Extra Effort: Rolesville's Sterling Elliott hits all the right notes

You can hit a note, you can also hit a quarterback. Same verb, very different meanings. For Sterling Elliott, they are more similar than you'd think.

"It takes a lot of technique," Elliott said. "It also takes a lot of focused practice."

Elliott should know, he's Rolesville high school's starting linebacker and first chair viola in the orchestra.

"I'm not one type of person," Elliott said. "I have different sides to me."

Elliott has played football for about as long as he can remember. His passion for music started at a young age as well. He was inspired by a character on the children's show "Little Einstein" who played the violin.  He asked his mother for one and hasn't stopped playing since.

"Before games I practice outside the locker room," Elliott said. "I'm doing arpeggios, just anything to get that extra practice time in and cool my head."

Viola relaxes Elliott, but the connections between music and football go deeper than that.

"When I first started coaching they used a metronome to kind of help with timing," Rolesville head football coach Martin Samek said. "Footwork, rhythm, those two things overlap."

For Elliott the biggest benefit is personal expression.

"I can really sing on those instruments," Elliott said. "I can't sing personally, but with those intruments I can project my inner voice out into the world."

Elliott describes himself as both energetic and peaceful. That personality reveals itself in his music and his play on the field.

"I have to remain calm under pressure," Elliott said. "You've got people screaming, you've got coaches telling you what to do, you've got opponents trying to get in your head. You have to be calm, but you also have to have a certain aggressiveness because if you don't, you're going to get hurt."

Elliott has over a 4.0 GPA and plans to major in political science and minor in music in college. He's not sure where he is going, but is excited for the next step.

"I love it here," Elliott said. "I love the people, but I'm looking forward to college, I'm looking forward to the next chapter."