South Pointe's Harold White is a coach's delight. The senior linebacker talks the talk, gets his teammates fired up just as much as he is, then goes out and plays his heart out.
White led the Stallions in tackles Thursday in the 31-10 win over Rock Hill. Being the leading tackler is nothing new to him. Winning the city championship and a region title is, however.
South Pointe athletics director Mike Drummond said during the game that White was the Stallions' vocal leader on defense. Drummond said, "The first thing he will talk about is not getting the shutout."
After the game, on the field, White was still vocalizing.
"We didn't want them to score," White said, true to form.
Rock Hill got a third-quarter 27-yard field goal from Brandon Berger and a fourth-quarter 7-yard touchdown run by Jamal Tyler.
"We look for the shutout every week," White said while taking compliments for a good game one after another.
Defensive back Pat Burris echoed the goal.
"We always aim for the shutout. We knew Rock Hill had a fast offense and we'd have to stay with them," Burris said.
White takes his job seriously.
"I feel like my job before the game is to get what I feel into everyone else. If we all have the same heartbeat, we can't lose," White said.
So far, South Pointe hasn't.
At 5-8 and 190 pounds, White is a bit undersized for linebacker at the college level.
"My daddy told me when I was little he would take a smart player over a big player any day." Count White among the smart ones.
He finished with more than 10 tackles on the night. It was the hit he put on Rock Hill's Jatavius Stewart in the fourth quarter to break up a pass play that will be remembered.
Stewart cut across the middle on a quick pass route. Bearcat quarterback Randall Dixon delivered the ball, and White delivered a hit. Stewart never saw it coming. He was off his feet then lying flat on his back in a split second.
Rock Hill gave up 31 points, but the defense stiffened after the intermission after allowing 17 first-half points.
South Pointe was held in check through the third quarter. Its first series was a three-and-out. The Stallions only other possession of the quarter was a run up the gut by Quentin Darby that was stuffed at the line of scrimmage.
Wedged in between was a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Burris.
"We talked at halftime about turning things around on offense and defense," Rock Hill defensive back/wide receiver Xavier McFadden said. "We started stunting more on defense. On special teams, we worked all week on filling in the gaps on returns. They just found other gaps."
Terrance Bingham and Mike McClure were assigned to contain South Pointe quarterback Stephon Gilmore. They took turns throughout the game. It is a tough assignment for anyone.
Gilmore has the ability to make big plays. He had three runs for 20-plus yards in the game.
"(South Pointe's) offensive line moves well from sideline to sideline. We weren't prepared for that," McClure said. "Our main focus was on 5 (Gilmore), 7 (Charles Holmes) and 27 (Devin Wherry)."
