It’s finally week one of the 2024 high school football season in North Carolina!

This has been a long and complicated offseason for me. I found out I had skin cancer (at 25 years old!) and had it removed at UNC. It doesn’t make sense, since I’ve always taken sun protection seriously as a very pale person, but it is what it is. I guess this is a reminder to go in for your yearly checkups even if you don’t think anything is wrong.

Anyway, the start of the high school football season feels like a nice reset to me. I can’t wait to be in the stadiums, see the crowds, and see the best players. And I can’t wait for my Chick-fil-A sandwiches from the concession stands. As much as I love going to NFL games and college stadiums, there’s just something different about Friday night lights. College football and NFL games are over-commercialized events, while high school games are community-first productions.

The Huddle is back to its regularly scheduled programming on Mondays. Come back each week for notes, analysis, and trends from around the state.

This week, I’ll have sections on the differences between this football season from years past, the streaks that have carried into this season, the freshmen to watch on varsity teams, and the toughest non-conference schedules for 1A, 2A, and 3A teams.

1st Down: What is Different in 2024?

The 2024 season will have fewer rule changes than 2023. The only rule change implemented by the National Federation of State High School Associations has to do with uniforms. The new rule states that the jerseys of the home team “shall all be the same dark color(s) that clearly contrasts to white [the road team uniforms]”. There had previously been a loophole that allowed the home team to wear different dark color jerseys at once.

The officiating points of emphasis this season are related to building sportsmanship, reducing and properly responding to fights or altercations, conducting successful handshake lines, fully utilizing player equipment, and enforcing proper lineups/legal formations. A big focus during the scrimmages has been the knee pads. Lately, players have tried wearing the knee pads above their knees (to look cool, I guess?). The officials are actively looking for players who do not have their knee pads properly fitted.

There are a few new varsity teams to look out for in 2024.

Ballantyne Ridge is the big new high school out of Charlotte. The Wolves have pulled freshmen through juniors from schools like Ardrey Kell, South Mecklenburg, Myers Park, and Charlotte. It’s tough for a young program to compete in year one in the Charlotte area. The Wolves are led by Chris Redding, who did a positive job leading the Berry Academy program and previously was an assistant at Ardrey Kell.

Martin County High School is official this year, as the previous Riverside and South Creek High Schools combined into a bigger 2A institution. They are called the Gators. Last year, Martin County was combined in athletics, but not in academics. The football team is now led by experienced head coach Hunter Jenks, who also brought in an experienced coach in Martin Samek to lead the defense. The Gators appear to be ahead of schedule in terms of competitiveness.

A handful of charter schools are set to roll out varsity teams for the first time this season: Bonnie Cone Classical Academy in northern Mecklenburg County, Triangle Math & Science in Apex of Wake County, and American Leadership Academy in Clayton of Johnston County. All three of these teams are competing as independents, so they can’t make the playoffs. However, we’re expecting them to be placed into conferences that will allow them to compete in football during next year’s realignment into 8A.

Jones Senior High School now has an 8-man football team, while Hobgood Charter is taking a crack at 11-man.

We finished the offseason with 85 total schools that replaced a head coach. Despite what some Facebook commenters think, this number is down from the previous offseason, which had 97.

You can see all of the coaching changes here:

You can also see our list of impact transfers below. These are not all of the transfers, just the ones that we think will make a big difference this fall.

2nd Down: The Streaks to Watch

Here’s a list of every current losing and winning streak going into week one.

• Asheville School winning streak (6 games)
• Cedar Ridge losing streak (19 games)
• Chatham Central losing streak (17 games)
• Douglas Byrd losing streak (11 games)
• East Chapel Hill losing streak (10 games)
• East Henderson losing streak (16 games)
• East Rowan losing streak (11 games)
• Foard losing streak (34 games)
• Garinger losing streak (28 games)
• Hickory winning streak (16 games)
• Highland Tech losing streak (34 games)
• Morehead losing streak (13 games)
• Mount Airy winning streak (30 games)
• North Wilkes losing streak (11 games)
• Patton losing streak (14 games)
• Providence Day winning streak (5 games)
• Reidsville winning streak (12 games)
• Rocky Mount Prep losing streak (16 games)
• Smithfield-Selma losing streak (11 games)
• Southern Guilford losing streak (11 games)
• Spring Creek losing streak (15 games)
• Stuart Cramer losing streak (12 games)
• Swansboro losing streak (13 games)
• Weddington winning streak (6 games)
• West Caldwell losing streak (31 games)
• West Davidson losing streak (16 games)
• Western Harnett losing streak (12 games)

Other miscellaneous streaks to watch this season:

• Cleveland has not lost a regular season varsity game since 2019. The Rams have won 43-straight regular season games and 42-straight JV games
• Reidsville has gone 379 games in a row without being shut out. They’ve scored at least 10 points in the last 119 games
• Northeastern has won 13 consecutive conference championships
• Watauga has not lost a conference game since October of 2017. The Pioneers have won 36 straight conference games

If I’m missing any streaks that should be included, please let me know at [email protected].

