Mustangs paint it Black

[FIGHTN_HOKIE 10]

 

 

Chris Black isn’t the flashiest player on Monticello’s roster by a long shot. Running back Takeem Hedgeman, wide receiver Daniel Lieb, quarterback Michael Graham and even two-way lineman Jake Miles seem to attract a lot more attention than the Mustangs’ middle linebacker.

 

But ask any member of the Monticello coaching staff who is the unheralded leader of that defense and you’ll get one answer every time.

 

“[black] is a great linebacker,†said Monticello defensive coordinator Tom Sutliff. “He doesn’t get a lot of tackles because all the guys up front do such a good job, but he shuts down what other people like to do and [against Poquoson in the state semifinal] he was really mentally sharp.â€

 

If the Mustangs (12-1) are going to win Saturday’s Group AA Division 3 state final against Richlands (11-2), the defending state champions, Saturday at 12 p.m. in Lynchburg, Black will have to be mentally sharp again. Then again, that’s rarely an issue with the 6-foot, 180-pound senior.

 

Black is a coach’s dream because he not only understands where he’s supposed to be in on every call in the Mustangs’ system, but he also knows where everyone else is supposed to be. That’s a rarity on the high school level where players are sometimes lucky to execute their own responsibility properly.

 

Black’s analytical ability allows him to keep everybody on the Mustang defense (which according to Black calls itself “The Blackout,†one assumes in homage to the school’s color scheme and not the middle linebacker), straightened out.

 

“Anytime one of our players makes a mistake on the field I just try to get their head back in the game,†Black said.

 

While many middle linebackers tend towards the “madman†stereotype of the position established by Ray Nitschke, [censored] Butkus and Jack Lambert, Black is more of the thinking man’s middle linebacker.

 

“He’s very smart,†Monticello head coach Brud Bicknell said. “He understands the gameplan, which allows him to get into position to make a lot of plays.â€

 

Opponents would be foolish to mistake smarts for a lack of aggressiveness and intensity. Black is wired solely for defense, and he didn’t choose his position because it just looked like fun.

 

“I’ve always been a defensive player, I don’t really have an offensive position,†Black, who is listed only nominally as a tight end, said. “Linebacker, I felt like, was the spot on the field where I could do the most damage.â€

 

On Saturday he’ll go toe to toe with another talented linebacker in Richlands’ Shane Wicks, a tough, gutsy player whom teammates refer to as one of the hardest hitters in school history. How those two play will go a long way towards determining the outcome of the state final.

 

If Monticello is going to derail the Blue Tornado, Black will need to create an awful lot of havoc.