By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SPENCER — North Rowan senior Jaden Walker has a split personality.
Monday through Thursday, he’s a National Honor Society and Junior ROTC member who takes challenging classes in English, wins math awards and maintains a GPA in the 3.9 range. He also has a working internship at Novant that is important to him.
“I’ve learned quite a few skills at Novant,” Walker said. “I’ve learned how to cook and I’ve learned a lot about taking care of people.”
Walker is described by everyone as the ultimate “good kid,” but on Friday nights he can fire himself up and turn into a junkyard dog. He enjoys the hard contact as much as a math exam.
“Student first, athlete second, always,” Walker said. “But I do love to study football and I love to play football. Every football game I play in, I try to prove to people that I can pack a punch.”
The powerful punch that Walker packs is unexpected, as he stands only 5-foot-7 and weighs about 165 pounds. He is usually a linebacker, but he runs well enough to play strong safety, and he’s rough and tough enough to play defensive end.
“He’s normally an outside linebacker in our 4-2-5 base defense,” North head coach Josh Sophia said. “But we can put him at defensive end when he want to go to a five-man front. His versatility allows us to change our defense without having to substitute different personnel. He’s an important guy for us.”
The first thing you notice about Walker is that he wears the No. 13 jersey. That’s not a number famous for good luck and it’s not usually the first one to be requested, but Walker explained that his favorite NFL player Odell Beckham Jr. wore the 13. Beckham made a catch 11 years ago as a New York Giants rookie in a Sunday Night Football Game against the Dallas Cowboy that many consider the greatest grab ever made because he made that one-handed touchdown catch with just three powerful fingers — while falling backwards.
Walker doesn’t catch passes, but Beckham is still his guy.
Walker does have good hands, and they came in handy during North’s first win this season. After starting the season 0-3, North was on the road in Monroe at Union Academy Charter to begin Yadkin Valley Conference play. It was one of those times when Walker was stationed at defensive end. He had a 62-yard scoop-and-score fumble return touchdown that was one of the signature plays of that game. That was a game where North regained its swagger, and the Cavaliers have been contenders for the YVC title all season long.
In the recent YVC game against Albemarle, North was in a tougher fight than expected on Senior Night against the under-rated Bulldogs. Walker made one of the plays that helped turn that game around.
:”We were down a touchdown and had just been stopped, punted and gave Albemarle a short field,” Sophia said. “They had a chance to go up two scores there. But the first play they ran was a reverse. That was a surprise call, but Jaden made the tackle for no gain. That was one of those huge plays that night go unnoticed — except by a coaching staff.”
Walker remembers the play. The reverse didn’t fool him.
“I stayed home and was in position to make the stop,” he said. “I just did what I’ve been coached to do.”
Most games, Walker quietly does his job and makes about five tackles. In addition to his work on defense, he’s an exceptional special teams player. Sophia said he may be North’s best at covering kickoffs.
Walker has a college offer, but it’s from a long way from home, so he’ll have some decisions to make. He’ll be prepared to make the right ones.
