|
Turnage shores up Pirates' safety plans
Ayden-Grifton stalwart
brings 4.42 speed, physical tools
By
Sammy Batten
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
View the Mobile Alpha version of this page.
Drew Turnage was
playing recreational football in Ayden, NC, the first time Paul
Cornwell laid eyes on him. Cornwell, the head football coach at
Ayden-Grifton High School, was impressed but not overwhelmed by
Turnage's talents.
"He's someone we knew of
coming up through the local recreation leagues and playing middle
school. We knew of him and we followed him,'' Cornwell said. "He came
along with a good group. Many of the players in his class have been
together for several years. We knew the entire group.
"Drew was a kid, when he
was younger, wouldn't jump out at you necessarily as a great athlete.
But he really worked hard to develop himself physically.''
Turnage worked hard enough
to earn a late-season promotion to Cornwell's varsity as a freshman,
when he started every game at free safety during the state playoffs. The
6-foot, 185-pounder has started the two years since. Last season, as a
junior, he earned Carolina 1-A Conference and All-Pitt County honors as
a safety.
The performance impressed
the East Carolina University coaching staff enough that defensive backs
coach Rick Smith personally offered Turnage a scholarship on May 10
during a visit to Ayden-Grifton. Three days later, on May 13, Turnage
made a verbal commitment to become the second member of the Pirates'
recruiting Class of 2014. He followed offensive lineman Kyle Erickson,
who became ECU's first committed prospect in late April.
The Pirates were the first
to offer Turnage, who has spent lots of time around the ECU program
growing up and attended many games at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Even though
it was his first scholarship offer, Turnage didn't hesitate to pull the
trigger and accept even though other schools were starting to show
interest in him.
"He's grown up going to
games over there and has been around the program a lot,'' Cornwell said.
"When they offered, I definitely think they were his number one choice.
He did take the opportunity to speak with his family, and we talked
about it. He was just ready to commit. He wanted to be a Pirate.''
Despite not making a big
impression on Cornwell in the local rec leagues and middle school
football, Turnage made a sudden impact for the Chargers after spending
the regular season playing linebacker for the junior varsity. When the
varsity's starting free safety was injured right before start of the
state 1-AA playoffs, Cornwell promoted Turnage and thrust him into the
starting lineup for the first-round game against Trask.
"He made the transition to
free safety in one week of practice and started every playoff game as a
ninth grader,'' Cornwell said.
Turnage helped
Ayden-Grifton to playoff wins against Trask (42-21) and Gates County
(28-13) before the Chargers were eliminated by Southwest Onslow (38-6)
in the Eastern sectional final.
By his sophomore year,
Turnage was a full-time starter in the secondary and a part-time
performer at running back for an Ayden-Grifton team that finished 13-2
and advanced to the state 1-AA finals before losing to Swain County,
20-14. He ran for more than 500 yards on offense and was an a Carolina
1-A Conference pick on defense as Ayden-Grifton went 9-3 last year.
"We always thought he'd be
a good player, but to what level we really didn't know,'' Cornwell said.
"He was always very bright and a hard worker. It all really came down to
how much he would develop physically. We were fairly certain (by his
second year) he'd be a college player ... but at what level we didn't
know for sure.
"He certainly has grown
and developed each year. He was a starter in the state championship game
as a sophomore. Last year as a junior he did very well. He returned
punts for us and was also used as a running back to carry the ball as a
backup. I think he averaged something like 12 yards a carry. He's just a
guy who has taken full advantage of every ounce of ability that he has,
and has worked to become a tremendous player.''
Turnage, who has been
timed at 4.42 seconds in the 40-yard dash, is an athlete capable of
making big plays on offense, defense or special teams, says Cornwell.
"Last year, he had a
couple of big punt returns for us that were big plays that kind of got
us back into some ballgames,'' Cornwell said. " Defensively, he just
makes plays. He's not a guy going to be like the Honey Badger guy
(ex-LSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu) who can take over games. But he's
coachable and is always in right spots and he's going to do make plays
he' supposed to make.''
Cornwell said Turnage
isn't just a quality football player. He carries about a 3.0 grade point
average in school and also competes for Ayden-Grifton's track and field
team in the sprints, sprint relays and long jump. Turnage qualified for
regional competition in the sprints this year, but was unable to compete
due to a conflict.
East Carolina has
recruited Turnage to play safety. Both of the players expected to start
at the safety positions for the Pirates in 2013 — strong safety Chip
Thompson and free safety Damon Magazu — will complete their eligibility
next fall. Their backups, Desi Brown and Detric Allen, are both juniors,
so signing safety prospects is a priority for this recruiting class.
Turnage is capable
physically of making the transition to the college level and being of
assistance to the Pirates as a true freshman, according to Cornwell.
"One of his strengths is
filling in against the run,'' Cornwall said. "We don't see teams throw
the ball quite as much as they see at that level, so coverage skills is
something he'll need to develop even more.
"From the physical side of
things, he can definitely play early. I don't think he'll be overwhelmed
with the physical side of the game. He's a strong kid. The rest of it,
as far as learning new defenses and coverages, that's where it's yet to
be determined whether he'll be able to play (as a true freshman) or
not.''
E-mail Sammy Batten
Sammy Batten's Archives
Copyright 2013 Bonesville.net.
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed without specific written permission, and then only in
accordance with the terms and restrictions of that permission. Contact
editor@bonesville.net for more information about permissions and
restrictions on use and about syndication opportunities.
06/12/2013 04:13 AM |
