The mindset of Sam Faeflen was on full display during a rainy Saturday on Sep. 23.
The senior running back rushed for 200 yards and two touchdowns in helping Nottingham to a 22-0 win at Steinert, which improved the Northstars record to 2-2. Adding to the story is that he did not practice all week due to a sprained ankle that was still causing some pain on game day.
“I had to do it for my teammates,” he said. “We had to get the dub (win).”
It was an impressive performance to most everyone in attendance, except for one person.
“The crazy part is, he thought he had a bad game,” Stars coach Milo McGuire said. “The first thing that came out of his mouth talking to the offensive coordinator was like ‘I’m sorry, I can play better than that.’ He had 200 yards! But that’s good. When these kids become seniors and they see the window is closing they want to get all they can and that’s what you want a kid to do.”
And just what did Faeflen think he did wrong in producing his third straight game of over 100 yards?
“I really feel I could have had 250,” he said “I was watching the film, there were some plays where I got knocked down or I could have made a better cut. Or I just let somebody tackle me who wasn’t supposed to tackle me. I just felt I could have played better.”
It is the kind of attitude that coaches love, for it’s never good when a player feels satisfied with himself. The preferred mindset is for them to always strive for more.
Faeflen proved he had that frame of mind last May, when he was struck by appendicitis and had to have his appendix removed. When he was finally cleared to workout, he had dropped from a playing weight last year of 195, down to 187. Thus he began to work out with former teammates Q McMillan and Ron McNulty, and the results were impressive.
“He surprised me, he told me in the off-season he went up to 200 pounds, I was like Whaaaat!’” McGuire said. “He put some good weight on and that’s important. He’s a key cog in our system with what we’re doing. We tried to be deceptive for a couple years and out-athlete you, now we just want to bruise you. We just want to go downhill and say ‘Here you are.’”
Faeflen is the perfect back for that. He has the ability to get around the edge, but his strong point is running hard and wearing down opposing defenses.
“That’s something I take pride in,” Sam said. “I think the extra muscle helps me a lot. It’s helping me get off the first defender without making a move. If I can just run on a defense and make them tired, it brings excitement to me.”
Ironically, he was not too excited about becoming a running back as a youth. Faeflen played for Trenton Pop Warner from age 8 to 14. He was a defensive and offensive lineman his first six years. They weren’t glory positions, but as a team-first guy Sam said, “My dad always told me just do whatever you can to help the team win, and if I could help the team win by doing it, I did it to the best of my ability.”
Going into seventh grade his coach asked him to try running back and, surprisingly, he declined despite the fact runners get more notice.
“At that time, I felt like I wasn’t ready for running back,” Faeflen said.
He felt the same way in eighth grade, but his coach wasn’t giving him the option. He would run. And in his first game he rushed for 225 yards and three touchdowns against Rancocas Valley.
So did he finally feel ready?
“Yeah,” he said. “I did.”
When he reached Nottingham, Faeflen ran for the JV and freshman teams as a freshman. He felt he did OK, but did have one adjustment to make.
“What was really difficult was how to get the ball (on a handoff),” he said. “I didn’t know you had to have a certain hand up when you’re going to a certain side. I had to learn that first. It was a little hard for me because I’d have the wrong hand up, it would cause the ball to get fumbled. I would do that sophomore year so it took me time to really get used to it.”
McGuire saw some other areas that needed improvement.
“He was very raw,” the coach said. “He’s been a downhill runner, he’s gotta learn how to cut, how to find the holes. He’s still learning how to see different things, how to get behind blockers. So that comes with the territory. He’s always been gifted just getting the ball, but he had to learn a couple nuances when he came to us.”
In 10th grade, Faeflen rushed 39 times for 316 yards while rotating in with Kwanir Edwards, Isaiah Barnes and Jed Carrette. He was unsure if he was ready to be a varsity running back until going for a 64-yard touchdown run against Allentown in the season’s second game.
“I didn’t know how it would go at all in high school to be completely honest,” Faeflen said. “I would say after that run, I started to say to myself ‘Yeah I can do this.’”
Edwards and Barnes got the majority of carries during Sam’s sophomore year, and he paid attention to what they did.
“Just watching them run helped a lot,” Faeflen said. “Kwanir helped me a lot, every day he would teach me more game stuff to add to my game. The same thing with Isaiah, just being an older brother to me and teaching me the game.”
As a junior, Faeflen was elevated to the feature back, but the offense was not going to revolve around him completely. Nottingham had a dynamic passing attack with quarterback Joe Lemley and receiver McMillan. But four games into the campaign, McMillan suffered a season-ending injury that changed the dynamics of the offense.
“When Q gets hurt, Sam has to take the whole offense on his shoulders,” McGuire said.
“That was kind of unexpected, I didn’t really know how to prepare for it or anything,” Faeflen said. “I just felt like it came out of nowhere, but I felt I handled it OK. This year I think I can handle it better.”
He actually handled it pretty well, rushing for 892 yards and nine touchdowns on 127 carries, which came out to seven yards per carry. It was a good learning experience entering his final year.
“He knows coming into this senior season, ‘I am the guy, here is nobody else,’” McGuire said. “You look at growth, you get the wherewithal that ‘I’m the guy now, I’m not just waiting on this guy for it to be my turn. They have to go through me.’ So it was good for him to learn and see it last year.”
In this year’s season opener, Faeflen was held to 56 yards on 10 carries in a loss at Burlington Township. He got in gear the following week, going for 127 and two TDs in a close loss to Notre Dame, followed by 139 and one touchdown in a win at Trenton prior to his first 200-yard game against Steinert.
In watching that game, McGuire felt the sprained ankle may have helped in certain ways.
“He actually had better vision when we did our walk-through on Friday,” the coach said. “It looked like he had better vision because he had to force himself to cut different ways because of his ankle. So maybe that will provide a new dimension for him.”
McGuire showed that vision on his first TD run at Steinert. He started around the right side and for a moment looked like he would try and beat the defense to the corner of the endzone. But he recognized a hole and suddenly stopped and cut up through the opening for the score.
“He has done better with that,” McGuire said. “We’ve been saying it for the last three years. He’s getting coached on that aspect and he’s getting better.”
Despite the fact he can get to the outside, Sam is fun to watch bulling straight ahead.
“I still call him a power back,” McGuire said. “Physicality, that’s his bread and butter. He’s gotta run behind those pads with that weight that he has because that’s what we’re doing this year.”
Although Faeflen rushed for 522 yards through the first four games, he had yet to be utilized for his pass catching skills as he had just two receptions. It is something Sam would like to do more of, but McGuire said that can be a bit tricky.
“He’s one of our better pass catchers but when we do throw the ball the defense has guys that focus on him,” the coach said. “If we throw him out in the slot, they automatically think ‘OK, we’re going to him.’ So we have to try to deceive people a little when we try to throw the ball.”
As long as Sam can run the ball, Nottingham should be in good shape. Faeflen is hoping to play in college and is waiting to hear from some schools. Grades should not be a problem, as has a 3.2 GPA and is leaning toward a future in computer science, accounting or real estate.
But for now his focus is clear. Pick up as many yards as possible even if he’s bothered by a pesky ankle. Because unlike Pop Warner, he now knows he belongs at running back.
A little rain can’t dampen senior Sam Faeflen’s strong start to the Nottingham football season. (Photo by Rich Fisher.),
