Friday is the return of what is hopefully a somewhat normal fall season for high school football, although there have already been sporadic game cancellations for COVID-19-related reasons.
Here’s a rundown of which NC State commitments begin their year tonight.
Allen, who was limited to just two games before sustaining a meniscus injury to his knee last spring, and Rose High will begin their season at Wilson (NC) Hunt High. Rose had an unbeaten regular season last spring before losing to Sanford (NC) Lee County High in the 3-AA state playoffs.
In his two games, Allen ran 21 times for 235 yards and one touchdown. In 11 competitions in his sophomore year, the athletic Allen had 128 rushs for 906 yards and 11 scores while also catching 24 passes for 284 yards and a TD.
Hunt went 4-3 last spring.
East Forsyth begins its season at Greensboro’s Northwest Guilford High, where linebacker Xavier Simmons has a one-off goal in NC state. Simmons recently announced that he will reverse his verbal commitment from Virginia Tech to Missouri.
Crowell had 75 tackles (21 solo) in seven games last spring, including six for losses. He also had an interception, two pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble while East Forsyth went 3-4.
NW Guilford went 6-2 in the spring.
Galloway had an impressive jamboree where he was named MVP of the Aun and McKay Kickoff Classic. Now, Chapin High will officially open a season of heightened expectations by playing at West Columbia (SC) Airport High.
In eight games as a junior, Galloway had 151 runs for 867 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also caught 22 passes for 213 yards and added returns that were completed at 1,779 all-purpose yards.
Chapin went 6-2 last season while Airport was 3-4.
The potential future NC State quarterback returns for Carrollton (Ga.) High with a home game against Douglasville (GA) New Manchester High. Morris’ first two seasons were at Carrollton before spending his junior year at Pace Academy in Atlanta, completing 80 of 133 passes for 1,180 yards and 14 touchdowns with three picks in eight competitions.
Carrollton went 8-3 in 2020, but it was 11-2 in Morris’s sophomore year when the QB was 131 out of 216 for 2,186 yards and 20 scores with four interceptions and ran for 379 yards and eight more TDs.
New Manchester was 8-4 a year ago.
NC State’s only class of 2023 is likely to make its debut as a quarterback for Heritage High at home against Holly Springs (NC) High.
Heritage goes out of a 4-2 season in the spring while Holly Springs was 4-4.
Whiteville High begins its season on the road in Leland (NC) North Brunswick High. Thompson helped Whiteville 3-3 last spring while North Brunswick will try to improve their 2-4 mark.
Vann, NC State’s first commit in the 2022 class, and Cary (NC) High are starting their first season under a new head coach Coleman Tyrance by traveling to Clayton, NC to face Cleveland High, which features a four-star and UNC-linked running back Omarion Hampton.
Hampton spent the off-season recovering from an injury he sustained last spring.
Cary went 3-3 in the spring, but there will be a challenge against Cleveland. The Rams won their first 10 games last season before losing to Winston-Salem (NC) Mount Tabor in the 3AA state title game.
Vick won’t be playing too far from his future home as Southern Nash will be at Wendell (NC) East Wake High to kick off the 2021 season. Vick will play corner for NC State, but he is mainly used as a running back at Southern Nash. A season ago in seven games, Vick ran 144 times for 1,072 yards and 15 TDs while his team went 3-4.
It will be the first season for Brian Batchelor as the head coach of Southern Nash, as a longtime coach Brian Foster retired in the off-season.
East Wake was 2-4 last spring.
Wright and AL Brown start the year in Huntersville (NC) North Mecklenburg. AL Brown comes from a spring in which it was 6-2, while Nordmecklenburg was only 1-6.
As a junior, Wright had 45 tackles, including 15 for loss and 10 for sacks.
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