. JOSEPH RODRIGUEZ/News & Record Northern Guilfords Mook Reynolds, who has committed to Virginia Tech, will attend Nikes elite The Opening camp July 7-10. Buy this photo . Posted: Monday, July 7, 2014 8:54 am J.P. Mundy sports@news-record GREENSBORO — Northern Guilford has been synonymous with football success since the high school opened its doors in 2008. After a heartbreaking overtime loss at Shelby Crest in a Class 3-AA state semifinal last season, the Nighthawks hope to regain the form that led to state championships from 2010-12. To do so, they will depend on senior Mook Reynolds to lead them. Reynolds, 17, pulls double-duty on the football field, playing wide receiver and defensive back. He has committed to Virginia Tech and plans to enroll early after graduating from Northern in December. Today, Reynolds is one of 162 invited participants to Nike’s The Opening, an annual elite football camp in Beaverton, Ore. “It’s four days of dynamic training and testing,” Reynolds said. “The nation’s top receivers, (defensive backs), linebackers and linemen. They split us up into teams, and we do 7-on-7s and trench warfare.” Along with 7-on-7 competition, the camp features SPARQ testing, which was created in 2004 as a standardized measure for individual athleticism. The acronym stands for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness and consists of five components: the 40-yard dash, kneeling power ball toss, agility shuttle, intermittent recovery test and standard vertical jump. Reynolds is confident that his offseason training has prepared him well for this week’s challenge. “I spend my summer vacation with a lot of football,” he said. “For instance, I play for a 7-on-7 team down in Charlotte. I’m never off of football. People say, ‘Take no days off,’ and I really don’t take any days off. As soon as we lost that last game, a week after that I was back in football workouts.” Reynolds is the last of three siblings to earn athletic scholarships. His older sister, Tiaera, was a state champion in the 400 meters and went on to great success at Lenoir-Rhyne. His brother Jeremy won a Class 4-A football championship at Dudley and is a rising junior defensive back on the Texas Tech football team. Mook believes his family’s experience made his recruiting process easy. “My dad (John) put in a lot of time with that,” Reynolds said. “He was very familiar with the process. He learned every time, with every kid, and when my time came around he was well-suited for it. I felt like he put me in great situations, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve been successful.” The elder Reynolds said he was looking for a suitable place for his son to continue both his football and academic careers. “There’s a different side to recruiting, there’s a marketing piece,” John Reynolds said. “A lot of times, you find that we have an extraordinary amount of talent in this area, but it doesn’t get marketed outside of the state. Unfortunately, in the recruiting business, certain eyes have to see your son in order to evaluate him.” Before Mook Reynolds matriculates at Virginia Tech, the goal is for Northern to win its fourth state championship. It’s a task that neither he nor his teammates takes lightly. “Last year, we fell a little short,” he said. “We didn’t beat ourselves up about it. We swallowed the loss and we handled it. We knew we had to go back in the weight room, go back to the film room and put in that extra work to get back to where we want to be. We don’t want to fall short of the state championship.” NEXT UP SImeon Gatling and Apri Washington!!!! The revolution will not be televised!!!! Anyone needing help with this recruiting game give me a shout!!! Its past time that the 336 be put firmly on the map..... The torch has been passed!!!!
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 13:40:39 +0000
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