By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SPENCER — North Rowan senior Dequavion Brooker has saved his best for last.
An inside linebacker called “Quae” by his teammates and coaches, Brooker had his first interception of the season in Thursday’s 30-21 win at Mountain Island Charter that gave the Cavaliers a share of the Yadkin Valley Conference title.
“They ran a skinny post, a play that had been successful for them, but Quae went way up and he didn’t just get the breakup, he picked it off,” North head coach Josh Sophia said. “Then he made a heck of a return. He nearly housed it.”
It was a spectacular interception. Then Brooker returned it 36 yards.
“At first, I didn’t think the quarterback was going to throw the ball, but then I saw it coming my way,” Brooker said. “I looked to my left and I could see that I had help, so I went after the ball. I kept going up until I got it.”
Brooker has been North’s leading tackler down the stretch. He had nine tackles against Mountain Island Charter, nine the week before that against Albemarle and nine more right before that against North Stanly. He had 11 stops in the early-season game with West Rowan and averages about 8 per game. He would have more, but there have been some running clock games where it was tough to accumulate stats.
“The last three games he’s been really good,” Sophia said. “We’ve had an injury at inside backer (Malik Miller) and we rest (quarterback/linebacker) Mike Alford whenever we can on defense, so Quae’s production has been huge. He’s gotten better every week and has blossomed into a real senior leader for us.”
Brooker believes the Mountain Island Charter game was the best he’s ever played.
“The reason for that is it I knew it was the last regular-season game I’d get to play in high school,” Brooker said. “I wanted it to be special. You want the last one to be a good one.”
Brooker got lots of reps as a junior, but he was more of a part-time player. That didn’t discourage him. It motivated him. He put heart and soul into preparing to be a full-time starter his senior season.
“I knew I probably would be the one who had to replace (Catawba recruit) Jeremiah Alford at linebacker, and those were very big shoes to fill,” Brooker said. “I went to every workout in the summer and I did my best to be ready.”
Brooker switched to the No. 8 jersey for his senior season. No particular reason, but it was available, and he liked it. He’s been a different player wearing the 8.
“He’s had the kind of year you want your dedicated seniors to have,” Sophia said. “He’s a program guy.. He’s always here. He’s always on time. He’s not a kid you ever have to worry about. Every single thing he does sheds a positive light on North Rowan’s football program.”
While North’s season started 0-3, including draining losses to county rivals West Rowan and Salisbury, the Cavaliers (6-4) have shown they have resilience as well as talent. They’ve won six of their last seven games.
They beat two good YVC teams — South Stanly and Mountain Island Charter — on the road. The road game they lost — to the North Stanly squad that tied with South Stanly and North Rowan for first place — was a dogfight. Brooker was involved in scoring a safety in that game, but the Cavaliers couldn’t overcome injuries and penalties.
“That was a tough loss against North Stanly, but our guys did a great job to turn things around after that 0-3 start,'” Sophia said. “We’ve had a really good season. I really think we’re a better team right now than a 12 seed (10 teams got byes in 2A West), but when you look at the brackets, most of the strong 2A teams are in the West. There are three-win teams that will playing at home in the first round in the East.”
Avery County isn’t likely to challenge North Rowan in Friday’s first round of the playoffs, but after that the Cavaliers will be on the road at Corvian Community (8-1), a team that was granted a first-round bye as the fifth seed.
