A CUT ABOVE: Northville standout sheds long hair for great cause
Northville senior Drew Rankin is pictured during a break in two-a-day practices earlier this week.
The first two things that drew the attention of first-time observers of Northville’s stellar football player Drew Rankin last season were his sprinter’s speed and fearless style of play.
Rankin was a defensive backfield mainstay for the Mustangs, who constructed one of the best seasons in the school’s history.
The third attribute that made Rankin stand out was his shoulder-length, Pat Tillman-esque hair that couldn’t be totally contained inside his helmet.
As he heads into his senior year with the Mustangs, Rankin is still speedy and relentless on the gridiron, but his hairstyle is dramatically shorter.
In January, Rankin had his long locks cut, after which he donated it to a nonprofit organization that makes wigs for kids with cancer.
“I was ready to get it cut, and doing it for a good cause made it that much easier,” he said. “I liked my long hair during football season, but it was time to go short again.”
He wears zero well
At 5-foot-11, 175 pounds, Rankin is far from the biggest player on the field, but he makes up for his modest size with effort and smarts — qualities that second-year head coach Brent Luplow admired so much that he rewarded Rankin with the number 0 last season after it was unavailable (along with No. 1) for several years at Northville.
“In junior football, I always wore number 10 because that’s what my dad and brother used to wear,” Rankin said. “My sophomore season I was assigned number 30, but Coach ‘Lup’ let myself and Colin Charles wear 0 and 1 last year. That was awesome. It meant a lot, especially since we were juniors.”
Luplow, who led the Mustangs to the school’s first district championship in several years last fall, raved about Rankin’s set of skills — both physical and leadership-wise.
“Drew has done a phenomenal job these last two years developing as a leader and as a football player,” Luplow said. “He works tirelessly at perfecting his skills and is a great competitor in all he does.
“We are fortunate as he is the quarterback of the defense and has a tremendous football IQ.”
Playing time to spike
Rankin’s workload — which was heavy last season when he rarely left the field on defense and returned kickoffs — is expected to increase this season as his above-average wheels will be featured at times on offense.
“My favorite thing about playing defense is that when I’m guarding someone, it’s all on me,” he said about the Mustangs’ predominantly man-to-man coverage packages.
“If I get beat, there’s no pointing fingers at anybody else but me. And when I make a big tackle or get an interception, it feels great because I made a play to help my team win.”
Football has been a big part of Rankin’s life for as long as he can remember.
“I started playing flag in kindergarten and tackle in second grade,” said Rankin, who named New York Jets hall-of-famer Darrelle Revis as his favorite player as a kid.
A lot of great memories of ’23
Last season was special for a number of reasons, he said.
“My favorite memory was playing Clarkston in (the University of Michigan’s) The Big House; just the environment and everything,” he said. “Overall, though, I just enjoyed being with my teammates and sharing the camaraderie we shared.”
A self-proclaimed history buff — “I enjoy learning about the wars, like the Civil War and World War I — Rankin has aspirations to play college football.
“A couple schools have shown some interest,” he said. “My plan is to study business in college and hopefully own my own business someday.”
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
