ST. MATTHEWS -- Walt Wilson sat down with Tajh Cheeseboro after practice Monday afternoon and listened.

He listened to how Cheeseboro wants to get out of St. Matthews and escape to a college somewhere down the road. The Calhoun County head coach listened as his best defensive player, the kid whom he deemed “Little Warrior,” poured his heart out about how he didn’t want this year to be his last year of football.

“The kid told me he wanted to get out of here,” Wilson said. “And, I said, ‘Tajh ... just keep doing what you are doing. Keep doing what you are doing, and it’s going to work out. I’m going to get him out of here. It’s a two-way street. The kids bust their butt for you and sometimes you have to do some extra leg work for them. I’m going to find somewhere for him to go.”

The problem with Cheeseboro, as it translates to the college level, is not his play on the field. On a team loaded with major-college talent, he makes the calls on defense at middle linebacker and is the one player, according to Wilson, the Saints would miss the most on the defensive side of the ball. Take a look at the stats and it’s easy to see what Wilson means. Cheeseboro had his best game, 24 tackles, against Bamberg-Ehrhardt Friday night, and through the first six games of the season he has 104 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and two Defensive Player of the Week awards from The Times and Democrat. The stats and accolades can’t describe the wolverine-like ball of fire that he becomes between the lines, underneath the Friday night lights where he is the unquestioned leader of the Saints’ defense.

So, what’s the problem? Four inches.

“If the kid was three or four inches taller they would be beating down my door,” Wilson said of his 5-10, 185-pound star. “But, God didn’t bless him with that height. His heart is bigger than him.”

See, for all the stats and all the heart in the world, college coaches all come back to his stature. The height thing used to be a great fallback joke for Cheeseboro’s friends -- one that he would laugh along to. But, when he started hearing college coaches bringing it up, it wasn’t so funny. Really, it was a heartbreaker.

“No schools are looking at me,” Cheeseboro said. “All of them say the same thing about my height. They say I’m a good athlete, but it’s my height slowing me down.

“I’m not going to lie,” he continued. “People I’m around ... they crack little jokes, clown and laugh or whatever, but now I can’t do what I want to do. I can’t go where I want to go because of my height, and that hurts right there.”

So, as Calhoun County rolls along through the season -- they host Denmark-Olar Friday -- Wilson plans to amp up his sales pitch for Cheeseboro.

“I sell them on heart,” the coach said. “He will do whatever you ask of him. They are looking for at least a 6-foot linebacker in there, but I wouldn’t trade him for 6-2, 240. He has heart and soul.

“Someone is going to take a chance,” he continued. “Tajh has run the ball for us ... he can run the ball, and I’m going to try to sell him as a fullback. I know he will go in there and strike a lick. The kid deserves an opportunity.”

As for Cheeseboro, he said he doesn’t know what else he can do. Now, he’s resolved to following Wilson’s advice -- “keep doing what you are doing” -- which would mean another double-digit tackle performance against the Vikings. He wants a next year, but he’s living for this year.

“Football ... it’s my adrenaline,” he said. “Every little thing about it gets me going ... gets me hyped. I’m always ready for Friday nights. I won’t say that is all I’m thinking about, but it’s in my mind most of the time. I’m always ready to play. I ready to show people that we are not just a basketball school. I want to show people what CC can do.”

T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be reached via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. Check out his blog, Welcome to Linderland, at www.thetandd.com.

 

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