How Northwestern’s defense prepping for Irmo star QB, Virginia Tech commit in title game
The Northwestern Trojans (13-0) are one win away from a state title and perfect season.
For the Trojans, who score 50.5 points per game on average, it is the offense that gets a lot of credit and recognition. However, head coach Page Wofford feels that Northwestern’s defense deserves credit as well. The unit has 11 interceptions, 12 forced fumbles, 28.5 sacks and has held its opponents under double figure scoring in six games this season.
Senior defensive end Mason Grier, one of the team’s defensive leaders, has 4.5 sacks on the season but more impressive are his 18.5 tackles for loss. Grier has not committed to play football in college but has hopes to do just that.
“Mason has been great for us,” Wofford said. “He is a great vocal leader of the defense. He brings a lot of energy and a lot of excitement each day to practice. He is fun to watch play and does his job. He can stop the run and get to the quarterback. He has been really important to us and I am fortunate to have him.”
Grier says he tries to simplify the game and not make things more complicated than they need to be. While he likes to get after the quarterback, the most important thing to Grier is winning by any means necessary.
“I really try to contain the quarterback and set up the tackle,” Grier said. “I try to give opposing quarterbacks different looks, because every tackle is different. You have to have different tools in your tool box when it comes to rushing the passer. Now, in the run game, I think that is a mentality thing. You have to want it more. You really have to be a man and not let the running back get a yard. If the (offensive) tackle is leaning on you, you have to man up and shed his block and get in the backfield before the back has a chance to get loose.”
The team that stands in Northwestern’s way of a state championship is Irmo (12-1) out of Columbia. The Yellow Jackets’ lone loss of the season came against Dutch Fork, another perennial power in South Carolina football. While the Trojans and Yellow Jackets will be competing for a SCHSL 5A Division II championship, Dutch Fork will also be competing for a title in the 5A Division I ranks.
Trojans defensive coordinator Mario Donato, Grier and Wofford discussed the challenge that Irmo will present their team this week.
“(Irmo) has a really dynamic quarterback and they have a lot of weapons around him,” Wofford said. “They have done a really good job this year of when they need a score, he has the ball in his hands. He can run it, he can throw it and he makes their offense really dynamic.”
The quarterback of the Yellow Jackets is Aaron Brand Jr. He is the son of Irmo’s head coach Aaron Brand Sr. who made a name for himself in South Carolina after coaching in North Carolina for several years, leading Julius Chambers (formally Zebulon B. Vance) to back to back state championships in 2019 and 2020.
Brand Jr. is a three-star quarterback signed to play at Virginia Tech and Donato recognized how difficult it can be to contain a player like him.
“We have to be solid in how we approach containing him,” Donato said. “He can run and throw very well so we can’t just focus on not leaving him an open pass. We have to be solid against him in the run game, too. Part of Mason’s job will be to set that pocket edge and make (Brand Jr.) feel the pressure. We can’t guess. We have to have all 11 guys doing their job.”
Grier feels that the Trojans’ scout team quarterback has helped prepare them for a quarterback like Brand Jr.
“For this game, I really have to give a shout out to our scout team quarterback (Xavier Means),” Grier said. “He doesn’t really get credit but he is really working us in practice. He is a really fast kid and it is great to have players and coaches around you that will help you understand that if you do your job, everything will be fine.”
Being a senior, Grier knows this is it for him and he wants it bad.
“This would mean a lot (to win a championship),” Grier said. “We were there two years ago as sophomores, but now that all of us are seniors we feel like we have put a lot of preparation into this year, really ever since the season ended last year. Personally, I have put in a lot of work last winter, training, getting faster and stronger. So have my teammates. Winning the championship would mean so much to us.”
The SCHSL 5A Division II championship game is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at South Carolina State in Orangeburg.
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How Northwestern’s defense prepping for Irmo star QB, Virginia Tech commit in title game."