Quarterback Aaron Clark has taken Pisgah football to 4-0 start. Here's how
Aaron Clark sat in the home bleachers on Friday nights, watching his older brother, Isaac, play wide receiver for Pisgah. He dreamed of playing for the Bears one day.
“I’ve always looked up to him,” Aaron Clark said. “He’s been my role model, and I’ve wanted to be like him. I’ve wanted to play on Friday nights for the Pisgah Nation, the town of Canton. I’ve always wanted to do that.”
The 6-foot, 170-pound junior quarterback has done more than be just another player on Friday nights for Pisgah.
He’s excelling, and a big reason why Pisgah is 4-0 and about to start Mountain 7 conference play Friday vs. Smoky Mountain. Under his leadership, the Bears are averaging 38 points per game. Clark has thrown for nine touchdowns and rushed for five.
Following in his brother’s footsteps
Clark started playing football in first grade. He fell in love with the sport after watching his brother play.
The two are best friends. Isaac, who played from 2010 to 2013, attends every one of Aaron's games, wishing him good luck beforehand and giving him a hug afterward, telling him how proud he is of him.
Aaron Clark has always been a quarterback. He believes his biggest strength is his dual-threat ability, something he has showcased this season after working on getting stronger and quicker this offseason.
“Being that dual-threat quarterback make defenses now have to prepare for me to throw it and also run it,” he said. “Puts my teammates in better situations to get them open if they’ve got to prepare more for me.”
Clark attended camps at Virginia Tech and Mars Hill to work on his throwing with college coaches, who taught Clark how to read a defense, what to look for pre-snap and during the play, and what to do in certain situations.
He believes his decision-making has improved the most since last season and helped cut down on his interceptions.
Coach Brett Chappell credited Clark’s success to the supporting cast around him. The offensive line hasn’t allowed many sacks. The Bears have dynamic playmakers at running back and wide receiver like Landon Pope, Breydon Reynolds and Sawyer Belue.
Chappell noted how Clark has become a better leader, too.
“The thing that has been most impressive is that he controls everything in the huddle,” he said. “When he talks to them, they listen. And that’s what you want."
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'That really bugged us all offseason'
Pisgah had an uncharacteristic down year last season, going 4-7 with a younger team and a number of injuries.
“That really bugged us all offseason,” Clark said. “We couldn’t have another record like that. We couldn’t have another year like that. And it just drove us to be better this year.”
Even as Pisgah is undefeated, the players are always discussing what the team can do better. Chappell believes the offense is having so much success because of its versatility.
“Every team comes in with a game plan, something they want to stop or multiple things they want to stop,” he said. “The thing that has been helpful to us when we have had a team take something away, we’ve been able to go to something different and find success there.”
Zachary Huber is the sports reporter for the Hendersonville Times-News and Asheville Citizen Times. Email him with tips, questions and comments at ZHuber@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News and Asheville Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Quarterback Aaron Clark has Pisgah football 4-0 to start 2023 NCHSL season
