Leading down the stretch

10/24/2012 12:41:00 AM Leading down the stretch Senior Jaquon Louden provides spark and experience for young Ninety Six team

Jaquon Louden By JORDAN ANDERS janders@indexjournal.com NINETY SIX - Ninety Six High School running back Jaquon Louden entered 2012 as one of only 10 seniors on the Wildcats' roster. As injuries riddled the squad and coach Chris Liner saw six of his seniors suffer season-ending injuries, he looked upon those remaining four to lead his team down the stretch. Perhaps no player has answered the bell better than Louden. "(His leadership) is huge right now," Liner said of his do-it-all workhorse. "With that limited amount of experience (in our younger players), Jaquon has been at the forefront of trying to lead this team, having been there and done that." Louden agreed, saying as one of those seniors, it falls on him to provide a spark for his teammates. "Sometimes when you lose seniors," he said, "(the younger players) feel like they can slack off. But when you lose seniors, the other senior leaders have to step up and be big." While Liner lauded the leader Louden has blossomed into, almost as impressive is the job he has done this season in filling positional holes on the depth chart created by injury. SEE MORE IN WEDNESDAY'S INDEX-JOURNAL.