Sophomore QB Kaden Craft leads Lake Norman to playoff victory

MOORESVILLE — Mooresville (N.C.) Lake Norman sophomore quarterback Kaden Craft played with poise in leading the Wildcats to a 28-14 win over visiting Kernersville (N.C.) East Forsyth on Friday in the NCHSAA 7A playoffs.

Craft, who NC State offered June 22, 2025, is the top sophomore quarterback in the state of North Carolina. The Rivals three-star prospect was going to unofficially visit Georgia today, but has elected to stay home.

Lake Norman improved to 8-3 and will play at Matthews (N.C.) Weddington next week. East Forsyth finished the season 7-5.

The game

Lake Norman controlled the game pretty much from start to finish. The lone stress came when East Forsyth got two big breaks when facing fourth down, the Lake Norman coaches got two 15-yard personal foul penalties that gave the Eagles a first down and near the goal line. East Forsyth cashed that in.

Lake Norman’s Mason Hefner then returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to get control of the game back, 14-7.

Lake Norman tried an onside kick for the final knockout punch up late, but East Forsyth ended up throwing an interception to junior Noah Jacobsen in the end zone, trailing 28-14.

NC State commit

Senior wide receiver Jaire Richburg had his prep career come to a close for East Forsyth High. The Eagles struggled to get him touches and never got turned loose. He was also the punt returner, but didn’t field any of the punts.

NC State targets

Craft was the main objective of the trip, getting a first evaluation of him. The 6-foot-4 Craft ended up hurting the East Forsyth defense with his legs more than his arm. A few were designed runs but he often would extend a play and if there wasn’t a pass to make, he’d take off.

Craft also took four sacks, which is something he’ll work on in the future, in terms of getting the ball out quicker.

Craft didn’t air it out in the passing game, but he showed nice touch and would throw a catchable ball to spots, where his targets could get it. Lake Norman has relied on the ground game this season, so the lack of passing attempts wasn’t a surprise.

Craft finished 9-of-16 passing for 91 yards and a touchdown, and rushed 21 times for 53 yards.

The other sophomore in the game that NC State recently offered is East Forsyth cornerback Zion Dobson. This was the second viewing of him and he didn’t get tested much. Dobson had a few tackles, and he nearly blocked a kick again. He has good length for the position and not being noticed is a good thing at cornerback.

Notes

One of the intriguing players in the game was Lake Norman junior outside linebacker Memphys Barb, who was active all night. He blitzes well off the edge and has has good size in run support at about 6-1 and 220 pounds. It’s surprising that he doesn’t have any scholarship offers, but that should change in the future.

Barb entered the contest with 82 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, and seven sacks in 10 games played.

Coming up

The Wolfpacker will have a story on Craft and various scouting videos, which will be found here.