Rocky Mount High School | Archive | August, 2017

Richard Oxendine helped guide the Rocky Mount High girls’ soccer team to a deep playoff run in the spring.

Now, he has to transfer that success to the boys side. Oxendine picks up his second season with the Gryphons soccer program, and he sees promise. He’s just hoping to get enough match time in to make the team work.

Rocky Mount High hosted Nash Central in a match that was postponed on Wednesday. It was tied, 1-1, in the 28th minute, and it will resume Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday was the second time in a row that Rocky Mount had a game postponed or suspended. Oxendine joked about it after the match was called, but he’s ready to see the squad take form.

“We have the firepower, it is just a matter of executing,” Oxendine said. “And that is what non-conference games are about: finding out what your issues are and tightening them up.”

So far, Oxendine knows the Gryphons need more stability on defense. Rocky Mount gave up four goals in its season opener to Southern Wayne on Aug. 15, then drew a tie against Greenville Rose two days later.

Against Rose, Oxendine said he could see the team play quality increase before the game was called. But he also saw the defense lagging again versus Nash Central. Oxendine hopes the technique will catch up to the team’s condition, which is something they’ve worked on throughout the summer.

The Gryphons went 7-13-2 (3-6-1 Big East), and Oxendine brings nine seniors into a season he thinks could be a step up.

“Hunt is rebuilding this year because they lost a lot, and I don’t think Fike had a very strong turnout,” Oxendine said. “So if we can get past them, if nothing else, it will build our confidence.”

Southern Nash was by far the best Big East team Nash County had to offer last year. The Firebirds went 9-8-4 (5-4-1 Big East) under then first-year coach Carlos Barron. He thinks that Southern Nash has the skill to break up the Wilson stronghold at the top of the table.

“We have talent, and I’m not going to sugarcoat that,” Barron said by phone. “It is just really going to be whether we can find balance playing together as a team.”

Barron felt that last year’s squad never gelled well enough to seriously contend. Barron also had to suspend two starters from a couple games after off-field issues. He did so, he said, to bolster the program’s culture.

This season, Barron feels the leadership is strong at the top and will trickle down, and the players know how to conduct themselves. He feels like his top 11 will be on the field every game of 2017. Barron pointed to Angel Rangel and Eric Mendoza as the guys who have taken control of practices.

“The senior leadership this year has been outstanding,” Barron said. “They have really taken ownership of the team, and I couldn’t be happier with the senior class this year.

“ . . . I think we have a solid chance to shock people, and it all depends on what team shows up. That is what we’ve been working on — building our identity and working off of what we do so other teams don’t dictate what we do.”

Much like Rocky Mount High, Nash Central is an older squad with nine seniors. Nash Central coach Ryan Ruiz said his team is a perfect example of why Nash Central needed to drop down to 2-A: the Bulldogs only have two freshmen.

That said, Ruiz thinks this could be the most talented team that Nash Central’s fielded. He feels his offensive third, powered by twins Chandler and Drifton Padgett, is full of speed.

Ruiz sees a benefit to dropping down classes. Now, the rest of Nash County will serve as training grounds for its new conference, the Eastern Plains. With this set-up, Ruiz believes the Bulldogs will come out more powerful in the long run.

“The conference we are going into is not a pushover, and no one will let us win,” Ruiz said. “If we can use these guys (the Big East) to gauge where we are at, then we will be a good situation.”

Rocky Mount coach Jason Battle recognized football was headed in a direction. The Gryphons coach wanted Shyheim Battle to be part of it.

Shyheim Battle, a junior defensive back, was guided into the cornerback position well before the start of last season. He had just finished a season playing quarterback for the JV squad as a freshman, but his varsity coach had different plans for the tall, long player once he arrived on the varsity roster.

“Coach Battle told me about the new generation of corners,” Shyheim Battle said. “The long, lengthy ones are the ones that play at the next level. He said my body type is perfect for what you’re asked to do at the position.”

So Battle started to learn what he could about his new position. He went to camps at N.C. State and Clemson the summer before his sophomore season. There, he learned fundamentals, and was able to put what he learned to test by guarding receivers from across the country, and even against players from Brazil.

“The camps showed me everything I needed,” Battle said. “I came into it not really knowing what it was all about, then I started liking it. It didn’t take long for me to have the confidence I do now to to do what I do.”

In his first season at cornerback, Battle recorded two interceptions, including a timely one that put the lid on a Southern Lee comeback bid in the opening round of the 3-A playoffs. His five pass deflections last season was second on the team.

Battle, however, still has big plans for himself this season. A wiry 6 feet, 2 inches, Battle can be a nightmare for receivers hoping to get off the line clean. This summer, Battle learned techniques to play right up to the line of scrimmage, just inches from receivers.

He didn’t play much press last season, as the Gryphons scheme had him starting five or six yards off the ball to help cover the deep third of the field. But Battle figures to see more snaps in press coverage so this season. He learned those intricacies at a USA camp, then honed his skills at a South Carolina camp, and had West Georgia on his schedule as well.

“Coach said I’ll be doing more pressing,” Battle said. “Colleges like to see that I can do that. I learned to watch the inside hip and worked on that at those camps. The hips will tell you everything, every move.

“I’m going to be more physical in press, extend my arms and control the receiver.”

Battle made it a priority to increase his speed before the season, in anticipation of having a bigger impact. He worked on his first step quickness, as well as using his long strides to run with fast receivers.

He dropped time in the 40-yard dash this summer from 4.7 seconds to 4.62 seconds. Battle will be counted on early this season as the Gryphons travel to Apex Middle Creek in Week 1. Middle Creek beat RMH last season, one of three losses including the state championship game defeat against Belmont South Point. Middle Creek likes to throw the ball, and Battle is excited for an early chance to show off what he’s been working on this offseason.

“I know I always have more room for improvement,” Battle said. “Some people said I was too slow, others thought I wasn’t strong enough. I want to start the season out good, and show everyone what I’m about and what we’re about this season.”

With a new season, a new group of football players has to step into starting positions left vacant by last year’s seniors. Once teams get past Week One, it’s not even a big deal anymore. Who’s on the roster is who’s on the roster, and no one that left is coming back.

But there is always a handful of players that are difficult to replace. The 2017 football season has no shortage of star departures. Here’s a list of the guys who will be missed the most this season.                    

Sherrod Greene, Artavious Richardson and others – Rocky Mount High

Pointing out only Greene and Richardson would be enough. The duo won the past two All-Area Defensive Players of the Year, and they anchored a unit that helped Rocky Mount High win a 3-A state title in 2015 and return to the title game last year. Greene, a linebacker, is now on the University of South Carolina football team. Richardson, a defensive end, will play for N.C. A&T.

But the Gryphons’ class of 2016 had many special pieces. Running back B.J. Sanders will play for Charleston Southern. K.K. Edwards provided playmaking ability at wide receiver and started at cornerback. David Keck anchored the offensive line, and Thomas Battle did the same for the defensive line. Linebacker Rod’Quon White became a tackling machine.

Rocky Mount High will have many holes to fill in 2017.