In the month of April, HSOT Insiders will receive daily articles to preview the 2025 high school football season in North Carolina.

Today, we have a breakdown of the 8A N.C. High School Athletic Association returning receiving threats.

Since players often don’t play the same number of games, we break our stats down into averages.

For wideouts and tight ends, we have yards per game, yards per reception, touchdowns per game, and touchdowns per reception.

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Top Returning 8A Receivers: Yards Per Game

Minimum: 6 games

1. Tyran Evans, senior, Hough — 75.4 YPG
2. Rakem Hammock, junior, Northwest Guilford — 73.4 YPG
3. Keland Shelton Jr., junior, Providence — 66.7 YPG
4. Jailyn Moore, junior, West Forsyth — 65.8 YPG
5. Otavio Oliveira, junior, Providence — 64.9 YPG
6. Malachi Thomas, senior, Millbrook (transfer from Cleveland) — 64.69 YPG
7. Gavin Waddell, senior, Rolesville — 64.68 YPG
8. Jayden Lee Perry, junior, Leesville Road — 59.5 YPG
9. AJ Roberts, junior, Rolesville — 57.1 YPG
10. James Bailey, senior, East Mecklenburg — 54.7 YPG
11. Jordan Tun, senior, Laney — 54.3 YPG
12. Devin Goldston, senior, Leesville Road — 52.9 YPG
13. Quinn Rucker, senior, South Mecklenburg — 52.2 YPG
14. Malachi Gilchrist, senior, Millbrook — 50.2 YPG
15. Donte Nicholson, senior, West Charlotte — 50.1 YPG

Top Returning 8A Receivers: Yards Per Reception

Minimum: 15 receptions

1. Tyran Evans, senior, Hough — 27.2 Yds/Rec.
2. Michael Young, senior, Jordan — 24.1 Yds/Rec.
3. Desyn Durand, junior, Hoggard — 22.5 Yds/Rec.
4. Donte Nicholson, senior, West Charlotte — 21.5 Yds/Rec.
5. AJ Roberts, junior, Rolesville — 19.9 Yds/Rec.
6. Rakim Finch, senior, West Charlotte — 19.6 Yds/Rec.
7. Jailyn Moore, junior, West Forsyth — 19.4 Yds/Rec.
8. Davion Jones, junior, West Charlotte — 19.4 Yds/Rec.
9. Shawn Matthews, senior, Providence — 18.2 Yds/Rec.
10. Jayden Lee Perry, junior, Leesville Road — 17.9 Yds/Rec.
11. Rakem Hammock, junior, Northwest Guilford — 17.3 Yds/Rec.
12. Hunter Cruise, senior, West Forsyth — 16.6 Yds/Rec.
13. Coby Walker, senior, Apex — 16.5 Yds/Rec.
14. Malachi Gilchrist, senior, Millbrook — 15.6 Yds/Rec.
15. Gavin Waddell, senior, Rolesville — 15.5 Yds/Rec.

Top Returning 8A Receivers: Touchdowns per Game

Minimum: 6 games, ties broken by most games, then most yards

1. Tyran Evans, senior, Hough — 1.077 TD/GM
2. Malachi Thomas, senior, Millbrook (transfer from Cleveland) — 0.923076923076923 TD/GM
3. Carter Lawson, senior, Corinth Holders — 0.778 TD/GM
4. Gavin Waddell, senior, Rolesville — 0.75 TD/GM
5. KD Cotton, senior, West Charlotte — 0.714 TD/GM
6. Jailyn Moore, junior, West Forsyth — 0.7 TD/GM
7. AJ Roberts, junior, Rolesville — 0.688 TD/GM
8. Rakem Hammock, junior, Northwest Guilford — 0.667 TD/GM (12 games, 881 yards)
9. Michael Young, senior, Jordan — 0.667 TD/GM (12 games, 529 yards)
10. Quinn Rucker, senior, South Mecklenburg — 0.667 TD/GM (9 games, 470 yards)
11. Coby Walker, senior, Apex — 0.667 TD/GM (9 games, 362 yards)
12. Keland Shelton Jr., junior, Providence — 0.667 TD/GM (6 games)
13. Devin Goldston, senior, Leesville Road — 0.636 TD/GM
14. Otavio Oliveira, junior, Providence — 0.6 TD/GM (10 games, 649 yards)
15. James Bailey, senior, East Mecklenburg — 0.6 TD/GM (10 games, 547 yards)

Top Returning 8A Receivers: Touchdowns per Reception

Minimum: 20 receptions, ties broken by most yards

1. Tyran Evans, senior, Hough — 0.389 TD/Rec.
2. Michael Young, senior, Jordan — 0.364 TD/Rec.
3. KD Cotton, senior, West Charlotte — 0.333 TD/Rec.
4. Coby Walker, senior, Apex — 0.273 TD/Rec.
5. AJ Roberts, junior, Rolesville — 0.239 TD/Rec.
6. Carter Lawson, senior, Corinth Holders — 0.219 TD/Rec.
7. Akshar Barnes, junior, Leesville Road — 0.217 TD/Rec.
8. Malachi Thomas, senior, Millbrook (transfer from Cleveland) — 0.211 TD/Rec.
9. Jailyn Moore, junior, West Forsyth — 0.206 TD/Rec.
10. Davion Jones, junior, West Charlotte — 0.2 TD/Rec. (387 yards)
11. Eddie Mann, senior, Willow Spring — 0.2 TD/Rec. (261 yards)
12. Hunter Cruise, senior, West Forsyth — 0.194 TD/Rec. (515 yards)
13. Quinn Rucker, senior, South Mecklenburg — 0.194 TD/Rec. (470 yards)
14. Rakim Finch, senior, West Charlotte — 0.185 TD/Rec.
15. Gavin Waddell, senior, Rolesville — 0.179 TD/Rec.

HSOT Insiders should stay tuned to the site throughout the spring and summer months for more football preview articles.