NC State junior commit Christian Freeman with incredible run to propel SE Raleigh past Clayton

NC State coach Dave Doeren came to watch Clayton (N.C.) High take on Southeast Raleigh on Friday, and the defense was on display.

NC State junior running back commit Christian Freeman ripped off an amazing 81-yard run for Southeast Raleigh to the one-yard line, which set up the game-clinching touchdown. Southeast Raleigh held on to win 22-19 to improve to 5-2 on the season, while Clayton fell to 5-2.

The game

The pads were popping, but so were the trick plays. Clayton seized momentum when senior Aiden Smalls, who plays quarterback for Comets, but will be a wide receiver at NC State, was used in some trick-play action. Clayton played Smalls at wide receiver and threw a lateral to him, and then he found a wide open receiver for a 64-yard touchdown.

Southeast Raleigh battled through quarterback adversity with its starter getting injured, but the combination of Stanford senior outside linebacker commit Keysaun Eleazer and Freeman’s big run, pulled out the 22-19 win.

NC State targets

This game featured two NC State commits and two targets, and one flip target.

NC State flipped Smalls from Rice, where he was going to play quarterback. Smalls did get some snaps at receiver and made a nice grab over the middle Friday. He ended up throwing a key interception to Eleazer, and other than a couple of runs, didn’t find the usual room to scramble.

Freeman is one of two junior commits for the Wolfpack, and he didn’t play last week due to injury. Clayton did a good job of making him earn his yards, until he uncorked his magic run. Freeman also had a short touchdown run.

NC State has also offered sophomore left tackle Grayson Williams of Southeast Raleigh, and Clayton junior free safety/cornerback Akedran Crumel, who both have attended NC State home games this season. Williams went to the season opener against East Carolina.

Past targets

Eleazer has verbally committed to Stanford, who has interim coach Frank Reich. He also attended the East Carolina at NC State game, and hears regularly from the Wolfpack, Duke and Wake Forest, among others. He proved dominant in the contest and made his case for being one of the top 10 prospects in the state of North Carolina. Eleazer will be enrolling in college in late December.

Clayton High also featured senior defensive end Keshawn Stancil, who picked Clemson over NC State and Georgia, among others. Stancil played well in the loss.

Coming up

The Wolfpacker will have stories on Freeman, Williams and Eleazer, plus video packages on all the key players.

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