THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 8, 1994 TAG: 9411080457
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HAMPTON LENGTH: Long : 121 lines
They say the great ones have a hunger inside. Small wonder, then, that Hampton linebacker John Meredith was a Division II All-American last year, and a junior college All-American before that.
``He'll be on the field just talking about how hungry he is,'' says Hampton teammate Hugh Hunter. ``In the middle of the game, he's talking about how he wants a sandwich.''
Hunter, a defensive end, plays with a certain peckishness himself. A pass-rushing specialist, he pursues quarterbacks like they've just taken the bread off his table.
Hunter's name comes up often in conversations between offensive linemen across the CIAA. His face probably pops up in their nightmares as well.
Recently, a group of Norfolk State offensive linemen were talking about pass blocking, and how, after bull-rushing for three quarters, most defensive ends in the CIAA were tired by the fourth.
``Except Hugh Hunter!,'' said NSU tackle Jonathan Mason. The other linemen laughed and nodded in agreement.
Meredith, from Deep Creek High, and Hunter, from Wilson, are arguably the top players on Hampton's defense, which is rated first in the nation against the run.
Meredith, a 6-foot-3 245-pound senior, can dominate games from his middle linebacker position and is a front-runner for CIAA defensive player-of-the-year honors.
``People know in this conference that he's the best middle linebacker,'' said Hampton coach Joe Taylor. ``He's all over the field.''
Hunter, a 6-foot-3, 270-pound junior, leads the team in sacks with a school-record 18.
``He's just relentless,'' Taylor said. ``He just believes he's supposed to get to that quarterback.''
Hunter had four sacks against archrival Norfolk State on Oct. 15. After each one, he helped Spartans quarterback Aaron Sparrow, his friend and former high school teammate, back to his feet.
That's a big change from last season, when Hunter would sometimes dance over his fallen prey.
``I got a penalty for taunting in one game,'' Hunter recalls. ``Coach pulled me for a couple of plays. He said, `You're a good ballplayer, you made a good play. There's no need to mess it up by taunting.'
``He calls me Mr. Emotional.''
It fits. Hunter may be not be dancing over quarterbacks this season, but that doesn't mean he's pursuing them with any less passion.
``I try to come on every down,'' he said. ``You know, we run a lot. We run for endurance in practice. There's no way we should ever get tired.''
Taylor recruited Hunter out of Wilson High when Taylor was coaching at Virginia Union. Hunter sat out his first season as an academic redshirt at Union, then came to Hampton when Taylor took took the Pirates' job in 1992.
Hunter played sparingly in '92, then became a starter last year and a star this season.
Hunter has good quickness and strength (385-pound bench press), but what makes him a good pass rusher is the time he spends watching opposing tackles on film, Taylor said.
Hunter studies his opponents and adjust his rushing techniques accordingly. The smaller tackles get clubbed with a forearm and muscled. The bigger, slower ones he'll try to run by.
``Not to be big-headed, but I feel I could play anywhere,'' Hunter said. ``When I came here, they weren't doing too well. Now we've won three CIAA titles.''
One of Hunter's biggest contributions to the program came two years ago, when he helped talk Meredith into coming to Hampton.
Meredith was an all-state pick at Deep Creek, a player Hornets coach Jerry Carter calls ``probably the most dominating I've ever seen. He could just turn the whole tempo of a game himself.''
Carter also remembers Meredith as one of the most intense players he's coached.
Carter recalls that in high school, Meredith would put on his helmet in the locker room before games, long before anyone else. He'd wear it on the bus to road games. He'd never take it off during a game. In fact, he wouldn't pull it off until he got back to the locker room afterward.
``The national anthem was the only thing he'd take it off for,'' Carter said.
Meredith was so intense that during the Virginia High School League All-Star Game after his senior season, he knocked out a referee.
It happened after Meredith made a tackle, then swung his fist in the air in celebration. A referee wandered by and caught the punch on the chin. It was an accident, but Carter thinks it cost Meredith the game MVP trophy.
Meredith, needing to get his grades in order, enrolled at Navarro Junior College in Corsicana, Texas. He came to Hampton last year, following another Navarro product, Chris Williams, who was an All-American defensive lineman at Hampton last year.
Meredith made 103 tackles last season and was voted an All-American. This year, the plan was to move to defensive end, to replace Williams, who's now playing with Saskatchewan of the Canadian Football League.
The projected middle linebacker, however, didn't pan out, and Lloyd Tucker, a walk-on from Hampton High school, was coming on at defensive end. Taylor and his staff decided to keep Meredith at linebacker.
``He's just aggressive, quick, he's got speed, he's a hard hitter,'' Hunter said. ``He's a motivator.''
A former sprinter at Deep Creek, Meredith runs a 4.6 40-yard dash, one of the reasons Taylor thinks Meredith may have a professional career ahead.
``Pro scouts initially are coming in here to look at Corey Swinson (Hampton's 6-6, 313-pound defensive tackle),'' Taylor said. ``I tell them all the most intense one is Meredith.''
You would never know it talking to him. Unlike Hunter, who'll take a reporter's question and run with it, Meredith is quiet, soft-spoken.
Meredith plays down his talk about being hungry on the field, and says he's just having fun.
``I eat a light meal before the game, but yeah, I'm hungry,'' he says. ``It's just about keeping the team loose, and having fun out there.
``It's all about fun when you're playing ball.''
Hunter and Meredith aren't much fun to play against. But here's some advice for Fayetteville State, which takes on Hampton in the season finale Saturday:
Bring them something to eat. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Lawrence Jackson
Nowhere to run: Defensive end Hugh Hunter, top, leads the Pirates in
sacks with a school-record 18, and linebacker John Meredith is a
Division II All-American.
by CNB