PHOTO/TROY HULL

West Mecklenburg High football coach Jarvis Davis has made the transition from defensive coordinator to the top job with the Hawks, who are 6-1.

Jarvis Davis requires one thing of West Mecklenburg’s Hawks: Buy in.

The first-year football coach has led West to a surprising 6-1 record, 4-0 in the SoMeck 4A and sixth in the Magnificent Seven rankings. Although he’s new to the top job, Davis was familiar with the program as defensive program last year, where that familiarity smoothed the transition.

“I know these kids,” he said. “I told these kids when I took over the job that if they believe in the coaches, believe in themselves and their teammates, they can do big things.”

West Mecklenburg has done big things this season with a six-game win streak in which the Hawks have found ways to overcome. West leans on a quick-striking offense sparked by quarterback Richard Latimer and an opportunistic defense. Another key has been Davis’ push to maximize the players’ potential, which took root in the offseason.

“I knew it from the summer, all the hard work we put in, the different coaching style, the different attitude,” Latimer said. “I knew it was coming.”

That’s where Davis’ admonition to go all-in as a team has paid off.

“I told them that from Day 1, and that’s what they do,” he said. “They believe in everything they do as a family and together and that’s all I want them to do. I tell them no matter what the outcome is or what the score is, as long as they do it together, I’m happy.”

The Hawks have their share of big-play threats. There’s Latimer, a dual threat at quarterback and the Brown brothers, Dyami, a running back who scored twice in last week’s 35-18 win against South Mecklenburg and Khafre, a receiver who runs the 100 meters in 10.5 seconds. With so many possibilities, the Hawks are happy with spreading the offensive wealth.

“It’s great. It’s just a thing of keeping everybody happy,” Davis said. “We know we have weapons all over but we’re trying to make sure they get touches and make sure we share the ball and not be selfish. They know that they’ve been doing a great job of that. They don’t get upset because somebody else is getting the publicity or making the big plays. They just wait their time.”

As good as West has been, the Hawks still have something to prove. They’re tied with No. 2 Charlotte Catholic for first in the SoMeck and battling for playoff seeding with four regular season games left. Latimer believes the Hawks have the potential to make noise down the stretch.

“We can be real good,” he said. “We can take it to the extreme, actually.”

Said Davis: “I never look at the records. You can ask the kids. All I talk about is the 11 we’ve got to play in front of us and I tell them what’s at stake. We want to get this win, we want to play the best of our ability and if God blesses us with a win, that’s what we’ll take.”

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