Sun Valley’s Zach Cullen is The Observer’s high school football player of the week
What would you get if you put a rugby player on a football field?
Chances are that player would look something like Sun Valley’s Zach Cullen.
“I like running people over,” said Cullen, a 6-foot, 195-pound senior running back and occasional defensive back for the Spartans.
He ran over and around Charlotte Catholic defenders enough last week to help the Spartans gain a 21-0 road victory — and to gain enough fan support to be voted the Charlotte Observer Football Player of the Week.
The statistics: Cullen had more than 200 yards’ total offense and a touchdown. On defense, he had a tackle for a loss and an interception return for a touchdown.
For the season, Cullen has carried 105 times for 644 yards and seven touchdowns. He’s also caught 19 passes for 213 yards.
“I’m nearing 1,000 total yards,” Cullen said. “This season is going pretty much the way I hoped it would.”
He’s doing it with a Sun Valley team that takes a 4-3 overall record (2-1 in the Southern Carolina 6A/7A Conference) into Friday’s home game against Piedmont. If the regular season ended this week, the Spartans would be comfortably in the 6A playoff field.
“Our offense really packs a punch,” he said. “We have Noah (Lineberry) passing the ball, and he’s the best quarterback I’ve played with. And we’ve got good running backs. And I love our O-line. They do a great job of protecting us.”
“But the great coaching we get is a big part of what we’ve done,” he added. “It’s all coming together.”
Cullen started in Pop Warner Football at age 5, playing center and linebacker.
“I wanted to be a running back, but I had to learn how to play the position — how to look for the holes and all that,” he said.
He continued with the sport after his family moved from south Charlotte to Union County. But he picked up another sport, rugby, when he started middle school.
“It’s certainly a contact sport,” Cullen said with a chuckle. “But all of that has helped me for football.”
He began concentrating on football when he arrived at high school and is primarily a running back, although coach Ryan Smith gives him some time with the defense too.
Cullen said shutting out Charlotte Catholic on the Cougars’ home field was a big accomplishment.
“They had dominated us in the past, and it felt really good to go there and win like that,” he said. “That’s an indication of what we’ll be able to accomplish this season.”
Cullen is the son of athletes. His mother, Charlotte, was a competitive figure skater. His dad, Chris, played football at Wingate.
Cullen said he hopes to play college football also. He already has offers from Charlotte and a few other schools, but he said the process of picking a college will sort itself out eventually.
“There will be time for all of that,” he said. “I certainly want to play in college, but I’m focusing now on our team and my grades. Those are the important things.”
“We have a lot more to accomplish this season,” Cullen added. “We’re all excited about what we can do.”
