City's best player slows down to chat
i-<iM week 1 named my top
10 skilled position players in
the city, and Reynolds senior
quarterback Jeremy Peterson
came in at number one. What
can 1 say that hasn't been said
about "Pete" a hundred times
already?
1 simply thought it was only
right to talk to him after giving
him such an honor. I'm not
scout.com, but i know what
I'm talking about when it
comes to talent. And, Peterson
has a lot of talent. You can talk
about his great arm. One can
mention his high gpa. You can
also talk about his leadership
ability. You can even talk about
how well he plays at defensive
back. As a matter of fact, that's
probably his best position. He
and I talked about his position
on my top 10 list, as well as
some of his top college choices
so far.
J-Pete and I also discussed
U>sing a teammate to a tragedy,
coach Mike Propst, the rest of
the season. Carver's Michael
Lawrence and last week's loss
to Mt. Tabor. That's another
thing that I like about Pete. You
can talk to him about anything,
and he'll listen. I'm sure he
didn't want to hear me tell him
about some things they
should've done to possibly win
last week. But he listened.
Take a look at some of the
things we discussed on
Tuesday morning.
Anthony: What's up, J?
Jeremy: (Smiles.) What's
up, Ant.
Anthony: You got it.
(Smiles.) Hey, that was a tough
game last week. Looks like Mt.
Tabor gave you all that you
could handle.
( Jeremy: Yeah. (Smiles.)
They brought everybody on
every play. I was just trying to
make stuff happen. I was back
there running in the pocket, try
ing to move the ball around
before I got sacked.
Anthony: Did you feel
like you were trying to do too
much?
Jeremy: Yeah, sometimes.
There were times that I just
threw the ball in the air hoping
a play would happen. Those
were bad decisions.
Anthony: OK. Can you
characterise your season for
me? It hasn't been your best so
far. Kind of give me your
thoughts on the season as a
whole.
Jeremy: Uh, it hasn't been
that great. Not to me. Some
people say that I've been play
ing well in big games. But I
don't feel that I have. I've got
something to prove every
week. It's conference time
now. It's time for things to
change.
Anthony: Needless to say,
you guys have dealt with an
unthinkable tragedy with the
death of Matt Gfeller. Let's go
back to that night for a second.
What went through your mind
after he was driven to the hos
pital. Kind of guide me through
that horrible night.
Jeremy: I was hoping that
he would just get up. I was
praying that he would walk
back out. I saw the ambulance
come out. After the game we
rushed to the hospital to pray
with his family. We were hop
ing for the best. (Jeremy stops
talking for about five seconds)
We found out that he wasn't
doing too good the next day.
Then, he passed.
Anthony: How did . you
and your teammates deal with
that? That still has to be tough.
Jeremy: It is. I can't really
answer that, honestly. When
stuff like this happens you have
so many emotions running
through your body. You don't
really know what to do. I'm
mad sometimes. I'm sad. You
just want to hit things. I can't
really describe how me and my
teammates felt after that hap
pened.
Anthony: How did you
guys get it together to play? I
mean, all of that happened after
week one.
Jeremy: Right. We only
practiced one day before we
played East Forsyth. That was
n't really a practice. It was
more of a walkthrough. We had
meetings with parents to see if
we wanted to play or not. The
majority of the team wanted to
play for Matt.
Anthony: I feel that. Let's
get back to football. Uh, this
looks like it's gonna be another
tough year for you. You just
lost to Mt. Tabor. West Forsyth
is looking good. Davie is look
ing good.
Jeremy: Right. We've just
Photo by Charlie Pfaff
Reynolds senior quarterback Jeremy Peterson is the com
plete package for the Demons.
One-on-One
with Anthony Hill
got to step up our game. We
have to execute every play. We
had a good practice yesterday
(Monday) on offense. That's
where we really need it right
now. We're going to have to
win these last four games then
we'll hopefully be conference
champs if Mt. Tabor goes
down. That's our goal right
now.
Anthony: You've admit
ted to not playing your best yet.
But I've seen quite a few guys
dropping catchable balls too.
Have you all addressed that
issue?
Jeremy: Yeah. We've
talked with our receivers. We
even have guys staying after
practice to work with the
machine we have. Some guys
even come before school .
(Smiles.) That's definitely
something we've talked about.
Anthony: How are the
schools looking?
jeremy: iney re loowng
pretty good. I went to App.
State two weeks ago. I went to
Wofford last week. I'm going
to Duke this Saturday. I ve got
Elon and Furman coming up.
