By Mike London
Salisbury Post
SPENCER — North Rowan’s A’son Best modestly accepted the Post’s honor as Rowan County Special Teams Player of the Year.
This is the eighth year that a Special Teams Player of the Year has been recognized. It can be a kicker or a punter or a returner. It could even be a long snapper, although no long snapper has won yet.
Best is honored for his kickoff return prowess.
He’s the second Cavalier to win the award. Jaemias Morrow was Rowan County Special Teams Player of the Year for his kick returning in 2022.
“Any award feels really great,” Best said. “An award for special teams means I did my job, but it also means my teammates were getting their blocks.”
North head coach Josh Sophia pointed out what a monumental overall season the 5-foot-9, 145-pound senior had. “Three kickoff return touchdowns, huge on special teams, 1,210 receiving yards and even played a lot at defensive back for us,” Sophia said. “No moment was too big for him. We go to North Stanly — really huge Yadkin Valley Conference game — and he runs back the opening kickoff for a touchdown.”
Best was so good at returning kickoffs, that he was too good for his own good. Teams stopped kicking off anywhere near him.
It was the ultimate form of respect, sort of like being intentionally walked in baseball — with no on base.
But Best had his moments, got in his licks before they decided to stay away from him.
He also ran back kickoffs for touchdowns against Lake Norman Charter and Salisbury. If he got to the sideline and turned it into a footrace, it was over.
In the Lake Norman Charter game, Best fielded a kickoff at his 5-yard line, not far from the right sideline, and started veering to his left across the field. He picked up a block, broke through a one-on-one tackle attempt, and then spotted a lane on the far sideline. He got there before anyone could stop him, and he was gone for a 95-yard jaunt.
“He’s got more than speed,” Sophia said. “He’s strong for his size and he can make you miss.”
Best averaged better than 51.8 yards per kickoff return, one of the best figures nationally.
While the YVC honored Union Academy’s phenomenal kicker (Stephen Gonzales) as its Specialist of the Year, Best was the league’s Offensive Player of the Year. North Rowan quarterback/linebacker Michael Alford was the league’s Overall Player of the Year.
A lot of Alford’s phenomenal passing stats could be traced to the flying legs of Best. Quite a few 3-yard tosses went 70 yards.
In the first-round playoff win against Avery County, Best quite literally ran all the way across the field before breaking loose. He took a jet sweep but ran into run into a wall of defenders. So he improvised. He reversed direction and went all the way down the opposite sideline.
“A’son did his damage basically on two plays — bubble screen and jet sweep,” Sophia explained. “To be successful, both of those plays require really good blocking by the other receivers and by our tight end (Khi Walker).”
Best could not have had more success than he did. He had 61 catches, just seven short of the school record. His 1,210 receiving yards ranked sixth in the state when his season ended and were the most in North Rowan history for a single season. Best and Dyaon Norman-Jackson also had the distinction of giving the Cavaliers the first 1,000-yard, pass-catching teammates in county history.
Best had a 224-yard receiving game against Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy. And he didn’t just pick on the weaker teams. He had nine catches for 180 yards against West Rowan.
Best, who had some injuries as a junior, finished his career with 1,968 receiving yards. He likely would’ve surpassed 2,000 if Alford hadn’t been injured early in the second-round playoff game at Corvian Community School.
“I was determined to make myself a better player as a senior,” Best said. “So I put in a lot of work before the season.”
West Rowan’s Carter Durant was runner-up for county special teams honors. He kicked six field goals, three that were critical in the big victory against Northwest Cabarrus. He was 34-for-38 on PATs. He handled kickoffs well, but his punting wasn’t as powerful as it was his junior season.
