North Shore's Ed'Zavier Deblaw
Ed'zavier Deblaw was on the cusp of something big. Really big.
He had been to the LSU camp last summer and was offered. Then the 6-foot-4, 310-pound offensive lineman suffered a knee injury in fall camp that sidelined him for the entire season. A season in which North Shore defended its state title.
"It was hard to watch from the sideline," he said. "This was going to be my first full year as the starter. I tried to turn it into a positive. I just started helping out the younger guys as much as I could."
The injury was an ACL tear and he has been rehabbing over the past eight months.
"My goal is to get back to 110-percent during the season," he said. "What I've learned is patience throughout the whole process. I'm trying to get back on the field and show what I'm capable of."
While he's been on the shelf, Deblaw has been able to work on his second-favorite hobby – cars.
"I'm huge into cars," he said. "I've got a 1996 Silverado that I completely rebuilt. It didn't have a motor when I got it. My dream car is a wide-body Challenger. I'm really into Dodge vehicles."
Deblaw has a brother and two cousins who wore the red and white of North Shore. The Mustang experience is all in the family.
"North Shore is just different," he said. "Not all can make it here. It's a lot of hard work and dedication. You have to buy into the program."
The 'Stangs are in their heyday of offensive linemen. Damieon George is headed to Alabama and Jaeden Roberts is becoming a national prospect. If Deblaw can get back into playing shape, he will make it three high-major DIs from the OL in two years.
"We try and push each other to get better," he said. "We have each other's back on the o-line. We are just a family."
