Chambers High’s Ziere Brooks impatiently waited his turn. Now he’s player of the week
Chambers High School running back Ziere Brooks, The Charlotte Observer high school football player of the week, said he’s waited a long time to get to show what he could do.
Brooks played junior varsity as a freshman. He missed his sophomore year after he tore a ligament in his knee before that season even started. As a junior, he played more of a tight end position than his natural running back spot because Chambers was deep at running back and coaches felt Brooks could help the team somewhere else.
“When I got hurt,” he said, “it was very difficult to watch, just knowing I could help. Last year (as a junior), I had to play a position I didn’t want to play, but I’m a good blocker and knew I could catch the ball. It was the right thing to do.”
So, finally, during his senior season, Brooks is playing the position he thinks he’s built for. The results? Through eight games, he led the Queen City 3A/4A conference in rushing with 850 yards and four touchdowns.
He also won a vote among Observer readers to become the Week 10 player of the week after leading Chambers to a 38-12 win over North Mecklenburg Oct. 18. That’s when he ran for 167 yards and a touchdown.
Chambers’ three-game win streak came to an end Friday at West Charlotte, but after an uncharacteristically slow start — Chambers was 0-2 and then 2-3 — the two-time N.C. state champions are still tracking as a playoff team.
“We beat ourselves and that’s the most frustrating part,” Chambers coach Brandon Wiggins said of his team’s slow start. “The first two games, we had eight turnovers and we started protecting the football and we played better defense and the offense got more opportunities on the field.”
Wiggins’ team only returned four seniors on offense and his defense has some seniors but many players who hadn’t had varsity snaps until this year. In the spring, he lost five coaches, including longtime defensive coordinator Dre Cannon. Deep down, he said he knew this year, at least early, could be tough.
“It is what it is,” Wiggins said. “We don’t expect people to stay forever. I saw all those (former coaches) last week and we had a really good time. We miss them but that’s the profession. It’s very rare you will have somebody stay somewhere 10 or 15 years in high school football, and especially in Charlotte. But we’re getting it together. I think we’re on the right track. The kids work hard every day, and we’ve got kids like Ziere, and we’ll shock a lot of people in the playoffs.”
Brooks — whose team plays arch rival Mallard Creek Friday — is in his school’s National Honor Society and carries a 3.3 GPA while taking three honors classes. Wiggins said Brooks leads the team prayer every Friday. Brooks said as a “Christian who has been saved,” leading that prayer is important to him.
He said making Chambers win is important to him, too.
“Ziere has waited his turn,” Wiggins said. “He’s been a team player and this year he’s receiving the fruits of his labor. He has a big chip on his shoulder. It’s one of those things where Chambers has had so many talented backs, sometime it takes time. That running back room has been phenomenal for past few years and he felt like it’s finally his turn.”
Brooks doesn’t have any college offers yet, but Wiggins said he is “absolutely certain” that his running back is a college athlete. He started out saying that Brooks could help an FCS school, or the Division I colleges that were formerly known as I-AA, but he quickly stopped himself.
“His senior film has been phenomenal,” Wiggins said. “He’s definitely going to play somewhere, but I don’t want to put a ceiling on the kid.”
Brooks said he knew he would have a big role on the team this year and worked especially hard with his father in the offseason. He trained seven days a week, so much so that he dropped nearly 10 pounds. He said “protein shakes and the weight room” have helped him get back to 185.
“I’m never really satisfied to be honest,” Brooks said. “I really think I can do better. That’s my mindset. A lot of people tell me I’ve got to congratulate myself. I mean, this is my only year. I do think I should be happy but I want to be better than I am now. I want to be the best in this state, in this country. That’s how I see myself. People say, “Ziere, you lead the conference (in rushing), and you’re No. 12 in the (4A) division. I don’t like that. I feel I should be better.”
Previous winners
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Week 1: Carson Clutter, Charlotte Latin
Week 2: Sean Brady, Hough
Week 3: Fernando Zelaya, Olympic
Week 4: Cameron Cyr, Hough
Week 5: Jayden Jones, Independence
Week 6: Cameron Johnson, Corvian Community
Week 7: Titus Ivory, Charlotte Latin
Week 8: Noah Best, Corvian Community
Week 9: Trey Blakeney, Hough
Week 10: Ziere Brooks, Chambers
