15 minutes at 15 schools in 15 days:Day Five on the road at Southern Guilford

At Southern Guilford on this Tuesday morning and we got the chance to talk to Storm coach Daryl Brown, after the workout/practice was completed, by the Storm…

Practice is running from 8-10:30 and then the Storm hits the weight room after the are finished with practice…Same deal tomorrow when they go full-gear for the first time and they will have to work at quick clip, since they have that big NewBridge Bank Jamboree/Scrimmage next Friday August 16 and they may look for another scrimmage in-between, but the season-opener is fast approaching too, with the Southern Guilford Storm at the Eastern Guilford Wildcats to begin the 2013 campaign…

The Storm will be building, maybe not re-building, but for sure building and re-loading after losing 18 starters off of last year’s team….Only 4 starters return for Coach Brown, with two on the offensive side of the ball and two on the defensive side….

Reggie Gallaspy and Ahmad Dialo return on offense and Gallaspy is ready to return to full form and be the galloping Gallaspy of 2012, when he gained over 1,500 yards and scored 20-plus toucdowns, from his runningback spot in the Storm’s two-back offense, carrying the load last year with All-Area back Malik Moseley…This year Gallaspy, a junior, will be the featured back in the Storm offense and he will have to count on Dialo(6’3/270) and several newcomers up on the offensive line, to open up the holes that he needs to plow through….

Dialo can get it done and he will have a new quarterback doling out the seed/football, as Nathan Stoner takes over for the departed Camden Ball…Stoner is tall and proves to be able to see his receivers and one of them that he will be looking for is, Kenyon Taylor…..Taylor is only a sophomore and he is already turning quite a few heads, as people inside the Storm, are watching this kid closely….

Up front and on defense is where Coach Brown feels Southern Guilford will be the strongest….

We mentioned earlier that Southern only returns 4 starters overall and two of those were on offense(Gallaspy and Dialo) and the other two are on defense and they both hold down positions on the defensive line….Brady Stover and Corey Pegram are bookends, as in defensive ends, that plan to clean up the outside and turn the big plays back inside, where they can get some help and if no help arrives, Stover and Pegram can take on the responsibility and shut down the run, with the tackle….Pegram and Stover are part of that ‘top-athlete’ crowd at Southern and they will also be spotted at the guard spots, along the offensive line….

At times Stover and Pegram may need to just ‘hang on’ and realize that help is on the way and it should show up just in the nick of time from J’myiah Vincent, one of the Storm’s top linebackers on the inside and they if the ball carrier or receiver gets loose and is flying up field, Shamar McCall and Jamal Williams will be in hot pursuit, coming up and over from the corners….Coach Brown expects big seasons from Vincent(ILB), McCall(CB) and Williams(CB)….Vicent will also help the Storm from his RB position…..With their talent level, McCall and Williams might see some ‘O-Time’ too….

Coach Brown told us this year’s team is behind last year’s pace and they do have some catching up to do, before their first regular season game on Friday August 23, as the Storm takes to the road to faceoff with the Eastern Guilfrd Wildcats…

Teams to watch for in the conference this year are Asheboro, Western Guilford and North Forsyth…Asheboro was unbeaten on the JV level last season and those kids ought to now be on Varsity and ready to light it up, like a ‘Blue Comet’….Lots of goods athletes at North and Western will be looking forward to settling in at the 3-A level, after the past 5 years of playing up in the 4-A standings….Good rivalries with SG and WG going back a few years and this might just be good to re-kindle those old competitive spirits, between these two squads….

*****Also got the chance to ask Coach Brown what he thought about the NCHSAA’s two mandatory ‘dead periods’, where you can not practice or have worouts on the week of July 4th and the week of the East-West All-Star Games….Coach Brown said it was fine with on the week of the 4th, but he felt the other week off(All-Stars Week) might not be necessary…Need all of the time that you can get for the season, and one week off(on the Week of the 4th) may be enough…..

Back when we were in school, you never got a week off from the weight room or from your cardiovascular work, even though back in the day, the cardiovascular work was not all that detailed in the offseason…One thing was for certain back in the day, you always knew where you stood in the weight room, NEXT, as in next up and time to get to work.*****

+++++Coach Brown has about 12-13 coaches on his football staff and that is a far cry from the two they had back when Daryl Brown’s grandfather, C.K. Siler was the football, basketball(at times boys and girls) and baseball coach at Sumner/Southern Guilford…..Coach Brown has first-time football coach and JV head boys basketball coach Evan Fancourt out there with him this season, and Evan is giving the football an even keel approach.+++++

$$$$$Always worth the drive down past Highway 85, when you get the chance to go visit Southern Guilford High School.$$$$$

Click Below to see Southern Guilford Storm video from today’s/Tuesday’s practice….