Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons looks sharp in win over Southern Durham

Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons improved to 3-0 with a 35-3 victory against Southern Durham (N.C.) High in a game that featured at least five NC State targets.

NC State coach Dave Doeren was able to take in the first half, and the stars played like stars in the contest.

Southern Durham entered the game at a crossroads after defeating Wake Forest, but getting blitzed 30-7 against Durham Jordan last week. Cardinal Gibbons was coming off an emotional 24-20 win over Norfolk (Va.) Maury, who had a 31-game winning streak snapped.

The game

The final score proved lopsided, but the game was competitive for the first three quarters, but Southern Durham couldn’t break through the stingy Cardinal Gibbons defense.

The Crusaders used a cadre of running backs and Wake Forest senior quarterback Gannon Jones had control of the offense, mixing in a medium-length passing games and he sometimes kept it and ran himself. 

NC State targets

Cardinal Gibbons featured a trio of targets with junior star cornerback Xavier Hasan, junior tight end Griffin Cockerham and sophomore tight end Skylar Alston.

Hasan narrowed his list to 12 colleges — NC State, Duke, Georgia, Florida, Florida State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Alston has P4 offers from NC State, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Louisville, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio State, Penn State, Rutgers, Southern Methodist, Tennessee, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin. He also has offers from Campbell and Troy.

Cockerham has offers from NC State and Liberty.

Southern Durham junior wide receiver Jonathan Dillon and junior safety Lance Henderson are both long-time NC State targets. Dillon returned to playing wide receiver this week, plus played in the secondary.

NC State, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), North Carolina, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia are the P4 programs that have offered Dillon. He also has offers from Charlotte, Liberty, Marshall, Old Dominion, Troy and Western Kentucky.

NC State, Duke, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Louisville, North Carolina, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, are the P4 programs that have offered Henderson. He also has offers from Appalachian State, East Carolina, Florida International, Liberty, Old Dominion and Troy.

All five players attended the East Carolina at NC State game Aug. 28. Hasan will be at Illinois at Duke today, Alston is going to Vanderbilt at Virginia Tech and Cockerham is going to the Virginia at NC State game.

Potential targets

Southern Durham junior running back Kamari Holloway attended the East Carolina home opener, and he rushed for 1,081 yards and eight touchdowns on 86 carries in 13 games last year. He has offers from Appalachian State, East Carolina, Troy, Sacred Heart and Gardner-Webb. 

Sophomore Jayden Bowman of the Spartans could be one to watch in the future. He plays wide receiver and in the secondary, and he delivered some thumping tackles.

Cardinal Gibbons senior free safety Braylon Peebles was all over the field, and he has a wide variety of P4 offers and Group of Five offers. He was credited with eight tackles (seven solo).

The Crusaders also had freshman running back Truth Caesar get some carries at the end, and he ran for a touchdown.

Coming up

The Wolfpacker will have stories on Cockerham, Hasan and Alston, plus video packages on all the key players.