Before I hit the road to Hough, here are some final thoughts on the biggest three games in North Carolina in week two of play tonight.
In Cornelius, there will be a battle of two of the most talented 1-0 teams in the state: No. 18 Myers Park at No. 15 Hough. Close by, No. 16 Cardinal Gibbons is visiting No. 11 Myers Park. Up in Wake County is our HighSchoolOT Game of the Week: No. 7 Grimsley at Rolesville.
Catch the Grimsley vs. Rolesville game live on the home page of HighSchoolOT at 7:00 p.m.
No. 7 Grimsley @ No. 1 Rolesville
While Grimley might have quarterback Faizon Brandon, the No. 1-ranked player in the class of 2026 in the country, the player that Rolesville appears the most afraid of is running back Mitchell Summers. Summers went off against Roseville last year in Grimsley‘s 63-34 blowout victory. He might be on the smaller side, but Summers has the proper vision and contact balance to be an elite running back at the high school level. The senior has rushed for 2000 yards in back-to-back seasons and he’s off to a flying start this fall after a 185-yard, 5-touchdown game against Mount Tabor. The impetus is on the Roseville defensive front to shut down Summers on early downs. Summers’ counterparts on the offensive line are a stronger unit than Brandon‘s collective receiving corps. Grimsley’s offensive line does a good job of setting Summers up for success.
Even if you get Grimsley into third and longs, Brandon is special enough to make things happen even without the pair of 4-star receivers Alex Taylor and Terrell Anderson that he had last year. Junior Kaden Catoe would be a starting receiver on most high school teams, but he’s still in the process of becoming a threat on the level of Taylor or Anderson. Junior tight end DJ Howerton is a trending college prospect with multiple offers. He can make things happen as well. However, Grimsley is still waiting for someone to take the bull by the horns in the receiver group this season.
Rolesville will also have to worry about Faizon Brandon the rusher. Brandon gets praise for his big arm, accuracy, and 6-foot-4 frame, but he’s shown that he’s an effective scrambler and can pick up first down when he needs to. There’s no good game plan for facing Grimsley. There’s no perfect way to do it. But a team can focus on going hard against one aspect of the Whirlie attack and hoping they can get by against the others. I think Rolesville will sell out to stop Summers and rely on its collection of college prospects in the defensive backfield to not give the Grimlsey receivers an inch on long-distance downs.
For Grimsley’s defense, a gargantuan task faces them. Rolesville features six skill players who have received FBS offers: two at running back, three at receiver, and a tight end. Rolesville’s offensive line is also big and powerful.
The Whirlies have perhaps the best defensive player in North Carolina in 4-star Duke defensive end commit Bryce Davis. Davis is a big-time run defender who can collapse opposing lines inwards and set an edge. I would not expect Rolesville to run De’Von Thomas or Amir Brown toward Davis’ area, even though they are plus starters in the backfield. When Rolesville drops Braden Atkinson back to pass, Davis will have to win his battles against left tackle Logan Pulley or right tackle Asa Midgette and at least try to get the ball out of Atkinson’s hand faster than the Rams’ elite receivers can stretch the field.
Grimsley is traditionally very disciplined on special teams. Both teams have very accurate kickers: senior Jackson Henry of the Whirlies and junior Riley Daniels of the Rams.
No. 18 Myers Park @ No. 15 Hough
They’re calling it the Drake Maye Bowl.
Hough had a nice lead on Northwestern High from South Carolina last week but blew it late in the game. The Huskies lost 45 to 44. This outcome surprised me: I became accustomed to the Hough defensive unit as being of of the best in North Carolina. I know there are now faces being integrated, particularly in the front seven, and I know that Northwestern has some great talent on offense, but no contender wants to give up 45 points.
