Working out with Clemson’s Kane Patterson helped brother Langston prepare for 2020 high school football season – The Tennessean
Langston Patterson stood on the practice field twirling a football.
Hat on backward. CPA purple T-shirt on. He was a spectator watching the Lions’ third contact practice of the season.
He wasn’t practicing on this day for precautionary reasons, after having muscle tightness from the previous day. So he watched. He pulled out a phone and recorded a few plays and took it all in.
His time is coming. And he is ready.
Patterson, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound junior two-way player, picked up about 20 pounds and grew an inch from a year ago. He is a key ingredient for the Lions, who will try to reach the Division II-AA state championship game for the third consecutive year.
“Now is the time to just go undefeated and win a state championship,” Patterson said.
Patterson has college offers from Notre Dame, South Carolina and Tennessee among others.
“I’ve talked to Stanford a couple times in the past days along with Nebraska and Tennessee,” Patterson said. “I talk to Notre Dame about every week.”
The Lions last did that in 2018 with his older brother Kane Patterson, now a sophomore at Clemson, a star on the team.
Langston hasn’t sat around since the coronavirus pandemic hit in March. The two-sport athlete played travel baseball this summer. He also worked out with his older brother along with Nashville area NFL players such as Corn Elder, Seahawks safety Ugo Amadi and 49ers tight end George Kittle.
“That pushes me to be the best I can,” Langston said. “You don’t want to look like a little kid to them, or come in last in anything. You have to try to throw on close to the weight they are doing and get through the drills as fast as you can.”
With Kane home for most of the past few months, Langston said he’s been able to lean on his brother and ask for advice on what he’s learned.
“He’s told me to play like I’m not playing against high schoolers,” Langston said.
Langston, a linebacker and running back, started on defense and played a smaller role on offense as a sophomore. He had 113 total tackles with two sacks in 2019.
“Sophomores, we like to kind of figure out where they could help us,” CPA coach Ingle Martin said. “Very few sophomores have come in and been two-way stars. Even Kane didn’t do a whole lot as a sophomore; it was mostly just defense.
“He’s grown a lot. He’s heavier. He’s moving better. Anytime you can add weight and speed is impressive. The kid has a gift. We’re very blessed that he’s playing for us.”
Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or at tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.
Published 6:00 AM EDT Aug 11, 2020
