Butler’s new face, RB Davion Nelson, says Bulldogs’ old days have returned
Rain was pelting down, and the temperature was in the low 40s when Butler High took the field at Rocky River two weeks ago in the Bulldogs’ season-opening football game.
It was the kind of weather that causes hypothermia.
But to Butler senior running back Davion Nelson, it might as well have been an evening in some Caribbean vacation spot.
“I didn’t even feel the cold,” Nelson says. “I didn’t even feel the rain. I was just so fired up to get out there and play football.”
Conditions will be much better Friday night, when Butler, ranked fourth in the Observer’s Sweet 16, hosts eighth-ranked Myers Park in a game expected to determine the Southwestern 4A Conference’s championship. Temperatures are expected to be in the low 70s for the 7 p.m. kickoff.
Hickory Ridge, which shares first place with the Bulldogs and Mustangs (each 2-0), could have something to say about that championship. But in recent years, it’s been Butler and Myers Park vying for the Southwestern 4A crown.
Butler has dominated the rivalry, winning 15 of the last 18 games against the Mustangs.
But the teams’ most recent meeting, in October 2019, went to Myers Park by a 31-13 score.
Nelson wasn’t on the Butler sidelines for that game. He was a junior at Independence, which also lost to the Mustangs (56-20) in the 2019 campaign.
Since then, Nelson transferred to Butler and is off to a big start with the Bulldogs.
He scored three touchdowns at Rock River in a 42-0 victory, Last week, Nelson carried 25 times for 184 yards and four touchdowns, as the Bulldogs beat Porter Ridge 42-21.
“It just feels really good to be playing football again,” Nelson says. “There was a time when we all worried about that.”
Nelson, who already has several college offers, says the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting move of the high school football season from last fall to this spring, changed a lot in his world.
Teams were not permitted to participate in group workouts last fall, and there were questions whether the football season would even take place.
“I worked out on my own last summer and fall, and I tried to do it every day,” he says. “But it was hard. It was frustrating. We worked hard, but we weren’t even sure if or when there would be a season.”
Butler, like other Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, began football practices a week behind most other public schools in the state. Practices and games take place under COVID protocols that include wearing a mask, even in game situations.
“Everything is different,” Nelson says. “Social distancing and the other safety procedures are a big change. But the mask was the big issue. It took some time getting used to that.”
Once practice started, however, Nelson says, “It felt like normal.”
He says last Friday’s performance against Porter Ridge was one of those times when an athlete gets into “the zone.”
“I’m running with the ball, and it’s like you can see everything develop,” he says. “You see where the holes are. You see where you need to run. It’s nothing you can teach. It’s a matter of reacting.”
Nelson says Butler is a different team this season.
“It’s a new dog pound,” he says, referring to the team’s nickname. “I think this is what the old Butler used to be like.”
In the 2019 meeting, Myers Park was the experienced team,, while Butler coach Brian Hales was trying to assemble new pieces in his lineup. This time, the roles are reversed.
The Mustangs have a new coach, a new starting quarterback, and new faces at most of the skilled positions. But they have outscored their two opponents 84-9, and Nelson says Friday’s contest will be tough.
“We know this is a big game,” he says. “All those days last fall, while I was working out … this is what it was all about.”
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle