POWDERSVILLE — When you talk about a student athlete, the name of Nasir Waldrop quickly storms to the forefront.
He’s just a 5-foot-6 and 160-pound senior at Powdersville High School. He doesn’t sound too intimidating as a runningback.
However Waldrop graded out at 91 percent in the Patriots recent 28-12 victory over Seneca. Waldrop had 26 rushes for 145 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns.
“He’s a special kid,” said Powdersville coach Robert Mustar. “He’s going to have some fantastic highlight-type runs. He was just steady throughout the course of the game (against Seneca). That probably impressed me more than anything – his patience and seeing holes develop, trusting his blockers, and always falling forward and grinding for the extra yard. That was one component that helped us to a win.”
Continued Mustar, “He’s a great kid all the way around. He’s a competitor and he gets the job done in the classroom, too.”
Waldrop, The Easley Progress’ Athlete of the Week, has a 4.4 grade point average in the classroom. He just enjoys being on the football team and contributing.
“I like the friendships that we’ve built – the toughness and the physicality that we have built,” said Waldrop, at a recent practice. “Just coming together and bonding as a team. I just tried (against Seneca) to get the ball down the field and carry the offense. Play hard and hit the hole.”
Not to be overlooked is that Waldrop is a two-sport athlete. He runs track for the Patriots and runs the 100, 200 and the 4×100.
Another big boost for Waldrop is that his running backs coach is Eric “EJ” Humphrey. He ran the ball for the Patriots (2014-18) and was a two-time All State performer and was named First Team All-Area twice while playing for the Patriots. He went on to play football at North Greenville University.
“He’s very coachable,” Humphrey said. “He comes out every day and works hard. He just has a different mindset than a lot of kids his age, and I feel that’s what separates him.”