By Mike London
Salisbury Post
GRANITE QUARRY — East Rowan back Jaxon Lyons made a quantum leap from 388 rushing yards for the season to 635 in one game.
Lyons and East’s offensive line had a great night in the 33-12 victory over South Rowan at W.A. Cline Stadium. It was the Mustangs’ first really decisive victory of the season. Their first three wins were nail-bitters.
East didn’t win at all in 2024, so the Mustangs have been the county’s most improved team.
“Our o-line did a really great job in the South game,” East head coach Brian Flynn said. “The thing is our o-line guys have been playing well in spurts all season. For a series here and there or for a quarter or even a half, they’ve played pretty decent in every game, even against Robinson. But the South game was the first time we found that consistency factor we’ve been looking for. For the first time, we were good upfront all night.”
East’s left tackle is sometimes Bryson Ware, who performs double duty as one the team’s best defensive players, so Colton Paffrath plays a lot of snaps at left tackle. The left guard is Mike Atwood. The center is Damian Ruhnow. The right guard is Diego Tovar. The right tackle is Parker Yelton.
East asks its lineman to do a lot of things that require agility and brain power as much as muscle.
“We were able to use different formations to get favorable blocking numbers on a lot of our running plays against South,” Flynn said. “Our guards did a good job of pulling and helping Lyons get outside.”
East runs some old-fashioned buck sweeps — both guards pull while their teammates block down — and also more sophisticated “pin-and-pull” plays, where any of the offensive linemen might work in tandem to double-team a defender. In the modern football jargon, East is heavy on “truck” plays. East runs gap plays and zone plays, but almost every running play that is called has the basic goal of getting Lyons, a talented sophomore, to the perimeter of the defense with blockers in front of him. Then Lyons can either bang or bounce, depending on what he sees.
“The passing game was good to us in the Salisbury and West Rowan games, but the running game is our bread and butter and Lyons is a good workhorse back,” Flynn said. “You adjust to your personnel. I’ve coached quite a wins with passing teams, but sometimes you swallow your pride and make adjustments to the strengths that you have.”
Lyons, 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, is one of the school’s best athletes. He played a lot of varsity minutes in hoops as a freshman, while he played mostly jayvee football last fall, He shined for the jayvees but contributed a modest 41 rushing yards for the varsity.
So Lyons has thought of himself as a basketball-first guy, but that mindset could change. His epic game on Friday — 27 carries, 246 yards, one TD — might be career-altering for him.
“We were 0-10 my freshman year, so this season has definitely been a lot more fun,” Lyons said. “Our offensive line played very well against South, and there also were some plays where I was able to break two or three tackles. I know I’m running the ball with a lot more confidence than I did last year. There was a play Friday where I broke through the line and I could see their safeties start backing up. A play like that gives you a lot of confidence.”
Lyons is also a solid receiver. He has 22 receptions, including one for East’s only touchdown in the loss to Carson.
It should be noted that East’s sophomore quarterback Julian Cauble continues to make strides. He threw two more TD passes against South.
“The normal way of doing things, you run the ball to open up the pass,” Flynn said. “But we’ve had games where we’ve had to work backwards and pass the ball to open up our running game. Stretch the defense a little bit, lighten the box a little bit, and then you’ve got a better chance to run the ball. Running the ball is who we are. That’s our identity.”
