STARKVILLE — If seniors Noah Methvin and Ben Owens set the tone on offense for the Starkville Academy football team, Kyle Faver is more than willing to do the same on defense.
Don’t hesitate, though, you need Faver to play running back or tight end because he knows the plays. He probably could fill in at quarterback, too, if needed, but the Volunteers appear to have that position covered with Methvin and Owens.
That’s why you’re more likely to see Faver at defensive end at 7 tonight when Starkville Academy (2-0) takes on reigning Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS) champion Indianola Academy (2-0) in a matchup of teams that hope to contend for the title in 2017.
“He is playing at a different level than he did last year,” Starkville Academy football coach Chase Nicholson said of Faver. “He is having fun. He is being a great leader. He is running around patting guys on the butt all of the time,” Nicholson said. “He is one of those leaders that if you don’t know, you don’t realize what he contributes because he is not in those big, key roles and he is not this flamboyant guy. He is very quiet, until Friday night comes. Then he is that guy jumping around and hollering.”
Nicholson said Faver had surgery on his shoulder at the end of June. He missed the month of July but still attended workouts to show he was invested in what the Volunteers were doing. Nicholson said Faver did “everything he was allowed to do” conditioning wise prior to being cleared. He said Faver often did his physical therapy during the team’s workout times because he wanted to feel like he was an active member of the team.
“He just led by doing what he does, and that is just trying to be better,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson said Faver didn’t put pads on until the week of the game against Lamar School. The plan going into the game was to use Faver for a few plays, only to have Faver play for most of the night.
In a 43-21 victory against Lamar School, junior linebacker Will Miller forced a fumble to set the stage for Faver to recover the football and go 40 yards for a touchdown.
Faver showed a knack for being in the right place last week, too, as he scooped up a fumble and returned it 3 yards to give Starkville Academy a 21-7 halftime lead against French Camp Academy. The Volunteers went on to win 38-7.
Nicholson said he has so much respect for Faver, whose nickname “Flavor” is a play off of the name of rapper Flavor Flav of Public Enemy, because he has been willing to do whatever the team needs. Last season, Faver shared time at quarterback with Cody in the first round of the playoffs. He took the reins of the team in the second round after Codie Futral was injured.
That isn’t the only way Faver has shown a willingness to sacrifice himself for the team. In the spring, Nicholson was going to tell Faver he was needed to play tight end, only to have Faver come into his office and offer to play the position.
Although Faver hasn’t played the position in the first two games, it would be a role he sees more time in while helping to anchor the defense at end.
Last week against French Camp, Faver recognized another player was needed on special teams and ran onto the field to take that spot. Although he jumped offsides on the extra-point attempt, Nicholson said Faver took ownership and didn’t let it happen again.
Nicholson said the urgency many seniors experience is a factor in Faver taking his game to another level. Faver’s attempt to get the most out of this season might be heightened because Nicholson said Faver didn’t play football as a sophomore and “regrets” the decision. Faver played basketball and baseball as a sophomore before returning to the football team as a junior.
“There is a lot of ownership in the team,” Nicholson said. “He has a lot of pride and he loves his guys. They are all his friends and he doesn’t want to let anyone down.
“He has a really big heart. He enjoys playing football, and he has a lot of energy. He rarely doesn’t have a smile on his face.”
Nicholson said Faver’s ability to be opportunistic is a by-product of playing in a defense led by coordinator Brad Butler. He said the Volunteers are “committed to that mentality” and that that mind-set has been ingrained in the program for years. He said it strengthened under former head coach Jeff Terrill and has continued under his leadership. The presence of Butler, who was hired as assistant football coach and strength and conditioning coach in 2012, and veteran assistant coaches Bubba Davis and Tony Stanford has helped make that attitude second nature. Nicholson is involved, too, as coach of the cornerbacks. Coach Brooks Roberts helps out by coaching the safeties.
While Nicholson envisions a bigger role for Faver in the offense, he is comfortable with him at defensive end because he knows he has a presence and a voice to keep that unit grounded and motivated.
“He’ll play anywhere, anytime you ask him to and never question it,” Nicholson said. “Like you say with Methvin and Owens, it is bigger than him. The team is bigger than him, and he would do that. I could put him in right now at running back and he would block at super back and he has got it. He knows the offense even though he hasn’t taken an offensive snap this season. That shows just how smart he is and how much knowledge for the game he has.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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