Grimsley High School and Rolesville High School have established themselves as North Carolina’s two best football teams over the course of the 2024 season.

On Friday night at 7:00 p.m., the Whirlies and the Rams will face off for the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s top honor: the 4A state championship.

With multiple big time college prospects on each roster, and some very good high school players to balance the stardom out, the title game could end up being a fitting sendoff to the competitive 4A era before the NCHSAA progresses into eight classifications next year.

This preview is packed with aspects of this matchup that you should have your eye on.

The First Game – Week 2

A unique feature of this year’s 4A state championship game is that these teams have already played this year. This rematch is the first and only we’ll see in a state championship of the current realignment cycle. It was slightly more common back when the east-west line wasn’t fixed. It’s a far more common occurrence in the 24-game sports as the top teams will often go to showcases to play other top teams.

Grimsley won the week two matchup, which was played at Rolesville, in fairly convincing fashion. The final score of 35-20 in favor of the Whirlies. It was a hotly anticipated matchup at the time, but Rolesville’s performance did not meet the moment.

Rolesville did a better job against Grimsley’s outstanding running back Mitchell Summers than most are able to, but the back end of the defense proved to be leaky thanks to some busted coverages and tackling that was subpar to the Rams’ standards. Faizon Brandon made the Rams pay in just 12 passing attempts. He completed six passes for 235 yards (an average of 39.2 yards per completion), two touchdowns, and no interceptions.

The Rams’ offense also left some plays on the field. At 44.8% completion, it was by far the least accurate performance of Rolesville quarterback Braden Atkinson’s career.

Both teams have improved since this game. Only Hough and Weddington have challenged Grimlsey since and only Cardinal Gibbons has contended with Rolesville over the past 14 weeks.

Here is a full recap of the first game. You can watch a full replay of the HSOT Game of the Week broadcast with J. Mike Blake.

The Stars You Need to Know

• Faizon Brandon, junior QB, Grimsley – The player many would say is the best in North Carolina at any position, Brandon is ranked as the No. 1 prospect nationally in the class of 2026 by 247Sports. He’s accounted for 41 total touchdowns to one turnover and has completed a staggering 77% of his passes. Brandon is already committed to the University of Tennessee.
• Braden Atkinson, senior QB, Rolesville – No player in North Carolina has thrown for more touchdowns over the past two seasons than Atkinson. The Mercer signee has tossed 96 touchdowns to just seven interceptions in his two years under offensive coordinator Mike Holderman.
• Mitchell Summers, senior RB, Grimsley – At 5-foot-6, no player in N.C. punches above his weight than the superstar running back. Summers is the only 4A running back in the 2020s to have three consecutive seasons of over 2,000 rushing yards. He has scored 115 total touchdowns in his career.
• Bryce Davis, senior DE, Grimsley – The 6-foot-3, 250-pound edge defender is considered a top 100 senior prospect by a couple of recruiting services. Davis signed with Duke this month. He has over 50 career tackles for a loss and over 30 career sacks.
• Marquis Bryant, sophomore DB, Rolesville – The young player has the potential to become a household name after a game of this magnitude. 247Sports ranks him as the No. 81 sophomore prospect in the country. His instincts making him uniquely qualified for the next level and his athleticism lets him erase space in the blink of an eye.

A Surprising Connection

Grimsley’s superstar top-ranked recruit Faizon Brandon actually grew up in the Raleigh area before moving to Greensboro in middle school. Brandon knows many of the Rolesville players as he played AAU basketball and youth football with them.

Grimsley’s Offense vs. Rolesville’s Defense

Completely stopping a No. 1 national recruit at quarterback and a perennial 2,000-yard rusher is an impossible task.

Faizon Brandon has produced one of the most efficient passing seasons this state has ever seen. He’s completed 77% of his passes, has 33 touchdowns and just one interception, all while pushing the ball down the field with aggression.

Only one team this season has held Mitchell Summers to a rushing average of under 4.7 yards per carry. It was Rolesville, in the first game. Summers averaged 3.9 yards on 30 carries, which is tied for his most carries this year. Rolesville loaded up the box on Summers, forcing Brandon’s unproven receiving targets to beat them.

As we discussed above, the young receivers did win the night against the Rolesville secondary. The issues Rolesville had in that game were not of the skill variety – they were with organization and execution. Grimsley offensive coordinators Jesse Tripp and Will Brown have been on a play-calling heater in these playoffs. They’ve been pressing the play-action button at the right time regularly. Rolesville’s defense needs to be more attentive than last time, or Grimsley’s coaches and Brandon will catch them sleeping.

The Rolesville defense has made strides as a unit since that week two game, as all teams do. They’ve had less hiccups on the back end, unless its been by a trick play like how Cardinal Gibbons snuck a non-traditional receiver behind the Rams in the regional final.

It will be on Rolesville’s defensive backs – corners PJ Hartsfield and Cannon Marshall, nickel Jovon Wright, and safeties Marquis Bryant and Marion Turner to hold up in coverage as the Rams’ front six sells out against the run. All of them are set up to play on the next level. Bryant is a superstar sophomore who has already been ranked as a top 100 prospect by 247Sports.

