ROCKINGHAM – Xavion Lindsey, a junior on the Richmond Senior High School football team, has been named the eighth Official Richmond County Male Athlete of the Week for the 2018 fall sports season.
Lindsey joins senior soccer player Evan Hudson as the second of two featured Official Richmond County Male Athletes of the Week due to the winding down of the fall sports season. The Raider football team and head coach Bryan Till are riding an eight-game winning streak, the most recent coming against Scotland High School last Saturday along with a Sandhills Athletic Conference championship. Thanks to his play in Richmond’s secondary, Lindsey earned his first career recognition.
Athletic Profile
Age: 16
Birthday: May 20, 2002
Year: Junior
Fall Sport: Football
Position: Free Safety
Years on Varsity: 1.5 Years
Height & Weight: 5-11, 168-pounds
Experience: 6 years
“THE INSIDE SCOOP” WITH XAVION LINDSEY
RSHS Academics: Lindsey is enrolled in four classes this semester as a junior at Richmond, and is taking English III, World History I with Ms. Kelly Russell, Physical Science I with Mr. Matt Learn and Weight Training with the football team to round out his day. He’s also a consistent B student who says he work hard in all of his classes to be able to remain eligible on the football field.
“I enjoy World History because I’ve always been good with history,” Lindsey said. “There are a lot of things from past years that come up and I like learning more. Ms. Russell is really helpful and is a really good teacher. She always makes sure I understand my work clearly.
“Richmond has a good atmosphere, and everyone here loves football,” he added about his school. “If we do good on a Friday night everyone knows you — it’s a tradition throughout my family, as lot of my family members came here, and my dad and my uncles played football here.”
RSHS Sports: After the football season, Lindsey will prepare for the winter and spring sports seasons. Since his freshman year, he’s been a member of the Raider wrestling and track and field teams. He missed his sophomore wrestling season due to an injured shoulder, but he anticipates being back on the mat for head coach Earl Nicholson this year and competing in the 170-pound weight class.
Last spring, Lindsey ran the 4×200 relay, the open 200-meter dash and the 300-meter hurdles. He said his favorite event is the 4×200 because he likes the relay aspect of it, while his closing speed is really good as the team’s anchor. Joining him were fellow football players Dereck Barringer, D’Marcus Harrington and Zyier Baldwin. Lindsey plans on going back out this spring.
“Wrestling and running track are a lot like football,” he explained. “I just try to work on my craft and technique. I work over and over to get better.”
High School/College Aspirations: While he still has some time ahead of preparing for college, Lindsey is focused on doing his best at Richmond. He’s working hard on keeping his grades up, staying focused in classroom and staying out of trouble, and said he’s “doing what I have to do on and off the field, mat or track” to make his family proud.
Looking ahead to college, Lindsey has aspirations to play college football but has a backup plan in case it doesn’t workout. He explained that his dad, Gabriel Lindsey, had an opportunity to go to East Carolina University, so he’s “interested” in going there. Lindsey’s family also has ties to North Carolina State University, and he said that’s also an option.
“I love culinary and cooking,” he said. “If football doesn’t work out I’d like to do culinary. I will take culinary courses at Richmond in the spring and next year.”
Xavion Lindsey (18) celebrates with CJ Tillman after his interception Saturday.
Athlete of the Week Stats: The No. 3 Raiders pulled away in the second half during Saturday’s 23-8 win over rival Scotland High School, scoring 16 unanswered points. Richmond trailed the Fighting Scots for nearly 20 minutes in the opening two quarters, but a big play by Lindsey helped turn the tides in favor of the Raiders in the third quarter.
With the Fighting Scots driving down the field on their second drive of the second half, quarterback Mandrell Johnson threw a ball on third-and-goal that Lindsey jumped up and pulled in just inside the back of the end zone. His first interception of his career sparked a drive that would result in a 27-yard field goal by Trevor Moss to give Richmond a 10-8 lead with 4:27 remaining in the third quarter. From that point on, the Raiders would score two more touchdowns and end a seven-year losing streak to the Fighting Scots.
Lindsey was also near the top of the tackling sheet, as he finished fourth on the team with nine total tackles (three solo, six assists).
“Coach Till and Coach Campolieta told me that No. 25 (Trey Chavis) was their big receiver,” Lindsey said of his interception play. ”And I remember looking at chains and seeing it was third down, and thought the ball could come to him. I back peddled and weaved to his side and just came down with it.
“It was exciting for me to help my team in a big-game situation with my first interception,” he added. “I got to accomplish a goal, and it’s like catching a touchdown for a receiver. I’m happy I played a part in offense scoring — we knew Scotland would have some fight, so I’m glad I got our offense the ball.”
RAPID FIRE – FAST RESPONSES
1) How does it feel to be 9-1 and win the SAC championship?
“It feels good because since the summer we’ve been working hard,” Lindsey said. “There were 96 kids in the 100 percent club, and looking at the previous season, we knew what we had to do. We’re working toward our next goal which is to win a state championship.”
2) What has your first year starting on varsity been like? Favorite moment?
“My favorite moment was catching my first career interception,” he shared. “It was a learning moment for me, and I’ve learned what to do and not to do, when to do it and not to do it. I’ve also adjusted to the game speed, which is a lot different.”
3) Who is someone who has impacted your life positively such as a mentor, teacher or coach?
“My dad, Gabriel Lindsey,” Lindsey said. “I was originally a basketball player, but I remember playing football in the yard with my dad, and now it’s embedded in me. He told me a lot of good stories of when he played, and I want to carry on his tradition and make him proud. I also want to hand it down to my little brother, Gabriel Lindsey Jr..”
4) What’s a personal goal you’ve set for this season that you’d like to accomplish?
“Winning a state championship because everyone talks about the eight years,” he explained. “I don’t want this to be the year we don’t do it — I want to keep it going.”
5) Name an interesting fact about yourself that many people may not know about you.
“I love clouds — they remind me of memories with my grandma,” Lindsey said. “After my grandma died, I fixed her grave up, and I looked up to see the clouds had formed a white dove in the sky. Now I just love looking up the sky, watching how they part, and seeing the sun beam down. I like to imagine what’s beyond the clouds.”
Coach’s Corner: Till explained that he selected Lindsey for the Official Richmond County Male Athlete of the Week because of his interception, but also because of his containment against Scotland’s tough running game.
“The big thing Xavion did for us against Scotland was obviously catching the interception on third-and-goal,” Till said. “But a lot of the time, he was one-on-one with several big running backs over 220 pounds. He made physical tackles against Smiley (McQueen) that stopped drives and assured us the opportunity to keep playing offense.
“Xavion is a very coachable kid, and he always wants to get better,” Till concluded. “He stays and does extra work in the offseason, is always in the office asking questions and I enjoy having him around.”