3rd Down: Freshmen Who Could Make an Immediate Impact on Varsity

Here’s a list of names that have been shared with me who could make an impact at the varsity level as a freshman. The list also includes some quarterbacks who are more so future names to look out for. I’ve only seen a couple of these guys with my own eyes, so take it with a grain of salt.

• Skylar Alston, LB, Cardinal Gibbons
• Zytez Alston, ATH, Vance County
• Graysen Barringer, OL/DL, Atkins
• AJ Blue, DB, West Forsyth
• Jayden Bowman, DB, Southern Durham
• Malachi Bryant, ATH, Rockingham County
• Kingston Chandler, DL, Ragsdale
• Braylon Clark, WR, Charlotte Country Day
• Cory Cunningham, DT, Providence (6’4, 265 offer from South Carolina)
• Amir Davis, WR, Green Hope
• Aiden Donnelly, QB, Mooresville
• Reed Douglas, QB, Chatham Central
• Henry Evans, TE, Rolesville
• Jonas Evans, ATH, West Columbus
• Landen Harding, ATH, Jay M. Robinson
• Sean Hart, RB, Atkins
• Xavier Hill, TE/DE, Lakewood
• Trevor Howard, OL, Rolesville (6’3, 280)
• Brayden Hunt, DE/TE, Metrolina Christian
• Curtis Johnson, RB/DB, North Buncombe
• Cameron Kiehl, CB/K, Metrolina Christian
• Jayden Kraise, TE/DE, Ballantyne Ridge
• Leighton Lascallette, TE, Riverside
• Craig Lassiter, ATH, Southeast Raleigh
• Braylen Loftin, WR/DB, Fike
• Teo McPhatter, RB, Princeton
• JaMarrion “Boogie” Morrison, RB, Hough
• Zaiden Paylor, QB, Palisades (ECU offer)
• Ryan Peterson, LB, Hough
• Ryder Polston, QB, Ballantyne Ridge
• Tylen Purcell, OT, Northern Durham
• Tavion Quick, ATH, Fairmont
• Qua Roberson, LB, Martin County
• Aaron Sadler, WR/DB, Green Level
• Ty Shoemake, LB/LB, Grimsley
• Christian Smith, QB, Southeast Raleigh
• Ennis Stiles, RB, Jay M. Robinson (Charlotte offer)
• Prince Stringer, DB, East Rutherford
• Latavion Tabron, OL/DL, Bunn
• Chase Taylor, RB/LB, Providence
• Tarence Thames, DB, Heritage
• Ahzir Waddell, OL/DL, Dudley (6’5, 250)
• Elijah Watkins, OL/DL, Bunn
• Grayson Williams, OT, Southeast Raleigh (6’4, 265 offers from Troy and Bethune-Cookman)
• Garrett Young, RB/LB, Franklin

4th Down: Toughest Non-Conference Schedules in 3A, 2A, & 1A

Here are some of the toughest schedules that I’ve seen for 1A, 2A, and 3A schools this season.

