The lineman who ate Shelby

#62 nose tackle Thomas James

Kings Mountain utilizes a 3-4 defense. If you're an SEC fan then you may recognize this scheme as the same one that Alabama uses. And one of stars of the Tide's defense is Terrance "Mount" Cody, the 6'5, 365-pound nose tackle. Before he was injured Cody was a serious threat to an opponent's rushing attack. He was a disrupter. He forced offensive coordinators to adjust their gameplans in order to deal with him.

Kings Mountain has an impact player just like that, although not as gargantuan as Mount Cody.

The Mountaineer 3-4 defense is anchored by hardhitting nose tackle Thomas James. He's got the size (6'3, 265), the strength and the aggression to wreck an offensive line. I would compare him favorably to Newton-Conover's Jordan Gibbs (#76). CVAC fans are all painfully aware of what a beast Gibbs was all season. Thomas James is the same kind of player.

Other comparisons could be made to former Alexander Central defensive linemen such as Cameron Millsaps and Kyle Linney. They could and did dominate offensive lines, including Hickory's. The good news is that Hickory beat Millsaps and the Cougars in 2002 and beat Linney and Central's other big 'uns in 2006. But the Tornado linemen who played in those games can testify as to the nature of the trench warfare in those contests.

James will definitely have to be double-teamed, no doubt by Darrin Willis and Alex Martin, which will make things a little easier for one of KM's four linebackers. This will, in turn, mean that the Tornado fullback will have to be diligent in his blocking. Everybody is going to have to block in this one.

James was selected Cleveland County Player of the Week after he led the way in a 21-0 demolition of the Shelby Golden Lions. Here is a quote that best sums it up:

"Shelby simply had no answer for blocking James. No. 62 was a constant presence in the Lions' backfield. Besides his nine tackles on the night, the two-year starter hurried several throws, recovered a fumble and forced another fumble with a hard hit. His energy also helped fire up his fellow Mountaineer defenders..."

I wonder how big #62 will do against the Wild Tornado formation?