FOOTBALL SIGNING: Mott twins head to Guilford; Floars chooses Wingate

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on February 2, 2017 10:22 AM

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PIKEVILLE -- One afternoon during practice, head varsity football coach Steve Brooks approached Zack Mott.

"We don't have a center," Brooks said.

Could a tackle-converted-guard learn another position?

The sophomore thought the proposition was "crazy." He hadn't taken a snap, learned either the plays or the techniques needed to anchor the offensive line during summer workouts.

"It was definitely trial by fire," Mott said.

Brooks wasn't done, though.

Twin brother Sam Mott got drafted into lineman duty along with Elijah Bryant and N.C. State signee Damien Darden. The quartet -- young and untested -- experienced a baptism by fire.

"When we first knew that we had an opportunity to play, we knew there were a lot of seniors in front of us," Sam said. "We knew if we out-worked them, we might not be necessarily better or bigger, we knew that Coach would rather put guys in a game that would work harder rather than be lazy.

"It was an adjustment for sure. If we didn't play that year, I don't think we would be where were our junior year or this year at all."

Those Friday nights of trial and error came to fruition Wednesday afternoon. The Mott twins both signed with Guilford College, while Randy Floars -- who missed his entire sophomore season due to an ACL injury -- inked a national letter-of-intent with Wingate University.

Every time an iPhone camera clicked, it froze the moment in time while the players signed their respective paperwork.

Brooks stood tall like a proud papa.

"If you look at our O-line, I think all of them but one are going to get the chance to go play college football somewhere," Brooks said. "The only reason the fifth one (Jordan Gay) isn't going is because he's a sophomore."

Eager to perfect their craft, the Motts and Floars constantly peppered Brooks with questions about techniques and how they could improve each day in all aspects of the game.

Sam played with a fierce temperament.

A competitive fire burned within Zack.

Floars played with heart.

Brooks described their work ethic as "unmatchable."

But, perhaps, it was a mantra that fueled the trio -- and their teammates -- every time they stepped onto the gridiron. Could they match up against stronger opposition and compete on every play?

"Damien and Elijah, they've got the size that everybody is looking for," said Brooks, who preached the 'chip on the shoulder' mentality.

"Randy and the Motts kind of being the underdog, they played that role up well and I think that gave them an extra boost -- 'hey, I'm going to show you that I can compete.' Once they got their feet wet their sophomore year, they played their tails off."

Floars watched from the sideline.

Though it upset him to see his Little Falcon and Norwayne brethren battle on the gridiron as sophomores, he pushed himself that much harder in the weight room. Soon the surgically-repaired left knee healed and a stronger, faster, confident Floars donned a uniform.

"A lot of people who get hurt don't go back to the weight room because they don't make that progression back up," Floars said. "With them encouraging me to get in another rep, saying 'you want to get back' just made me drive harder to get my rehab done.

"It was just overwhelming that I could come back."

The gang was together again with a new addition -- Gay.

Heading into his senior year, Floars remembered a conversation that he had with quarterback Jake Flowers and running back Caleb Gough during freshman home room three years earlier. They expected to have a good offense during their junior and senior years because Brooks and his staff had placed the right personnel in the right places to make the team successful.

A few wrinkles were penciled into the playbook, but the overall schemes never changed.

Neither did the work ethic.

CBA experienced that offensive explosion Floars predicted in 2016.

The Golden Falcons set three single-season records -- total points (464), average points per game (42.18) and points in one game (68). They lost an 83-68 shootout loss to D.H. Conley, which became the state record for total points (151) scored by two teams in a single game.

Flowers surpassed 4,000 yards passing in just two varsity seasons. Gough chipped away at the 2,000-yard rushing mark as a senior. Chandler Matthews eclipsed 2,000 receiving yards for his career.

"It can't tell you how many camps we went to and just putting everything together with Coach (David) Elmore to make it all work," Sam said. "Since I've been in high school, I've learned it's the little list of things that make you better. So when you're on your own, that's going to make you better."

Wednesday afternoon proved that theory.