I'm supposed to go to Georgia
Tech. I've also got Coastal
Carolina and Winston-Salem
State coming up. Most schools
want me to play defensive
Anthony: Would you sign
with Winston-Salem State
jeremy: Yeah. You can t
look past a program teausc : o
their record. I believe that 1 m a
good leader. I think I could
have a positive impact at
Winston-Salem State. I would
help change the whole program
310 Anthony: OK. Whos
^OUJeremy^ Uh^ob Sanders
(Indianapolis Colts defensive
Anthony: (Smiles.) No
doubt. How did it make you
feel when you saw that I named
you as the best skilled position
player in the city?
Jeremy: (Smiles.) It made
me feel good. I work todji
play both ways. There s ^ome
people that are good on
offense. Others are good on
defense. That's a good feeling
to hear you, or anyone say th*
I'm good at both sides of the
ball. It means that I'm really
showing my talent.
Anthony: Do you think
you're the best?
Jeremy: (Smiles.) Yeah.
Every person is going to say
that. I'm not trying tosoundaH
cocky, but I do feel like I m the
best 1 know how hard I work
a,,Ctiongy: Let's go with
something different this week.
Name the five most underrated
players in the city.
Jeremy: Luck is underrat^
ed. Kevin Simmons. Nard
Willis at Tabor is kind of under
ratC Anthony: Yeah, he is nice.
I heard he almost came over
here to play with ya'll.
Jeremy: Yeah. (Both
laugh.) A bunch of people
almost came over here. Let's
see. Uh, Michael Lawrence at
Carver. He's pretty cool too.
Oh, the nose guard at North
Forsyth. Number 53. 1 think his
name is Rodney McCloud.
He's undersized, but he gets at
it. I met him at church. He's
pretty cool too.
Anthony: OK. I like that.
What's the best part about
attending Reynolds? Sell your
school.
Jeremy: (Smiles.) All of
our coaches played football in
college. Some of them played
baseball or wrestled. They all
have a good college degree.
They break everything down
for us. They make the game
easier for us. And, people treat
us so good over here. The pep
rallies are so fun. The whole
school is with us.
Anthony: You have a dif
ferent type of relationship with
your head coach (Mike Propst).
He doesn't even look at you as
a son. It's more like a brother.
That's different.
Jeremy: (armies.) 1 sail
remember when we met. He
saw me running track at Wiley.
Then, he said that he knew me
from somewhere when I first
got here. I told him that he saw
me at Wiley. Ever since then
he's been liking me. We've got
ten closer and closer. We're
either together or we're talking
to each other on the phone.
He's the best coach you could
play for to me. Some people
have a problem with him
yelling, but sometimes it gets
like that.
Anthony: I don't mind
yelling. That's old school. I like
that.
Jeremy: Yeah. He got
ticked off at practice last week
after we were playing too
much. He got onto everybody.
Anthony: Does he get on
to you?
Jeremy: Yeah. (Smiles.)
Well, he yells. But I'm so used
to it I kind of zone him out
sometimes. I know he's gonna
get mad when he reads that. I
just take deep breaths. I already
know what he's yelling about
before he does it. He yells to
make you better. Then, he'll
call me in to apologize for
yelling. I laugh and tell him
that I'm used to it.
Anthony: If you weren't at
Reynolds where would you
more than likely be?
Jeremy: (Pause.) I don't
know. It would 've probably
been North Forsyth or some
thing like that. I know a couple
of their coaches. They're pretty
cool.
Anthony: OK. How are
the little ladies treating you
here at Reynolds? Do you have
a girlfriend?
Jeremy: (Laughs.) Nah.
You can't have a girlfriend
when you play quarterback.
(Both laugh.) You get all the
girls playing quarterback.
Anthony: Who's gonna
win the ACC?
Jeremy: It's between
Wake and Carolina. Carolina is
my favorite team.
Anthony: Uh. let's finish
with free association. Jeremy
Peterson.
Jeremy: The best.
Anthony: Reynolds.
Jeremy: Great school.
Anthony: DJ. Adams.
(Parkland quarterback)
Jeremy: He's a good quar
terback.
Anthony: Danny Bodin Jr.
(Carver RB)
Jeremy: My home boy.
Anthony: Mike Rucker
(WofTord running back)
Jeremy: Mike is a good
player. Saw him last week.
Anthony: Dedrick
Anderson. (West RB)
Jeremy: That's my home
boy. That's a good running
back right there.
Anthony: Conference
champs.
Jeremy: Reynolds.
Anthony: Good luck.
_
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