When first-year FCAHS coach Brad Calcote took the reins in Brooklyn three months ago, one of the first players that caught his eye was Gage Glover. How could Glover not stand out? He is in fact listed at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds and been starting for the Aggies ever since he was a freshman.
“First off when you look at him, he [Glover] looks like a football player,” said Calcote. “He’s tough, he’s a great kid, he works hard, he’s everything you want.”
Then Calcote got to see Glover in game action. His Aggies kicked off the 2018 season on Aug. 17 against Vancleave. Now a junior, Glover starts on offense at tight end and defense at defensive end for the team.
“On the football field, he just plays hard,” added Calcote. “I know some guys that can go when they want to go. You see guys and say, ‘He’s good when he plays hard’. That ain’t the question with Gage. He plays hard every snap.”
Not a lot has changed since his freshman year in 2016. Leading up to that season, then FCAHS coach Lee Sullivan approached Glover with an important message that apparently stuck with him.
“I came to every summer workout, and he [Sullivan] came to talk with me personally,” recalled Glover. “He said, ‘Gage, I think you have a great chance of starting this year, so I just want you to give it your best effort’. Which I did, and I was awarded the starting position.”
Glover was just a wide-eyed freshman at the time, leaning on seniors like Ricky Mosley to lead the way. Now, with two years of experience under his belt, Glover is the ‘old man’ of the group, albeit as just a junior. As a sophomore in 2017, he finished tied for the team lead in sacks (5.5) and second in tackles (85)
“It really is weird because there are some senior guys on the team, and they kinda respect knowing that I have way more experience than a lot of people on this team,” said Glover. “I try to teach them stuff because the guys that are juniors now that are my age, I’ve come to realize they look up to me now.”
And Glover’s role as a leader and player has only been magnified after Evan Clark, another two-way player and junior for the Aggies, suffered a likely season-ending injury last Friday night against Perry Central.
“It makes Gage that more important because he [Clark] was the other guy playing offense and defense,” said Calcote. “Tackle, tight end, fullback, whatever.”
FCAHS will return to action this Friday at home against Pearl River Central in search of their first win. The Aggies were blew out in their season-opener against Vancleave and dropped a close contest, 20-12, last week to the Bulldogs.
Glover believes the first win of the Calcote era is close.
“We consider each other brothers, and that’s something special, really,” he said. “Being able to have that will bring us that much closer to having a winning team.”
