ASU RB learning the ropes
By Steve Behr

Rod Chisholm remembers when he was a running back at West Charlotte playing Watauga in the semifinals of the 2006 state 4-A playoffs. In fact, he said he remembers all of the details of that game, which ended in a 21-0 West Charlotte victory. One in particular stands out.

“It was cold,” he said.

It was also the last time he last time he played competitively in Boone. Now a running back at Appalachian State, Chisholm sat out last year recovering from an ankle injury, which needed surgery, he suffered while playing his senior year at Independence. So instead of running the football at Kidd Brewer Stadium last year, he took a medical redshirt.

Ironically, Chisholm was injured against West Charlotte in the semifinals of the state 4-AA playoffs. It was the second time he had played against the Lions in 2007. The teams clashed during the regular season, but Chisholm scored three touchdowns and gained 104 yards in an Independence victory.

“I knew they would be coming after me, but I had to play,” Chisholm said. “In the second half, I tripped over one of my own players and my foot got caught and something popped.”

This year, Chisholm is competing for a spot in the starting lineup of one of Appalachian State’s deepest positions. Injuries to running backs last year forced the Mountaineers to use five guys at the position. Devon Moore is the returning starter, but Devin Radford, Robert Welton, Cedric Baker and Josh Jackson all saw significant playing time at running back last season.

Competition for playing time could be fierce once the Mountaineers return for fall practices in August.

“As of now, we’ve gone through spring ball and come August, we’ll have to find out then,” Chisholm said.
“We all love each other, but we know they’re only one football and we’ll all be competing for the spot. At the same time, we’ll all be boosting each other to get better.”

It was difficult for Chisholm to sit on the sidelines for an entire season, but he knows that by taking a redshirt, he’ll be healthy and ready to play this fall. It’s not like Chisholm completely gave up football last year. He played on Appalachian State’s scout team, which gave him a chance to play against Appalachian State’s defense and get used to the speed of the college game.

Chisholm has been injured himself during the first part of spring practice. He had a slight pull of his hamstring, but it didn’t bother him last week. Now healthy, he feels he’s learning a lot in the final week of spring workouts.

“It’s a learning process with me,” he said. “As we got into the second half of he second week, I started picking things up and I started coming along and my hamstring started getting better. (Last) week was a positive week for me. I’m still learning and my hamstring is coming along better than I thought it would.”

Chisholm had a good grasp on the high school game. After leading West Charlotte past Watauga and into the state 4-A finals — where the Lions lost, he transferred to Independence his senior season, where he gained 2,496 yards (7.4 yards per carry) and scored a Mecklenburg County record 42 touchdowns.

Independence went on to win another state championship — its eighth straight — and Chisholm was one of the main cogs in the Patriots’ powerful offense. He was recruited by Illinois, but after telling him they’d make an offer, they chose not to.

Chisholm said when he visited Appalachian State, he knew it was where he wanted to be.

“When I came up here for my official visit, Coach (Jerry) Moore and and all of the coaching staff made me feel like — I like the family vibe,” Chisholm said. “You can have fun up here, but you can’t get into too much trouble because there’s not much to do.

“My family and I sat down and thought about it and met with Coach Moore and he was telling me all of the things I could accomplish not only as an individual, but what we can accomplish as a team, and the person I could be on and off the field once I came up here.”

Chisholm also felt that if he could play on that cold Boone night in 2006, he could play on any night.

“I remember the whole game,” he said. “The fact that we came in not knowing how it was going to turn out — we came in and gave it our all.”

He also said that he wished Eric Breitenstein had not been injured in the game.

“Eric Breitenstein is a great player,” he said. “When he went down, I was kind of disappointed because now, I thought we we’re really going to win because he was their backbone. Watauga was a great team that year, but he was really their backbone and once he went down, it kind of threw everything off.”

Chisholm said it was a difficult decision to transfer from West Charlotte to Independence, but felt that it would benefit him in the long run.

“It was what me and my family felt like needed to be done,” he said. “They both ran he zone (blocking offense), but Tommy Knotts is more focused on getting you to the next level and I really enjoyed playing under him.”

He’ll get a chance to play for the Mountaineers this fall.