Sharp impresses in Hun football finale
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
When he took over as head coach at The Hun School, Todd Smith already knew Chris Sharp was a talented football player.
What he also knew was the potential was there to be even better.
Smith saw that potential realized over the course of the season, culminating in a four-touchdown performance that included 217 rushing yards in a season-ending 64-16 win over Mercersburg Academy on Sunday.
”He started to get it,” Smith said. “I think the numbers speak for themselves. He finished the season with 1,085 yards in seven games. He averaged 13.4 yards a carry on only 81 carries. I think he started to better understand the blocking schemes and the flow of the linebackers and that made the forced cutbacks easier and he understood when to take it inside or take it outside.
”He definitely started to understand the simple differences between stacked and split linebackers and he really started to get that stuff.”
Those improvements made the University of Virginia-bound Sharp an even bigger threat than he was coming into the season. His play helped Hun finish 7-1 and a perfect 5-0 in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League.
Chris Sharp is the Princeton Packet Athlete of the Week.
”This team this year was one of the best I have ever played on,” Sharp said. “I always compared it to my freshman year when we won the MAPL. That was a great team just like this one. That team had strength at every position just like we have this year. It was awesome to be a part of it.
”I think I adjusted pretty quickly to the new coaches and new system. Some of the players on team like Cam (Kitchen) and Simon (Vadas) came in as PGs and played well. We also had some good returning players.”
In the win over Mercersburg, Sharp carried the ball just eight times to gain his 217 yards. He entered the second half just shy of 1,000 yards rushing for the season and on the first play of the half sailed over the century mark with a 97-yard touchdown run.
”If it came, great,” Sharp said. “When the opportunity did present itself I was able to get it. It was not set out as goal at beginning of the season, but it was nice to achieve.”
Sharp finished the season with 19 rushing touchdowns and four more as a receiver. All in all he put up 23 TDs in seven games.
”We definitely grew as a team,” Sharp said. “Coming into preseason it was tough. In August we grew as a team and continued to improve and were able to win the MAPL.”
Sharp also made an impact on defense as a linebacker, helping the Raiders to finish the season with six straight wins.
”He was so versatile,” Smith said. “One thing I wish we could have done was give him a chance to go after the quarterback a little more often. But our defensive front four was getting so much pressure that the biggest impact he made was dropping back into pass coverage.”
Sharp will next take his game to the college level, where he will look to continue to improve and grow as a player.
”I wasn’t recruited by a lot of colleges at linebacker,” Sharp said. “This year our defensive line stopped almost all the runs. They learned the system pretty well and learned it pretty quickly.
”I definitely think I have improved over the years here. Hun gave me a great opportunity and path. Both athletically and academically I feel like I took advantage and I am very happy with the four years I spent here. I feel like it has been a good four years but it has gone by in a flash.”