H.S. FOOTBALL: North Side starting well with new players

North Side football has become one of the standards in recent years against which other programs are measured when it comes to sustained success over the course of multiple seasons.

Since head coach Tab Vowell took over in 2009, the Indians have suffered through one losing season, and that one was plagued by injuries.

The players that have come through the program have waited their turn each year, sometimes not seeing the field for a lot of significant playing time until their senior year.

Josh Averyheart is one player who has helped as an underclassman but is seeing his role increase greatly because he's a senior and everyone ahead of him on the depth chart has graduated.

He was on the field for what he estimated between 20 and 40 percent of the snaps in 2013, but he spent a lot of time on the sidelines last year watching Jarvis Bryant and Cha Cha Rivers make catches and help lead North Side to a nine-win season.

"I tried to do what I could when I was out there playing," Averyheart said. "But I also tried to learn as much as I could as well.

"Jarvis would tell me what was going on out there and what he was seeing, and he'd tell me what he needed to do in those situations. So I use that to know what I need to do in those same situations."

Martavious Anderson is one whose role has changed as he's moved up through the program. When he was a sophomore, he played defensive end. Last year when there wasn't a nose tackle ready to go after Nick Maclin had graduated, he moved to that position to help out there.

Now there is some help at the nose tackle position, Anderson has once again moved back to the end.

"That's where I want to be and probably need to be because that's where I've played the most since I've been playing football," Anderson said. "But it's wherever they need me to go, I'll be there."

Even though they're attacking from different angles, Anderson said it didn't take a lot of adjustment last year when he moved to the middle of the line, and moving back this year was simply a matter of getting back to what he'd been doing all along.

"No matter where you are on the line, you're trying to get past their blockers," Anderson said. "Their guys in the middle might not be as big or they may have their best guys on one side, but other than that there's really no difference.

"Just go after the guy with the ball."

Now Averyheart, Anderson and the rest of the Indians are off to a good start to their season and their time to shine in the North Side blue and gold. They won on the road at one former District 13-AAA rival Dyer County in convincing fashion, 35-0.

This week another 13-AAA team comes to the Reservation as Hardin County will be in Jackson. The Tigers also won a big shutout game, pummeling Memphis Northside 55-0.

"They've got a good offense and can do a lot of stuff with it," said Averyheart, who also plays defensive back. "They're a team we've got to be ready to go against, or they could score a lot of points on us."

Hardin County has had one of the bigger lines in West Tennessee in recent years, and Anderson said being ready for them will important this week.

"We've had to work hard to beat them in the past, and we'll have to do it again Friday," Anderson said.

Brandon Shields, 425-9751

Coming Friday

• The Friday Morning Blitz will preview all area games in Week 1.

• Check out this week's edition of Chalk Talk with Brandon Shields and Craig Thomas on jacksonsun.com.