Warhorses carry 'lunch pail mentality' into 2023 season
Owen football forges new identity in year two of Zach Gibson era
Fred McCormick
The Valley Echo
August 10, 2023
It’s impossible to predict exactly what will happen under the bright lights, Friday, Aug. 18, when the Owen Warhorses travel to Enka to open the 2023 football season against the Jets. But, if the first full contact scrimmage of year two of the Zach Gibson era offers any insight into the upcoming campaign, opposing teams better pack a lunch.
“These kids have worked harder than any group I’ve ever been around,” said Gibson, hours before Owen hosted Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in Warhorse Stadium, Aug. 9. “We definitely have a lunch pail mentality, and these kids come to work every single day. They deserve to be successful this season.”
Gibson, whose coaching career began at his alma mater, Enka, and included stops at Asheville High School and Pisgah before landing his first head coaching job in the Swannanoa Valley in 2022, is coming off his first full offseason in maroon and white. His program has long turned the page on the 1-9 season a year ago, focusing instead on rebuilding the culture.
“Stability and consistency stand out when talking about the difference between this season and last season,” he said. “One of our assistant coaches brought it up last night when he reminded me I’m the only head coach these seniors have had for two years.”
Gibson filled a vacancy created by the departure of one-year Owen head coach Brint Russell, who was hired to replace his predecessor and current Reynolds Assistant Principal Nathan Padgett. As the first returning head coach since 2020, Gibson and his staff of Jack Slaughter, Matt Owenby, Jason LeMay, John Shaw and Matt Turner are forging a new identity for the vaunted program, which won its last Western Highlands Conference title in 2014, the final season of the 29-year career of retired head coach Kenny Ford.
“You have to respect history and tradition, but you can’t rely on those things to be successful now,” Gibson said. “Long before I played high school football, there were some things you would know about Owen High School. You would know there aren’t many of them, because it’s a small school, but they had this ‘the few and the proud’ type of mentality.
“You also knew you were going to get popped because that physicality was going to come into play, and if you didn’t have your helmet strapped tight it would be a long night,” the head coach continued. “You had to be extremely prepared because you were going to see all these things on defense and offense, and they were going to be disciplined.”
Building upon four pillars—discipline, fellowship, preparedness and physicality—is the key to honoring that tradition for the current Warhorse program.
Owen head coach Zach Gibson is entering his second season on the sideline in 2023, which opens, Aug. 18, on the road against Enka. Photo by Fred McCormick
The new Owen offense features a Wing T system, built around the skill set of senior quarterback Jakob Knighton, who threw a touchdown on the opening drive against Thomas Jefferson. He found several teammates, including senior receivers Hudson Minks and Ben Austin and tight end Ryland King, and subsequent plays.
“Coach Gibson has gotten me to the point I’m at right now, and I felt really comfortable behind the line tonight,” Knighton said. “It feels like a perfect fit because coach has built a system that works for me.”
The scheme helped power Pisgah to a 10-2 record in Gibson’s final season as offensive coordinator.
“It’s something I fell in love with in the COVID year,” he said of the Wing T. “It’s a gritty, grind-it-out identity on offense, but that’s part of the draw. It works like Novocain, and to quote ‘We Are Marshall’: it puts you to sleep so we can attack over the top.’”
It has allowed Knighton to flourish since he began learning it in January, according to his coach.
“I’ve never seen a kid take something so serious and master it so quickly,” Gibson said. “He honestly looks like he’s been running it since youth league.”
It wasn’t that way when it was introduced to him, Knighton said.
“Coach showed me video the other day of me learning it in the winter, and it was awful,” the quarterback said. “He has worked with me on my footwork everyday, and I’m feeling very comfortable back there.”
Having a bruising runner like fellow team captain and senior Will Johnson, who broke for two long touchdown runs while scrimmaging the Gryphons, in the backfield is certainly helpful.
“I can’t talk about Will and the game of football without smiling; he is one of the best I’ve ever had,” Gibson said. “From what he does in the weight room to how he leads by example, his football IQ and his lead-by-example mentality, he’s our rock.”
Johnson carried the ball 119 times for 653 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2022, establishing himself as “pretty special” player, according to the coach. One of many veterans of the roster, he has embraced the staff’s new culture.
“Coach Gibson really pushes us, but in positive ways,” Johnson said. “We’ve gotten all the bad juju out of the locker room, and everyone is coming out here giving their all in practice. It feels great.”
Player effort has boosted coaches’ confidence in their commitment, he continued.
“Everyone out here trusts each other,” Johnson said. “We look around and see each other giving our all, and that’s really bonded this team.”
Owen senior running back Will Johnson runs through a Thomas Jefferson tackler on his way to the end zone, Aug. 9, as the Warhorses hosted the Gryphons in a scrimmage. Photo by Fred McCormick
Johnson is joined in the backfield by senior speedster Taj Burgin, sophomore J.J. Calloway, Brandon Ledbetter and freshman Stephen Anderson, a standout running back who played on the junior varsity team as an eighth-grader.
“This is a deep backfield,” Gibson said. “That’s important because we have a three-back offense. So we feel really good about this group of kids.”
The receiving corps, led by the third team captain, Austin, and fellow senior Minks is a “selfless” squad that embraces its role, according to the coach.
“Hudson is a confidence-building receiver, because you know if you throw it to him you’re going to have success,” Gibson said. “Ben Austin is a true playmaker with breakaway speed and tremendous route-running ability. Both of those guys can be problems for defenses when they get in the open field.”
The tight end, King, is the “war daddy” of the crew, he continued.
“He’s basically playing offensive line the majority of the time, but he’s dangerous when he gets his hands on the ball, too,” Gibson said.
Up front, the Warhorse playbook is designed to minimize confusion on blocking assignments.
“We don’t win without the offensive line, and the work that group has put in the weight room is extremely impressive,” the coach said. “With our system, they’re playing fast because their responsibilities. I’m excited for them.”
The offensive unit will be a potent one if the players remain healthy, according to Gibson.
Defensively, Johnson brings his hard-nose approach to the middle linebacker position in the new 3-4 scheme that didn’t allow the Gryphons into the end zone when the squads faced off.
“He can call defenses, which is something we’ve let him do a little this summer,” the coach said. “Will is one of a solid core of linebackers that we have a lot of faith in.”
Another weapon is up front, where senior defensive end Elba Njee found his way into the Thomas Jefferson backfield regularly on Wednesday. A resurgent defensive backfield will allow the unit to confuse, pressure and disrupt the momentum of opposing offenses, Gibson said.
“We’re excited about that group, because that was a place last year for us that was a liability, but that wasn’t on the kids,” he said. “That was on me, because we were asking the players to do things they weren’t necessarily comfortable doing. This year, we have a system with answers built within it, which has given us confidence.”
While success will be measured in the impact the staff has on shaping players offer the field, the Warhorses aim to improve on the their 1-5 conference record from a season ago.
“I want to win this conference, and that’s something I know we all want,” Johnson said.
Doing so, however, will require a total buy-in from every player, Knighton added.
“As long as we play together and put the team first, the wins will come,” he said.
Photos of the Aug. 9 scrimmage between Owen and Thomas Jefferson can be viewed in the gallery at the top of the page.