Maurice King: Ready to take reign

Last year, Maurice King was considered to be the ruler of Pamlico County's defense. This year, King extends his efforts to the offensive side of the ball as well, forming an empire that leaves no facets of the game unaffected by his reign.

Now a senior at Pamlico, the 6-foot-1, 160-pound safety became a juggernaut for Pamlico's defensive backfield last season. This season, King is expected to contribute on offense as well.

Through the first part of the 2007 season, King was described by first year-coach Pat Whitford as an average player. But, according to Whitford, King adjusted well to a change in the defensive front following the Jones Senior game, and improved quickly as a result.

The 22-15 loss to Jones Senior last season shone a light on the fact that the Hurricanes defense needed to make some changes, which they did, pulling a linebacker in favor of an extra man in the secondary.

"The conventional wisdom is, if you put another guy back there, now you're weak against the run," Whitford said, "but the way we play our safeties, we really feel like they're outside linebackers as well, depending on where the ball is going."

Initially, Whitford said, it was a difficult transition for King, who had to learn to bite on the offense instead of waiting for the play to develop and then react.

Then one day in practice, it clicked, and King has seen steady improvement since.

"That has carried right over into the offseason and through the summer," Whitford said. "It was a little bit of an adjustment for him because it was different than what he played before. He's really taken a hold of it and he's one of the guys that understand it to the point that he's correcting other players."

King credits former quarterback and safety Fraqwan Jones as being one of the main reasons he was able to make the transition.

"It was good because I had somebody who was better than me," King said of Jones, who graduated last year. "He taught me a whole lot of stuff. So it made me a better player."

King was named as a first-team selection for the Sun Journal All-Area team last season at the defensive back position. He finished with five interceptions to help Pamlico make the playoffs.

Now that King has gotten the hang of the defense, Whitford said he feels comfortable adding offensive responsibilities to his repertoire, namely at the quarterback position.

Following the exit of senior starting quarterback Fraqwan Jones, who also played safety for the team, Whitford expects a couple of players to see snaps under center this year. But it won't be a true two-quarterback system, he said.

"We will use a change-of-pace type of thing, but it won't be on any sort of consistent basis," Whitford said.

Senior Caleb Henthorn is slated to be the primary signal-caller for the Hurricanes. Last season, Henthorn rushed for 20 yards on 19 carries with four touchdowns and was 4-for-25 passing for 45 yards with five interceptions and no touchdowns, serving in a backup role.

"Caleb's not an explosive, breakaway guy," Whitford said. "His arm does his work for him. Maurice has a pretty decent arm, it's not as strong as Caleb's, probably not quite as accurate, but Maurice has wheels to go with that."

King played some quarterback during his tenure on the junior varsity team, but has not recorded any statistics at the position as a varsity player. He did, however, make one reception for 28 yards - another statistic that Whitford anticipates will improve this season, as the Hurricanes will also use King as a receiver on occasion.

"Working with him some this spring and summer, he has kind of come along," Whitford said. "He's one of the fastest kids we have on the team, he's got pretty good hands. With the offense we were in last year, it didn't really give us a chance to bring him into the fold. ... With a kid that can run, catch and throw, that gives you a lot of options."