Ryan Haskins honored
As seen in Wednesday's Daily Dispatch...
Anyone who follows Southern Vance football has heard of Jamere Pugh, O’Darren Gill and David Person. Yet there’s one young man on the team that handles the ball more than any of them.
Meet Ryan Haskins.
The 5-9, 271-pound center is the anchor of a solid Raider offensive line and, on Tuesday afternoon, he got his moment in the spotlight.
WRAL’s Tom Suiter paid a visit to Southern Vance High School to hand Haskins the WRAL Extra Effort Award for his work “not only on the playing field but also in the classroom and in the community.”
Haskins is the first Raider to win the honor since Ernest Jones — now starting at linebacker for N.C. State — back in 2002.
“They’ve been giving them out since 1981,” Southern Vance coach Mark Perry said of the honor. “Ryan was just an ideal candidate. I sent (the nomination) in a couple of weeks ago, and we’re very fortunate that he won. He’s another coach on the field. He and Jamere have been working together the last three years. They clicked together, and they’ll have some ideas about what’s going on out there and they’ll come to me and we’ll try it.
“At the same time, the kid’s got a heart as big as a tractor-trailer truck. He wants everybody to be successful, and he’s going to sacrifice to make sure they’re successful.”
It was quite a scene when Suiter presented Haskins with the Extra Effort Award plaque, complete with coaches and teammates, his dad, Phil Haskins, Jr., his mom, Lisa, and sister, Jessica.
Phil was visibly moved by the occasion.
“He’s a lineman. They get no credit,” he said. “If you ever meet him and talk to him, he’s just such a good kid. Whether up or down, on the field or off the field, he’s the same kid.
“The thing most people don’t know about Ryan is that, before he started playing middle school football, he was jacking home runs out of Aycock Park. But after he picked up a football, he never (cared) about baseball again. This is his love.”
Apparently, Ryan isn’t afraid to learn new things, either.
“They told him the only way he could get any better is to learn how to long snap. The next thing you know, he snapping a ball from here to that net over there,” Phil said of a net about 20 feet away. “One of the coaches for Concord up in West Virginia told him, ‘if only two people get on the bus (for a game), it’s the coach and the long snapper.’
“God, I’m just so proud of him.”
Spend a few minutes with Ryan and you start to see what all the fuss is about.
“It really means a lot to me, especially for my dad,” Ryan said during a break in Tuesday’s practice. “He’s really worked with me my whole life, playing football and stuff, so it means a lot. It just shows how hard I’ve been working and that, if I put my mind to it and work hard, I can do anything.”
Individual accolades are nice, but Ryan, a four-year varsity player and three-year starter, and his Raider teammates are hoping to keep building on the 6-1 start they’ve manufactured so far.
“We lost to Southwest Edgecombe, but we’ve bounced back really well,” he said of the team’s lone loss. “Bunn was obviously a really big win. We knew that was the biggest hump in our conference. Now it’s just about more or less staying focused week in and week out, striving to get that No. 1 seed in the playoffs.”
Ryan has plans for after high school as well.
“I really would like to play college football,” he said. “I really don’t have my mind set on anywhere. I’m just waiting to see what offers I get and who has the best academic plan for me. I’d really like to study Business Management. I’d like to become an entrepreneur and own my own business someday.”
The segment featuring Haskins is scheduled to air on WRAL (Time Warner Cable channel 5) on Thursday at 6:25 p.m.
Anyone who follows Southern Vance football has heard of Jamere Pugh, O’Darren Gill and David Person. Yet there’s one young man on the team that handles the ball more than any of them.
Meet Ryan Haskins.
The 5-9, 271-pound center is the anchor of a solid Raider offensive line and, on Tuesday afternoon, he got his moment in the spotlight.
WRAL’s Tom Suiter paid a visit to Southern Vance High School to hand Haskins the WRAL Extra Effort Award for his work “not only on the playing field but also in the classroom and in the community.”
Haskins is the first Raider to win the honor since Ernest Jones — now starting at linebacker for N.C. State — back in 2002.
“They’ve been giving them out since 1981,” Southern Vance coach Mark Perry said of the honor. “Ryan was just an ideal candidate. I sent (the nomination) in a couple of weeks ago, and we’re very fortunate that he won. He’s another coach on the field. He and Jamere have been working together the last three years. They clicked together, and they’ll have some ideas about what’s going on out there and they’ll come to me and we’ll try it.
“At the same time, the kid’s got a heart as big as a tractor-trailer truck. He wants everybody to be successful, and he’s going to sacrifice to make sure they’re successful.”
It was quite a scene when Suiter presented Haskins with the Extra Effort Award plaque, complete with coaches and teammates, his dad, Phil Haskins, Jr., his mom, Lisa, and sister, Jessica.
Phil was visibly moved by the occasion.
“He’s a lineman. They get no credit,” he said. “If you ever meet him and talk to him, he’s just such a good kid. Whether up or down, on the field or off the field, he’s the same kid.
“The thing most people don’t know about Ryan is that, before he started playing middle school football, he was jacking home runs out of Aycock Park. But after he picked up a football, he never (cared) about baseball again. This is his love.”
Apparently, Ryan isn’t afraid to learn new things, either.
“They told him the only way he could get any better is to learn how to long snap. The next thing you know, he snapping a ball from here to that net over there,” Phil said of a net about 20 feet away. “One of the coaches for Concord up in West Virginia told him, ‘if only two people get on the bus (for a game), it’s the coach and the long snapper.’
“God, I’m just so proud of him.”
Spend a few minutes with Ryan and you start to see what all the fuss is about.
“It really means a lot to me, especially for my dad,” Ryan said during a break in Tuesday’s practice. “He’s really worked with me my whole life, playing football and stuff, so it means a lot. It just shows how hard I’ve been working and that, if I put my mind to it and work hard, I can do anything.”
Individual accolades are nice, but Ryan, a four-year varsity player and three-year starter, and his Raider teammates are hoping to keep building on the 6-1 start they’ve manufactured so far.
“We lost to Southwest Edgecombe, but we’ve bounced back really well,” he said of the team’s lone loss. “Bunn was obviously a really big win. We knew that was the biggest hump in our conference. Now it’s just about more or less staying focused week in and week out, striving to get that No. 1 seed in the playoffs.”
Ryan has plans for after high school as well.
“I really would like to play college football,” he said. “I really don’t have my mind set on anywhere. I’m just waiting to see what offers I get and who has the best academic plan for me. I’d really like to study Business Management. I’d like to become an entrepreneur and own my own business someday.”
The segment featuring Haskins is scheduled to air on WRAL (Time Warner Cable channel 5) on Thursday at 6:25 p.m.
posted by Randy Capps at 7:07 PM
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