Shelby Crest, D'Various Surratt learn what is needed to improve

SHELBY — The task for Shelby (N.C.) Crest wasn’t going to be easy, with Matthews (N.C.) Weddington coming out west to play the Chargers.

Weddington fell 28-18 to Charlotte (N.C.) Myers Park in week two, but rolled over Monroe (N.C.) High 49-7 on Sept. 5 and came out strong against Crest, which entered the contest 3-0.

Crest had a quality crowd urging them on, but Weddington’s methodical offense and few big errors led to a 21-3 lead in the second quarter, and the Warriors never looked back in a 31-10 win.

The game

Weddington’s defense made Crest uncomfortable most of the evening, and the lone touchdown came with less than a minute left. It was a heck of a score by junior wide receiver Namajay Thompson from about 34 yards out, but the game had long been decided.

NC State targets

Crest senior free safety D’Various Surratt verbally committed to NC State on July 1, and he had one big hit and probably unofficially finished with around 6-7 tackles. The film review will show exactly his impact on the game.

Surratt got challenged on a 50-50 deep ball in the end zone that he couldn’t knock away on a Weddington touchdown, but otherwise didn’t have too many plays with the ball in the air. He did show he was a dependable open-field tackler and he likes to get in the mix of things in the box. Surratt attended the Virginia at NC State game last Saturday.

Potential targets

Thompson will be an interesting wide receiver prospect in the class of 2027. He’s got legit speed and size, but he was uneven at times with his hands during the game. It maybe was a one-off scenario. Even if the game was long over, his touchdown snag in the end zone was impressive.

Thompson said he’d be going to the Georgia at Tennessee game at 3:30 p.m. today. Thompson is well on his way with P4 offers from Duke and Wake Forest, plus Appalachian State, Charlotte, East Carolina, Liberty, Marshall, Old Dominion, Gardner-Webb and North Carolina Central.

Past targets

NC State prioritized Weddington senior twin brothers Aiden Harris and Andrew Harris, and the South Carolina verbal commits played well. Aiden Harris was getting special attention from multiple Crest offensive linemen, but broke through for a nice sack on his friend, senior quartertback Ely Hamrick, who is committed to Virginia.

The Harris twins said colleges, including NC State, are still in pursuit and that will likely be the case until National Signing Day because they are that good.

Crest strong safety Lyrik Pettis picked Duke over NC State and North Carolina on July 1, and there isn’t expected to be wiggle room on that decision.

Coming up

The Wolfpacker will have stories on Surratt, plus video packages on all the key players.