ALL-AREA FOOTBALL: Princeton's Gibson Jr. named offensive player of the year

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on December 26, 2016 9:59 AM

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"He's a service-before-self person and that can't get lost in one football game. He is a special individual and a vast majority of our players are."

And this was a different Earl, too.

One year ago, he was timid. Didn't take the weight-room seriously. Couldn't break tackles. Fumbled the football. The offensive line opened lanes, but he struggled behind his blockers.

Frustration filled his soul.

It fueled him for his senior season, too.

"The inner me starting coming out," Gibson Jr. said. "I just told myself I'd bust my butt in the weight room next year so I could put my team in good position (to win). This year, I was more determined."

Ball security became paramount.

Game film study sessions filled part of his day.

The nuances of the misdirection Wing-T scheme began to make sense.

"I was able to do more stuff than I did my junior year," Gibson Jr. said. "The O-line. They busted their butts off every play. Their goal was to just move the person that was in front of them every night and to get our running backs going every night. They did their job and I gave them credit every night."

The Bulldogs grinded and pounded opponents behind the quintet of linemen LeShane White, Luke Braswell, Bryce Harrington, Jordan Stallworth and Kevin Barber.

Five yards here.

Another three yards there.

PHS easily moved the sticks on short-yardage plays.

Backfield mates Matt Stallworth and Trace James blocked for Gibson Jr. He never hesitated to return the favor and lay the leather on a defender like you spread peanut butter on a slice of bread. Princeton developed a dynamic and vigorous three-back attack that averaged 363.3 yards on the ground.

"The coaching staff believed in me," Gibson Jr. said. "The other pair of running backs sold out their fakes. When you block for each other, you have a good season."

Indeed.

Gibson Jr. turned in his most-remarkable performance during an opening-round, four-overtime playoff game against Riverside. He tied the single-season school record for rushing TDs in a game (7) and scored 46 points. He matched the record set by PHS alum and current N.C. State sophomore Johnny Frasier, who has the school mark of 51 points in a game.

In that same game, Gibson Jr. burned every ounce of adrenaline as he carried the ball 42 times -- second only behind the great Mike Atkinson, who holds the PHS record with 49.

Those numbers astounded, yet humbled Gibson.

"It was remarkable," he said.

The most-important number, however, was 33.

Princeton hadn't won a regular-season championship since 1983. They came close during the Frasier era and shared runner-up honors with arch rival Rosewood in 2015.

Gibson Jr. felt different this year.

He noticed the team displayed one heartbeat and unity.

Every Friday night held a mission.

"Our goal from the beginning of the year was to win a conference championship," Gibson Jr. said. "We were going to do what it takes to win one...determined. Whoever was in front of us, knock them out. That's all it was."

And No. 5 certainly did his part.