Mooresville’s Gavin Barber voted Observer Football Player of the Week

Gavin Barber says he’d like a do-over on one or two things, but overall he’s having a lot of fun in his senior season as the starting tight end for Mooresville High .

“We’re really starting to pick up the pace and get things going now,” said Barber, a 6-3, 230-pounder who has committed to Appalachian State. “This could be a really big season.”

He had four receptions for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the Blue Devil’s 48-10 rout of South Iredell last Friday, and Barber has been voted by fans as The Charlotte Observer’s Football Player of the Week.

For the season, Barber has 15 receptions for 258 yards and five touchdowns. But those statistics don’t show Barber’s talents as a blocker. In addition to being a reliable target of quarterback Brody Norman, who has thrown for 1,071 yards, he also is key protector of Norman.

“I like the physical aspect of the game,” he said. “Blocking is a lot of fun for me. It’s something I work hard at.”

Barber said his senior season hasn’t gone entirely as he hoped. He said he’d like the Blue Devils (4-2) to get another shot at Weddington, which beat Mooresville 38-10 in the season-opener. And he disliked missing a game this season (against East Forsyth) due to injury.

“I don’t think we had the mindset we needed for that game,” he said of the Weddington contest. “If we could play that game again, I think it might turn out differently.”

A rematch certainly could happen in the 7A playoffs next month.

Missing a game due to injury tested his patience, Barber said. “I really didn’t like sitting it out, but I’m healthy and back now.”

Barber is a two-sport athlete. He started playing baseball at age 5 and football a year later. He was a pitcher and first baseman with the Blue Devils and hit .344 last season.

“I like baseball, but football has always been No. 1 with me,” said Barber, whose father, Greg, played football at West Rowan High and Catawba College. “Football is where my heart is.”

Choosing Appalachian State was a natural for him.

“Ever since I was a kid, I loved going up to the mountains,” he said. “I love the cold and the skiing. I wanted to play at App State.”

He wasn’t a good fit with the Mountaineers’ previous coaching staff, he said, but that changed when Dowell Loggains took over as head coach after last season.

“The new coaching staff came to see me, and it was a great fit,” he said. “They want to be the most physical team, and that’s exactly how I like to play. I love the area, and I love what I’ve seen of the program.”

Until then, Barber said he is focusing on the Blue Devils’ drive toward the postseason.

“The goal now is to stay healthy, win out, and then get into the playoffs,” he said.