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Marshall Wadleigh gives Northshore a true threat at running back. - (Grant Therkildsen / The Times-Picayune)
Northshore running back Marshall Wadleigh is the first to admit that sometimes the praise others heap on him can be a bit much.
After all, when you?re high school senior and your coach says, ?Marshall Wadleigh is one of the best human beings I?ve ever been around,? and one of your teammates says, ?Honestly, he?s the most perfect kid I?ve ever been around,? that?s a lot to try to live up too.
?People are always puffing me up, but I have some flaws,? said Wadleigh, who besides being the focus of the Panthers? offense, is a two-year team captain, student body treasurer and Ivy League-bound valedictorian candidate. ?I definitely have some flaws.?
To be sure, there are reports Wadleigh doesn?t make up his bed too well and he might not always eat his peas, but otherwise?.
?His character is flawless,? said Northshore Coach Mike Bourg. ?He set the bar so high and then leads by example on and off the field.
?He?s a pure football player who makes a team better just by being on it.?
It just so happens that making his team better is Wadleigh?s top priority.
The Panthers have been 2-8, 2-8 and 4-6 during his time at Northshore, although last year?s campaign did feature a sweep of city rivals Salmen and Slidell.?
?Northshore never really scares anybody,? Wadleigh said. ?But that?s going to change this year.
?We?re going to be a force to be reckoned with.?
That remains to be seen, but Wadleigh says he feels the Panthers are a much-matured and more-talented team than in recent years.
?We?ve got some guys who may not have played much, but they?ve showed what they?re made of this summer,? he said. ?We?re going to be ready to go.?
Bourg certainly hopes Wadleigh is ready to go. He plans to put the ball in his hands 25 times per game as a tailback in the Panthers? pistol offense.
The idea is that will set up play-action opportunities for strong-armed junior quarterback Dalvin Populist.
?Twenty-five times a game sounds good to me,? said Wadleigh, who averaged 13.7 carries per-game last year, gaining 804 yards, although he scored only four touchdowns. ?When you get the ball that much, you really feel like you can control the game.
?My goals are to gain between 1,500 and 2,000 yards and get a bunch of scores. But mostly I want to win.?
Wadleigh will have a good-sized line to run behind, led by 6-foot-5, 270-pound senior tackle Zac Collins.
The defense has only four returning starters, led by senior free safety Nick Houston and senior linebacker Gary Impastato. But Bourg is looking for a much-improved front seven that includes tackle Michael Chatman, who missed most of last season with a broken leg, and junior linebacker Brandon Ballard.
?It?s been a gradual progression since spring,? Houston said. ?But we?ve got a lot of guys who are playing with intensity and are really ready to step up.
?Everybody?s mentally grasping stuff the first time and you?re going to see 11 players getting to the ball.?
All of that has Bourg feeling good about his team in his sixth season at Northshore.
?We?ve still got a lot of growing up to do on the field and our schedule is one of the toughest in the state,? he said ?But I?m as optimistic as I?ve been.?
Certainly there are no questions about Wadleigh. A 5-10, 190-pounder with a 37-inch vertical leap and 4.5 40, he?s an effective downhill runner, which the Panthers? offense needs, and also a capable return man, as his selection to the All-District 6-5A team at that position last year demonstrates.
But it?s the intangibles which Bourg praises.
?You never hear a cuss word out of Marshall?s mouth and you never hear anybody saw anything about him,? he said. ?He?s got this little corner of the locker room where he sits and studies his playbook before practices and I can?t remember ever having to get on to him about anything.
?I know I talk about him like he?s my own kid, but I wouldn?t talk about my kids that way. He?s really the kind of kid you?d like your daughter to marry.?
A straight-A student who is active in the Beta Club and Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Wadleigh, who was a starting left fielder on the Northshore baseball team, said he would be involved in even more activities were it not for football.
Wadleigh?s playing career isn?t likely to end with high school. He toured Penn, Dartmouth and Harvard this summer and all have shown interest. He is undecided between majoring in engineering or business.
But first, there?s the upcoming season in which Wadleigh?s leadership will be as vital as what he accomplishes as a ball carrier.?
??It?s a lot of responsibility when you know you have people looking up to you,? he said. ?I try to set the best example by showing them if you do the right things you can have success in your studies and in football.?
But, Wadleigh adds, he is not one to get on to his teammates.
?I try to be more a behind-the-scenes leader,? he said.?
?What I tell the others is, ?Look, this is what we need out of you? and usually they respond.?
Source: http://highschoolsports.nola.com/news/article/-8990691130569230430
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