Last week, Grimsley breakout wide receiver Kaden Catoe torched Weddington against man coverage. Catoe had three big touchdown receptions, all in the second half. DJ Howerton, Grimlsey’s big 6-foot-5 tight end, won the Hough game in round four by making himself open on timely play-action calls. Whichever Rolesville defenders draw those two assignments have to be on their A-game each play.

Back to Summers. It would be a mistake to assume that Rolesville will have the same relative success or even better success defending him this time around. The back seems to get better as games and the season goes on. It also should be pointed out that Grimsley’s offensive line was a new unit in week two. The Whirlies returned just two starters from last year, so the new starting five was still in the gelling process back in week two.

Coaching Corner

• Grimsley head coach Darryl Brown: Year 9, started in 2016. Overall record: 91-24
  • Grimsley coordinators: Jesse Tripp & Will Brown (offense), Joe Rigsbee (defense)
  • Other assistants: Lee Meekins, Thad Rice, Nile Harris, Jamie Cunningham, Toby
    Williams, Clay Browning, Derrick Waden, and Felix Gray
• Rolesville head coach Ranier Rackley: Year 2, started in 2023. Overall record: 26-3
  • Rolesville coordinators: Mike Holderman (offense), Kevin Reddick (defense)
  • Other assistants: Jermaine Wade, Ryan Palme, Joe Epps, Michael Peebles, John Spivey, Brandon Reynolds, Troy Turner, Dave Tate, Reggie Love, Dante Jones, Taylor Booze, Chris Pendergraft, Robert Davis, Lloyd Harrison, Lawrence Keys, Hunter Pulley, and Lamont Ragland

Rolesville’s Offense vs. Grimsley’s Defense

The Rams are hoping for a far more efficient showing this time around against the Whirlies. As we mentioned above, the usually precise Braden Atkinson had a career-low completion percentage of 44.8% in the first matchup.

Grimsley’s pass defense has been spectacular this season, especially considering the key players that were lost to graduation last year. The Whirlies have allowed just 105.5 passing yards per game. They allowed completions at the highest rate of the state finalists, but their defensive backs are exceptional closers on the ball, allowing just 11.4 per completion. Northwest Guilford transfer Ryan Debow has been effective from his safety spot on the back end. Junior cornerback Kosci Barnes was elevated into a starter role and has blossomed, using his 6-foot-3 frame to erase space against top receivers. Jasiah Hussey, a senior strong safety, seems has a knack for locating the ball.

The biggest difference between Grimsley’s defense last year and this year has been the return of Bryce Davis, a 4-star who signed to play at Duke. Davis actually hurt himself against Rolesville during week two of the 2023 season and missed the rest of his junior year. The future Blue Devil has returned with a vengeance and has caused over 20 sacks.

Receivers AJ Roberts and Gavin Waddell had nice games in the first matchup, but top senior Jaedon Alford managed just two short catches as he was coming back from an injury. Alford, an effective field stretcher when healthy, has looked more like the First Team All-State player from a year ago over these playoffs.

The numbers that Rolesville’s Division I running back prospects were hoping to get this year have not been there – both senior Devon Thomas and sophomore Amir Brown have worked through injuries. Last week, both were able to top 10 carries for the first time in a couple of months. Thomas rushed for 76 yards and Brown, a transfer from Cardinal Gibbons, rushed for 74 and a touchdown against his former team. If both of those players are near their full strength, that bodes very well for the Rams against Grimsley. The Whirlie run defense is much stronger than your average high school team, but it ranks towards the bottom among the elite teams playing this weekend. They’ll need a big game out of Big General Andre Hill, their 300-plus pound defensive tackle. He doesn’t have to stuff the stat sheet, he just needs to eat up blocks to clear the way for other defenders.

This time around, Rolesville will be without HSOT All-State interior offensive lineman Gavin Marks, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in the middle of the season. FBS tight end prospect Davis Brown has been inserted on the interior has had played well given the circumstances.

Special Teams

Of note, Grimsley has blocked three field goals this year. Two of those blocks have come from Jasiah Hussey. The third? Kyrie Millner did it in the first game against Rolesville.

Additionally, both teams blocked a punt attempt by the other in that first matchup on Aug. 30.

These teams have two of the better placekickers in North Carolina. Grimsley senior Jackson Henry has made 92 of his 95 point after touchdown attempts. Rolesville junior Riley Daniels has connected on 71 of his 74 attempts. Daniels is 8-of-11 on field goals, with a long make of 49 yards.

Senior defensive back Marion Turner causes problems in the return game on behalf of Rolesville. He’s scored a touchdown on both a punt return and a kickoff return. Grimsley senior defensive back Khyan Battle also has a punt return. He has over 400 total return yards. Grimsley is also willing to put Summers back on kickoff returns. Rolesville would be wise not to give him the ball in those situations.