‘The Goods’ enjoying new run-oriented offense at Northwood

He was known as Montel Goods for his first two Northwood varsity seasons, as one of several options in the Chargers’ passing game offense.

This year, as the featured offensive weapon in a new run-oriented offense, he’s simply “The Goods.”

The 5-foot-10, 210-pound senior has responded to the switch with 1,107 yards and 13 touchdowns in seven games. He’s second in the Triangle with 158.1 yards per game rushing and is near tops in touchdowns. He’s already surpassed his career rushing total of 1,029 yards (629 as a junior, 400 as a sophomore) that he held entering the season.

“I was excited when I heard we would be running the ball more,” Goods said. “I worked hard in the offseason to improve my strength, speed and footwork. I was confident I could do this.”

The offensive switch was a result of Brian Harrington taking over as a first-year head coach. But he has been at the school the past 20 years and served as defensive coordinator last season. So he knew what the Chargers had in Goods when he shifted to a pistol/spread offense with a running game emphasis.

“Our offense starts and ends with him,” Harrington said. “How we get him going in a game determines how we play. He worked hard in the offseason to get ready for this year. We haven’t thrown to him too much yet, but he can catch the ball.”

The Chargers started slowly with losses to Southern Nash and Charlotte Latin. Goods’ yardage was respectable with 98 and 142 in those games, respectively, but he only scored one touchdown in each contest.

Northwood followed with back-to-back wins of 21-7 over Jordan-Matthews and 63-0 over Carrboro. Goods ran 30 times for 263 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets and 14-for-204 and seven TDs against the Jags.

“I get a rush when I run the ball,” Goods said. “It’s better than anything else.”

Northwood has since lost two of three to drop to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in the Big 8 3A with mixed results from Goods. He ran 33 times for 200 yards but with only one touchdown in a 14-10 loss to Lee County. The next week, Orange shut down Northwood 14-0 and limited Goods to 16 carries for a season-low 53 yards.

But the Chargers are confident they can bounce back after losing close games to two teams with a combined record 12-3 (5-2 Lee County, 7-1 Orange).

The two-game losing streak to open the season presented more concern for the Chargers’ seniors. As one of the team captains, Goods made his impact off the field, too.

He and the other seniors organized the 21st-century version of a players-only meeting. Traditionally, that means the players gathering in the locker room to air out problems. But in the age of cell phone technology, the players communicated by “group text.”

“In the beginning, we weren’t close, but we’ve gotten closer as we’ve gained confidence and won games,” Goods said. “Some people thought our season was over with the first two losses. I’m not usually vocal, but I’ll say something when I feel it needs to be said. We talked about how it’s the last chance to play football for the seniors. We didn’t want to remember our last year of high school football as a terrible season. We needed to change.”

If it seems odd to older generations – parents, coaches, teaches, etc. – to have a team meeting by group chat, Goods explained how times have changed.

“When we’re at home on school night, it’s a great way to communicate when we’re not together,” he said.

One other benefit of Northwood’s switch to a running game is Goods has drawn increased recruiting interest. He’s heard from North Carolina Central, Winston-Salem State, Campbell, UNC Pembroke and Western Carolina. He’s hoping to hear from some upper-level Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

“I’d like to go to a bigger school, but I’d be grateful for anything,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to play college football and I feel I can play at either level.”

He’s already proven once he can take his game up a notch.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 1:12 PM with the headline "‘The Goods’ enjoying new run-oriented offense at Northwood."