• A.C. Reynolds, 3A: The Rockets take on strong 4A programs West Forsyth, East Forsyth, and Watauga. They’ll also have to travel to 2A power Shelby in week two
• Anson County, 2A: New head coach Landon Allen will face a strong 2A program in North Stanly, a 4A coming off of a big season in South Valley, a 1A in North Rowan that made it to the fourth round last year, and a historic Albemarle program
• Avery County, 1A: The Vikings have to play 4A programs in Watauga and McDowell while also taking on 1As who could be improved in Cherryville and Bessemer City
• Crest, 3A: Greg Lloyd’s group will take on the Cleveland County 2As Shelby and Burns while also playing Charlotte Catholic
• East Surry, 2A: The Cardinals play 1A contenders Mount Airy and Robbinsville while also having an intense game against 2A West Stokes on the docket
• Eastern Alamance, 3A: The Eagles are set to play 2A contenders Reidsville and Southeast Alamance, an improved 4A team in Northern Guilford, and a 1A West contender Eastern Randolph
• Forest Hills, 2A: The Yellow Jackets have to play 3A Ashbrook, a 1A team that made the fourth round last year in North Rowan, a 2A Walkertown team that should be improved, a 2A West contender in Community School of Davidson, and a consistent 2A program in North Stanly
• J.H. Rose, 3A: Will Bland’s Rampants face Wilmington 4A powers Hoggard and New Hanover, defending 3A East runner-up Northern Nash, and 2A East favorite Northeastern on the road
• James Kenan, 2A: The Tigers get to play regular Southeast NC powers Whiteville and East Bladen as well as a 2A team in Midway that is expecting a big year
• Kings Mountain, 3A: The Mountaineers have to play Cleveland County 2A rivals Shelby/Burns and also a good 4A program in Cox Mill
• Randleman, 2A: Shane Handy’s Tigers travel to Thomasville, then face 2A West contenders West Stokes and Bunker Hill, and then face 3As who are expected to improve in Union Pines/Asheboro
• Robbinsville, 1A: The Black Knights travel to 2A West contender East Surry in week one, travel to 3A Franklin in week two, host 1A West favorite Mountian Heritage in week three, and travel to a very good smaller school in Georgia named Trion
• Rocky Mount, 3A: Jason Battle’s Gryphons face 1A power Tarboro, 2A power Northeastern, and good 2A/3A teams Holmes/Vance County
• Shelby, 2A: The Golden Lions play 3A heavy hitters in Crest, A.C. Reynolds, and Kings Mountain while also traveling to 4A Olympic
• SouthWest Edgecombe, 2A: The Cougars get a tune-up game against North Edgecombe in week one, but then have to play a 2A East contender in Nash Central, an improved Eastern Wayne team, and 1A favorite Tarboro
• Tarboro, 1A: The Vikings will play an improved 3A Rocky Mount team, a really good 2A SouthWest Edgecombe team, and one of the 3A East favorites in Havelock
• Wallace-Rose Hill, 2A: Kevin Motsingers’ Bulldogs face defending 4A runner-up Hoggard, defending 2A runner-up Clinton, 3A East contender Havelock, and the high-powered rushing attack of 1A Pender
• West Craven, 2A: The Eagles will play an improved 1A Pamlico team, 2A East power East Duplin, and Craven County 4A/3As New Bern and Havelock
• West Stokes, 2A: Trent Lowman’s new team will have a tune-up game against South Stokes before facing three very strong 2A West teams Randleman, East Surry, and North Surry

Quick Hits

• Donut Squad: These teams shut out their opponents in week 0 of the high school football season: Asheville Christian, Hickory Grove Christian, Lawrence Academy, North Wake Saints, and Pungo Christian.
• 50-Burgers! These 11-man teams eclipsed 50 points scored in week 0 of the high school football season: Providence Day (55), South Lake Christian (54), Charlotte Latin (52), High Point Christian (52)
• Why does anyone attend a good high school football game only to stand around for a social hour near the concession stand and restrooms? Watch the game, cheer on your school, or go home.
• It is a mistake for Wake County Public Schools System and others to move their flag football seasons to the fall. WCPSS previously played in January/February and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has played in the spring. Part of what has made that timing so successful is the ability for the schools’ actual football coaches to have time to coach the girls. Many of the head coaches have expressed appreciation for having the opportunity to do so. For those coaches, it lets them coach up the basics, which they love to do. Also, when flag football moves to the fall, it will be overshadowed by the actual high school football playoffs.
• All of my state championship picks are available in the HSOT Football Preview Magazine this year, which you can find below:

Victory Formation

Here’s what to expect from me this week.

Tomorrow, I’ll have a preview for Thursday’s Keep Pounding High School Classic, which is played at Bank of America Stadium. Also on Tuesday, I’ll release the first Starting 22 of the season. It will include the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association players who competed in what I’m calling “week zero” (the private schools kicked off their regular season schedules a week earlier than the public schools this season).

On Wednesday, I will have a preview for our HighSchoolOT Game of the Week: Richmond @ Seventy-First. J. Mike Blake will be in Fayetteville to provide live play-by-play and analysis.

Before heading out to Bank of America on Thursday, I’ll release my weekly picks to Insiders (I’ll be picking each game on the schedule each week, which sounds exhausting, but also fun). I think these will regularly come out on Thursday afternoons this fall.

JV scores from around the state will be available to Insiders on Friday morning. After that, I’ll have a general statewide week one preview available to Insiders. I think I’ll want to have that done on Thursdays after this week. So, the general preview article will be a day late because of the Keep Pounding Classic adding a unique wrinkle to the schedule.

On Sunday, we will have updated area code rankings after week one of play. On Monday, the updated HSOT Top 25 statewide rankings will be posted in the morning and The Huddle notes column will be up sometime in the afternoon.

Source: highschoolot.com