It won’t get too much easier tonight against Myers Park. Quarterback Jared Lockhart looked good last week after a shaky start in the first half of play. In the second half, Lockhart looked like the quarterback that has the two ACC offers. Myers Park came back from a 24-0 halftime deficit against Independence and had a chance to win late before ultimately falling 24-21. The big-bodied pocket passer fits well into this Anthony Boone offense that likes to spread things around. Junior receiver Brody Keefe is a highly recruited prospect in the class of 2026. The 6-foot-3 target can win in most contest catch situations. I suspect that 4-star cornerback Samari Matthews, who is in Keefe’s class, to take on his assignment. Matthews is ranked as high as a top 20 player in the nation and was only targeted twice last week. Chaz Portis, another junior receiver at Myers Park and the son of Clinton Portis, had a big game in week one. He had nearly 200 yards and a couple of touchdowns against a very good defense. Perhaps, Hough will consider putting Matthews on Portis since Portis has the ability to take the top off of the defense if he is not slowed down at his release point. However, the Huskies have many other college recruits in the defensive backfield who are capable of guarding good receivers. Can Lockhart put together like the second half last week? If so, he might be might be the best quarterback in Charlotte this season
This week for Hough will be more about the details than wholesale changes. They have the talent at all three levels of the defense, but they have to put it together to finish out the game. The Huskies added two 10-stack edge rushers from Northwest Cabarrus, but the Huskies didn’t seem to generate too much pressure last week. Hough’s defensive front only recorded two tackles for a loss against Northwestern. That group needs to have a good game to have the best shot against Lockhart. If there’s an area for the Myers Park offense to improve, it’s the running game. RJ Alexander is capable of being a 1,000-yard back, but nothing worked extremely well in the run game last week. Perhaps’ Independence’s new-look defensive front is that good. But the Mustangs need to be able to keep their offense on the field early in the game, which they weren’t able to do last week.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the new Husky receiving corps stacks up against a Myers Park secondary that has some guys. Camden Portis, the brother of Chaz who we mentioned above, is a significant recruiting prospect in class 2026 as well. With multiple new faces who started elsewhere last season, Hough now has a lot of different guys that it can attack you with. Hopefully for Myers Park, they did an ample amount of film work during the week to establish the tendencies of all of the different guys Hough will throw out there.
No. 16 Cardinal Gibbons @ No. 11 Mallard Creek
The Cardinal Gibbons-Mallard Creek game has the potential will be the best game of the week. You won’t find many teams in this state that are better coached than Cardinal Gibbons, and you won’t find many teams in the state with more talent than Mallard Creek.
The number one thing I’m looking for: how effective is this new-look Mallard Creek offense? For the past couple of years, Mallard has had some talent on that side of the ball but just hasn’t looked right. There has been a mix of ideas and a mix of quarterbacks, but it just never came together. Senior quarterback Evan Rambert has one of the biggest arms in North Carolina. He now has the full reign over the position and a more unified offensive staff calling the shots.
Mallard Creek made a statement in week one by defeating back-to-back Georgia Division A D1 state champions Prince Avenue Christian by a score of 31-21. Rambert led an effective passing attack, but it was Mallard Creek’s run game that led the way with 220 combined yards and two touchdowns. Seven different players carried the rock and the big, strong Creek offensive line moved the Prince Avenue defense almost at will.
Cardinal Gibbons’ defense has athletes in the back end and is schematically sound against the run. The Crusaders don’t have the overwhelming size up front, but the players know how to utilize their natural leverage against bigger bodies. I’m fascinated to see which direction Mallard Creek takes the offense against such a sound defense. Will they let Rambert show off that arm a bit more, or will the Mavericks lean on that running game like last week?
It’s fair to say that Gibbons doesn’t have the same level of athletes in its offensive weaponry that we’ve seen in the past, but this group is more sound in their roles. Junior quarterback Gannon Jones was one of the state’s most efficient passers a year ago. Jones will have to be on his A-game tonight as the windows in this Mallard Creek defense can close faster than the Tasmanian Devil spins. Jones is going to have to work through a couple of reads, buy time if he is able, and see if the stacked Mallard Creek secondary can slip up. That unit for Mallard Creek is led by the outstanding corner Brandon Rose, a Coastal Carolina commit, and Nassor Ashenafi, a speedy outside defender with a knack for getting his hands on the ball.
This game is a big test for the Crusaders’ offensive line as the group will face a fierce unit in Mallard Creek’s defense line. Senior edge rusher Zion Burden is a … burden to opposing tackles. He recorded Mallard’s lone sack against the strong line of Prince Avenue. Senior defensive tackle Chaz Knox, an Elon commit who transferred from A.L. Brown, is one of the best pass-rushing interior linemen in North Carolina. The Crusaders have an Old Dominion commit in Jack Sheehan at tackle, but the rest of the offensive line will be at a size disadvantage against Mallard Creek. Again, scheme and sound technique might have to be what gives Gibbons its best opportunities on this side of the trenches formula.
