FRONT ROYAL — As the biggest player for the Warren County Wildcats, standing in a huddle just before the team’s media-day pictures, Calvin Clatterbuck — at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds — sticks out.
One of 10 returning seniors, Clatterbuck — an all-district player last season — has the resume and stature to maybe even walk on stilts.
But as the likely leader and stalwart of the Wildcats’ defense, who led the team last season with 83 tackles, you’d almost think he’d prefer to be 5-foot-10.
“At no point in time do you ever see him think that he’s put in his dues,” Warren County head coach Tony Tallent said. “Calvin definitely doesn’t have the air that he’s arrived, he knows that he’s a part of this team and a critical part, but yet, still just part of this team.”
However, when teams in the Northwestern District prepare to face the Wildcats this season, the senior wearing No. 44, who says he likes to emulate his favorite player Ray Lewis, may get a few extra looks from opposing offensive coordinators during film sessions.
It’s there — on the field — that Clatterbuck performs like a giant.
“I just want to do what I do best and play hard,” the short-winded Clatterbuck said, a day before the team’s first scrimmage against Dominion.
Said Tallent, “I expect him to pick up where he’s left off in the past. I expect him to elevate his game.”
Clatterbuck said he aims to lead the area in tackling this season after coming in fifth last season, despite missing three games due to injuries. To do that, he strenuously worked out during the offseason with his uncle, Warren Clatterbuck — not just any relative, but a professional boxer.
Four days a week, the two Clatterbucks initiated in what Calvin called “hard-core” workouts, constantly pushing each other to the limits. Even on occasion attempting to bench press 165 pounds — not 10 or 15, but 30 times.
“Try it 30 times,” Clatterbuck offered. “It’s impossible.”
So, how will it translate on the field?
“I won’t stop, I know that,” he said. “When someone hits me and they push me back, then I’m not going to stop, I’m not going to give up.”
Warren County’s football program, with the addition of Skyline High School in the county, has undergone a bevy of changes that, including a new school and facilities, has welcomed a new coaching staff, and with it, new offensive and defensive schemes.
But without the luxury of a large senior class, the Wildcats sport a significant crop or sophomores and juniors on this year’s varsity squad. As important as his skills are on defense and as the team’s starting tight end, Tallent said that Clatterbuck’s leadership role carries just as much significance to the team’s future success.
“He doesn’t see his role as any more important than anybody else, and I think that rubs off on the rest of the kids knowing that it takes all of us together to do the right things,” Tallent said.
“He’s been a mentor to the other players and he’s done a real nice job relating to the staff. I’m sure the coaches that have had him before are really missing him now.”
Routinely the first guy to jump on the scout team after his group has rotated off, Clatterbuck has a firm grasp of knowing how to make his teammates better.
Even if it means sacrificing his body playing on a squad normally designated for players third or fourth on the depth chart.
In the team’s new 50 Defense, featuring five down lineman, Clatterbuck also acts as a coach on the field, lending advice and instruction readily.
“Every little chance I get I ask him a question,” said best friend Sean Hoisington, who is likely to see time opposite Clatterbuck at linebacker while making the transition from safety. “He helps me out with the little things.”
Added senior Russel “Bubba” Burns, “When someone’s talking in the huddle he’ll tell them to stop; if someone’s not doing something right or not aligned he’ll make sure he walks up and moves them to their position and stuff.”
With an interest in boxing (although he admits that his mother won’t let him participate in the sport), Clatterbuck said he hopes to play football at the next level, drawing interest from such schools as the University of Connecticut and Liberty University.
But with goals set, it’s hard to imagine Clatterbuck going unnoticed for long.
