Mac9192, are you from the Concord/Kannapolis area? Both have had great players but I will go with Nick Maddox of Kannapolis and later Florida State. Ethan Horton was a stud also. Played QB in high school, RB at UNC and then TE in NFL.. Jimmy Hitchcock from Concord was a great on also.
Who is the best high school football player you ever saw play in person while in high school?
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Mac9192, are you from the Concord/Kannapolis area? Both have had great players but I will go with Nick Maddox of Kannapolis and later Florida State. Ethan Horton was a stud also. Played QB in high school, RB at UNC and then TE in NFL.. Jimmy Hitchcock from Concord was a great on also.
Rich Searl who went on to star at Duke as a defensive back/quarterback in 1968-1971. He was a major reason I attended Duke. The toughest guy I ever knew. When he hit a pile up, he moved it believe me.
Rowan County. I used to work in the Kannapolis/Concord area. I didn’t get to see Horton. Maddox was unbelievable. Jamie Scott, from Concord was pretty good too. He went on to Wake Forest. Jay Graham, who went onto Tennessee, was special.
EZ Smith is a super nice man. Great coach. His boy Z, was a man child on both lines his junior and senior seasons. He went onto a good career at Penn State.
Used to go to the games between the two schools. Playing for the bell and conference title. 8-10,000 people at a high school football game was awesome. These 2 schools were like Duke/unc.
That '71 DUKE team was throttled by injuries. Started 4-0 and ranked 14th nationally. Limped home to 6-5 record. Searl at qb also because Satyshur was injured.Ernie Jackson had to go both ways too, began as DB and was also at RB by mid-year. Searl was a tough cookie, Jackson won ACC POY.
OFC
Hart, it was painful my freshman year to watch Searl play quarterback the same way he did in high school, take the ball and run up the middle! It worked in HS against smaller players, not at this level though. The guy could play any sport. He was the first guy I saw throw a bullet on the line to second base from the catching position, from his knees.
Julius Peppers. He played at Southern Nash and I went to Fike HS (same school Carlester Crumpler went to). Needless to say, Julius was a monster and yes he ran the ball in HS. No one could stop him and he was a man amongst boys. I watched him play Basketball as well and he was the best player on the court. I have a friend who use to give Julius a ride home from school and she said he was one of nicest people you would meet. Also, stated UNC was a great fit for him academically (well known he probably wouldn't had graduated HS if he wasn't a star athlete).
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Mac9192.....true story. Bruce Hardin, former AL Brown coach later was an assistant at West Point. He was good friends with Paul Johnson who was then HC at Navy. Before the Army-Navy game they were talking at midfield looking around at the big crowd filing in when Johnson said," I bet you have never seen anything like this before" and Hardin replied, "Oh Yes. The Concord-Kannapolis game!"
You were right about Jay Graham and Jamie Scott. They both ran all over us.
Liftee that was a frustrating year- I had visions of a major bowl dancing in my head!
OFC
Maybe not the best ever but I played on the same team with JD Gibbs in the late 80’s. Pretty darn good Qb. Rip JD!
Brandon Spikes-Crest
Robert "Quickie" Williams-Shelby
Anthony Hillman-Kings Mtn
Tony Scott-Burns
Have been lucky to see some great football over the years in Cleveland County.
Few others...
Willie Parker-Clinton
Toney Baker-Ragsdale
Elijah Hood-Catholic
Chris Leak-Independence
Steve Shipp and Brian Knuckles -West Charlotte
Michael "The Rabbit" Waddell-Richmond
Robert "Quickie" Williams-Shelby
Anthony Hillman-Kings Mtn
Tony Scott-Burns
Have been lucky to see some great football over the years in Cleveland County.
Few others...
Willie Parker-Clinton
Toney Baker-Ragsdale
Elijah Hood-Catholic
Chris Leak-Independence
Steve Shipp and Brian Knuckles -West Charlotte
Michael "The Rabbit" Waddell-Richmond
I went to HS with a guy named Dan Davis in the late 90s. He was 6'3", 240 and was a full back. He averaged over 200 yards a game (only played in the first half of games). For his career, he had nearly 6,000 yards. The two games they let him play the second half too, he ran for 437 and 422 (4A competition, good teams in Kansas). He was offered scholarships to KU, K State, Missouri and quite a few other schools. He was the Gatorade player of the year in KS in 98 I believe. He ended up playing for Mizzou (Hinkle was hired by the time he got there so they changed him to defensive tackle I think). He was a freak of a player for a guy that big. Knee injuries cut his career short, but he was fun to watch. He also anchored the 4x100 team in track. He still holds the city career rushing, city single game rushing, city career touchdowns and city career total offensive yards records.
Joe Cox, Mohamed Massaquoi from Independence HS in Charlotte in the 4AA title game against. South View. They were unstoppable. I also saw Trot Nixon from New Hanover HS. He threw a skip pass (lateral) off the ground that hit the WR between the numbers. I also played in Jr High against Byrd Jr High which had Brad Edwards, Donnell Woolford and Ricky Shaw who all played in the NFL. We lost.