ALL-AREA FOOTBALL: EW's Britt named defensive player of the year

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on December 26, 2016 9:59 AM

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"Probably working hard in the weight room," said Britt, referring to the source of his achievements. "Just coming to practice every day and trying to get better. I had really good coaches. My defensive coach played defense in college so he knows what he's talking about."

Britt posted 132 tackles this season, with 116 accounted as solo. He also recorded four forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, two pass deflections -- and just for good measure -- one blocked field goal. The linebacker tallied at least 10 tackles in eight of his 11 games this season.

The high-level performance was foreshadowed at the beginning of the season when Britt was named one of the team captains.

As a leader, the aggressive, on-the-field demeanor was sometimes required to whip teammates into shape.

"One thing is to get (players) to practice on time," Britt said. "You have to get loud with them sometimes -- some of the younger guys. I just tried to keep everything under control and make sure everybody is doing what they're supposed to do."

Britt set the example through his performance on the gridiron, where he remained in attack mode.

Warriors' head coach Leander Oates said one of Britt's biggest strengths was his ability to wrap up and finish the tackle instead of going through the motions.

The first-year coach added that his senior linebacker had a nose for the football, which enabled him to sniff out plays and overcome blockers.

"He pretty much has a (high) IQ of the game," Oates said. "He studied film well, and he was able to get by linemen with pretty good skills against teams like Aycock, New Bern and Rose. He had an instinct for the ball."

Britt recalled EW's 25-24 win over South Central -- the Warriors' homecoming game -- as one of his best memories this season. During one drive, he registered every tackle and single-handedly forced a three-and-out.

His main job was to keep tabs on Dexter McDuffie, South Central's dual-threat signal-caller.

"South Central had a great quarterback," Oates said. "He was one of the more elusive quarterbacks in our conference. We pretty much had a man-to-man eye on him...With that game coming down to the wire and him making those tackles, that's just part of being that middle linebacker."

Another part of being a linebacker is forcing turnovers, a skill in which Britt was well-equipped.

The senior looked forward to slamming his shoulder pads against a ball-carrier.

Stripping the football was just an added bonus.

"Aim for the ball in the tackle," said Britt, explaining his technique. "Put your helmet right in their stomach, pull at their waist, pull down on the ball and it'll come out."

The other coaches in the Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference recognized the talent, and named him to the all-ECC first team.

It was to the point that Britt had developed a highly-regarded reputation.

"It's crazy because in our ECC conference meeting with the other coaches, the first thing they said was, 'Coach, I hope you're putting your middle linebacker down here because he is a straight animal!'" Oates said.

It's a comparable style to Carolina Panthers' linebacker Luke Kuechly, who Britt looks to as a model of success. He also has the same on-and-off switch as the three-time All-Pro and former NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

That's exactly what Oates and the EW football program are going to miss most about Britt -- a young man with the right attitude on and off the field.

"Seeing someone out there that's banging his head and doing everything out there compared to you seeing him as a regular person," said Warriors' head coach Leander Oates. "(He's) the 4.2 GPA kid, and the student leader around here. And you're like, 'Who is this guy on the field?'"

He's Noah Britt -- gentleman by day, tackler by night.