CLASS OF CHANGE

Northern Nash seniors put their mark on program

The portion of the nickname comes and goes, but there might not be a better symbol of Fighting Knights than this season’s Northern Nash football team.

The Twin Counties least successful football program during the last few seasons looked as if it might continue its downward spiral in 2009, but the last two weeks are solid proof of change.

Northern Nash will fight.

The Knights (2-8, 2-2 Big East) have won two consecutive games in Big East Conference action, and they find themselves in unfamiliar territory entering tonight’s regular-season finale against rival Rocky Mount High.

They are fighting for a playoffs berth.

“We knew things weren’t going to be perfect all season,” senior linebacker Tyus Braswell said. “We knew we had the athletes to do it, we just had to work hard at it. It’s not going to be given to you.”

Two conference wins after losing the first eight games would be a modest improvement for most programs, but Northern Nash has been stuck at the bottom of the pack.

The Knights lost 30 games between 2006-2008.

They endured a pair of coaching changes.

They found ways to lose, rather than win.

They became a sure victory on opponent’s schedules.

The Knights haven’t played perfect in coach Mickey Crouch’s first season, but even in lopsided losses to Tarboro and Wilson Hunt, Crouch said he saw his players giving their best effort.

The 26 players who began the season are still on the team — something past squads could not always put on their resume at the end of the season.

“It would have been easy for one or two of them to fold the tent,” Crouch said of the team’s 0-8 start. “Not one of them thought about it.”

The turnaround began two weeks ago at neighborhood rival Nash Central. The Knights won, 20-0, and earned the program’s most lopsided victory since a 32-14 victory against Bertie on Sept. 16, 2005.

Northern Nash one-upped itself last week. It trailed Wilson Fike, 21-0, with a minute remaining in the second quarter before the Knights scored 22 unanswered points to earn its second straight victory.

A team that fails to fight doesn’t win that game.

“It’s a good feeling to know we can take control of a game when we do what we’re supposed to,” Braswell said.

A reward might soon follow.

Northern Nash could earn a share of second place in the Big East Conference if the program knocks off Rocky Mount for the first time since 2002.

It’s a thought Braswell and his four senior classmates could not entertain during the last three seasons.

“It would mean a lot to me,” Knights running back Artavious Jones said. “I don’t know what it would feel like to make the playoffs. It would be a good feeling.”

Braswell and Jones said the team has a strong junior class, which might leave the Knights in good position next season.

Braswell said he overheard one student at school say he will join the team next season if the team earns a playoffs berth.

It’s easy to join a winner and fighter.

“To me, this is just as big as anything I’ve ever done,” said Crouch, who has won state titles in various sports as a coach and player. “These kids are special kids. It’s pretty amazing. We’re playing for something.”

Jessie H. Nunery can be reached at 407-9951 or jhnunery@coxnc.com