CHINA GROVE — Coaches pick the Post’s Friday Night Heroes, a feature that has continued through decades of football seasons.
Unless something unusual happens, if your team wins, you have earned a “hero” story.
If your team loses, even if you scored four touchdowns or made three interceptions, you don’t. As A.L. Brown coach Mike Newsome said a few years back when I asked him for a hero after what I regarded as a super-heroic loss to Hough or maybe it was Mallard Creek, “There ain’t no heroes when you lose.”
Sometimes there’s an obvious weekly honoree, someone who had a career game or made the game-saving interception or broke the game-deciding run, but sometimes the choice of a hero or heroes is not obvious and is arrived at only after after coaches watch film and consult with the coaching staff. Sometimes hero stories are cumulative, not necessarily for the most recent game, but recognition for a senior who has put together an exceptional career. That was the case earlier this week with North Rowan safety Nick Morrow.
Carson had so many defensive guys play so well in last week’s 28-6 win against Salisbury that head coach Jonathan Lowe picked a hero-guy and then changed his mind and picked another guy. Then he changed his mind again after the staff met.
No problem. That’s a nice dilemma to have. Always better to have multiple hero candidates than none. The Cougars settled on two seniors who have had really good careers and also made impactful plays against the Hornets.
“It was an emotional game, county rival, with our guys knowing their guys,” Lowe said. “Some of them were teammates at Southeast Middle. I thought we did a good job of playing hard, but also staying under control.”
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Garreck Barnes is a defensive back, 5-foot-11 and about 180 pounds. He loves to play a corner, but Carson often needs him in more of a safety role. He’s the best kind of DB because he’s fast enough to cover, but tough and aggressive enough to make hits on running plays.
When Salisbury scored first, Barnes blocked the PAT to keep Carson’s deficit at 6-0.
“I came around the edge and got to the kick,” Barnes said. “Being down 6-0 is different than 7-0. We knew if we scored, we wouldn’t just be tied, we’d take the lead.”
Barnes also had an interception for the second straight week.
“I was watching the quarterback and I knew from film study that it was going to be post or a fade,” Barns said. “It was a post and I had my eyes on that ball all the way and got the pick.”
He returned it 20 yards.
The previous week Barnes had a key interception in Carson’s comeback victory against SouthLake Christian.
“I always see my role as being a leader on the defense,” Barnes said. “I try to keep my head on straight, plus help out our younger guys.”
He also can help out in the offensive backfield occasionally. His only carry so far this season was a touchdown.
• • •
Carson senior Sedrick Wallace is a man-child who packs 290 pounds on a 6-foot frame.
He is related to Salisbury’s famous Walkers on his father’s side. That includes Jalon Walker, the Atlanta Falcon, and Deuce Walker, the Georgia State defensive back.
“I’ve looked up them,” Wallace said.
Wallace’s freshman season was wrecked by a basketball knee injury, but he started making an impact for Carson as a sophomore.
He was a regular in the 2024 Carson jayvee reports. In a 14-13 win against Piedmont, Wallace made two goal-line stops. Carson took advantage of the eight-quarter rule and Wallace was able to get a taste of varsity action.
Wallace can play on either line and the Cougars needed him more on offense than defense when he was a junior. He was a starting tackle.
As a senior, he has moved back to play mostly on defense. He plays as a “4 technique” for the Cougars, a defensive end on a three-man front. He plays on the right side and lines up head-on with the opposing left tackle.
“I was able to beat the tackle’s block several times against Salisbury,” Wallace said. “I was able to get pressure on the quarterback, and that’s my main job.”
Lowe explained that Carson had needed Wallace on offense the previous week in the game at SouthLake Christian, so he didn’t have any tackles in that game. With Ace Cousins out with a concussion, Wallace moved over to offense.
“I can play on either line,” Wallace said. “But I definitely think defense is where I’m best. Defense is my home.”
Wallace had six tackles against Salisbury, mostly by running down plays that were headed to his left. He moves well for such a large man.
He was credited with two tackles for loss.
He also had six tackles — a lot for a defensive lineman — in the win against Central Davidson.
• • •
Carson plays at West Rowan next. Carson has only beaten the Falcons once in 21 tries and has never won in Mount Ulla.
But Barnes, Wallace and their teammates are eager for the challenge. Like the Falcons, the Cougars are 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the SPC.
It should be a good one.
