "(Payton and Mora) were a big part of what we did last year offensively. Emiliano (Mora) has been a tremendous force for us for the past four years, really a very versatile player. It will take a lot of people to fill his shoes.

"We're trying to use the skills that we've got to the best of our ability."

Martin and the Rebels enter the season with question marks surrounding both sides of the ball.

On offense, he returns four starters.

The battle for quarterback has been an ongoing competition throughout the offseason and into the preseason. Seniors Will Archer and Nicholas Trolinger and junior Gage Smith have all seen looks under center.

It may take a few games to establish a true starting quarterback, but the team has a full dose of returning ball carriers, including junior Kenny Sheppard and senior Terrion Addison. Addison rushed for 335 yards and two touchdowns last season while Sheppard rushed for 254 yards and four touchdowns.

Defensively, Martin has seven starters returning. In 2014, the Rebels were allowing 33.8 points per game. Last season, the program lowered that total to 27.2 points per game.

"We've got a good nucleus coming back who are familiar with that we expect," Martin said. "So they've gotten another year of development in the weight room, so we feel like we'll make some more strides defensively. So this group here, a lot of them played on the JV team we had two years ago. And they got a lot of experience then, and a lot of them had to play as sophomores last year on varsity."

Junior Luke Britt, who is taller than several NBA players at 6-foot-6, provided a boost for the defense both his freshman and sophomore year.

Martin expects the same level of play from Britt in 2016.

"(Britt's) one of those defensive players who started as a freshmen for us. We brought him off of JV," Martin said. "And then he started again last year defensively. He does a really good job being where he's supposed to be. Even though he's 6-foot-6, he's an outside linebacker for us. His height comes in handy sometimes."

As Martin and his coaching staff attempt to remove the question marks, they have stressed the importance of remaining healthy. They tell the players to learn their role, even though it may be different from last year's team.

The role that never changes for Martin is his grind-it-out, hard-nosed style of play on both sides of the ball.

That was the expectation for past seasons, and it will continue to be the mantra for next season and years to come.

"It's an emphasis for us," Martin said. "Some people may look at 3.5 and not think it's a great play. But if the running back struggles to get that extra half yard, then we're not behind chains so play calling becomes a little bit easier."