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Published Dec 13, 2015
Rivals Recap: Title time in North Carolina
Adam Friedman
Recruiting Analyst
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RALEIGH, N.C. -- Three of the eight North Carolina State Championship
games were held at Carter-Finley Stadium on N.C. State's campus. In the first
game Charlotte (N.C.) Mallard Creek blew up Greensboro (N.C.) Page 49-6 to win
the 4AA title. Shelby, N.C. beat Kinston, N.C. 57-21 to win the 2A championship
in the second game. In the last game Monroe, N.C. won 38-19 over Bunn, N.C. for
the 2AA title.
I was impressed with...
Mallard Creek's playmakers on the outside helped them get off to a quick start.
On the team's very first drive, Rivals250 tight end Thaddeus Moss had
three catches -- two were on third down and one of them went for a touchdown. On
Mallard Creek's next scoring drive, 2017 Rivals250 wide receiver Ryan Jones had two catches for 41 yards and a touchdown. Both of these players
are much better than they were last year.
While Page had played better games, the future is bright because they have a
number of talented underclassmen that are already big contributors. Junior
running back Javon Leake was bottle up for most of the day but caught a
short pass late in the game and made a few defenders miss on his way to a
71-yard touchdown. Sophomore linebacker Alan Tisdale led all defenders
with nine tackles.I was surprised by...
Page has a very explosive offense featuring Rivals250 wide receiver Diondre Overton and junior quarterback Will Jones, but they were
neutralized for the large majority of the game because of turnovers. In the
second quarter alone, Page turned the ball over five times. Page fumbled twice
on kickoff returns, turned it over twice on their first play of the drive, and
threw one more interception on the third play of a drive. At the end of the
first half Mallard Creek was up 42-0.
Shelby quarterback Darquez Lee is an exciting playmaker that can really
spread the ball around the field. He finished with 256 yards and five passing
touchdowns. Lee was very good at throwing down the middle of the field. He even
had a long pass that went about 40 yards in the air that turned into a 80-yard
touchdown.
Other notes...
Sophomore
linebacker Dax Hollifield will be a household name by the time he
graduates. He made plays sideline-to-sideline, racking up close to 10 tackles.
Hollifield is a violent tackler and his ability to shed blockers is very
advanced.
Mallard
Creek's offensive line needs to get some credit for the win on Saturday.
Mavericks quarterback Jason Smith had all day to throw and wasn't
sacked in the game thanks to guys like TJ Moore, Grant Gibson,
Eric Douglas and De'Jour Simpson. Mallard Creek also finished
with over 200 yards rushing and four rushing touchdowns.
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