For each week of the 2024 high school football season, HighSchoolOT will release the Starting 22. It lists the best performances from every position across North Carolina.

Coaches should send in performance nominations to [email protected] for consideration each week. Players cannot have a repeat selection later in the year, as the goal of this is to shine the light on as many players as possible.

See the Starting 22 from this season’s previous weeks:

Offense

QB — Jordan Bryant, senior, Overhills

• In Overhills’ crucial victory over Pine Forest to secure the top 4A seed out of the All-American Conference, Bryant completed 27 of 42 passing attempts for 450 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions.

RB — Brandon Albert, senior, Community School of Davidson

• Albert, a Lafayette commit, rushed for 257 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries in a rivalry win over Pine Lake Prep on Friday. Albert has rushed for over 700 yards over the past three games.

RB — DJ Callis, sophomore, Southeast Alamance

• In Southeast Alamance’s Mid-Carolina 1A/2A Conference-clinching win over Cummings, Callus rushed for 267 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.

WR — DeAngelo Ruffin, junior, Cleveland

• Ruffin was huge in Cleveland’s 37-35 win over rival Clayton, catching five passes for 137 yards and three touchdowns.

WR — Ryyan Coley, sophomore, Overhills

• Overhills defeated Pine Forest 41-34 to clinch the top 4A playoff spot out of the All-American Conference. In the performance, Coley caught 13 passes for 260 yards and five touchdowns.

FLEX — CJ Neely, senior, Dudley

• Neely caught 10 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns in Dudley’s conference championship-winning game against Eastern Guilford.

OL — Ja’Vaughn Hargett, junior, Southern Durham

• The 6-foot-6, 250-pound tackle finished the regular season with 53 pancake blocks and no sacks allowed after Southern’s win over Carrboro.

OL — Austin Deese, senior, Pinecrest

• The East-West All-Star Game selection graded out with a 91% in Pinecrest’s big win over rival Union Pines.

OL — Nolan Irwin, senior, Northwest Cabarrus

• Irwin has been a good player for a long time. He helped Northwest Cabarrus’ offense rush for 254 yards and five touchdowns in the Trojans’ 37-0 win over Central Cabarrus. The Trojans also threw for 173 yards.

OL — Joel Samari, junior, Southeast Alamance

• The 260-pound lineman had a grade of a 97% and two pancake blocks in Southeast Alamance’s 31-3 win over Cummings. The Stallions rushed for 359 total yards.

OL — Jhalil Winfield, senior, Pinecrest

• The East-West All-Star Game selection graded out with an 89% in Pinecrest’s blowout win over Union Pines.

Check out the Great 58 Statewide Standouts, which does something like this for all of the other fall sports:

Defense

DL — Jalile Elliott, senior, Dudley

• Elliott had eight total tackles, four tackles for a loss, and 2.5 sacks as Dudley shut out Eastern Guilford’s offense in a win that secured the Mid-State 3A Conference.

DL — Jaemikle Etheridge, senior, Holmes

• The senior defensive end had eight total tackles, including four tackles for a loss, in Holmes’ 47-32 win over Hertford County. He has been coming back from an injury that he suffered earlier in the year.

DL — Zach Greene, senior, Willow Spring

• Greene had a huge game in Willow Spring’s rivalry win over Fuquay-Varina. Greene had eight tackles, two tackles for a loss, one sack, and a safety.

DL — Andrew Rogers, sophomore, Dudley

• The huge 6-foot-6, 240-pound sophomore has been prolific this season. In Dudley’s conference championship-winning performance against Eastern Guilford, Rogers posted 12 total tackles, three tackles for a loss, and two sacks.

LB — Yoel Deleon, senior, Monroe

• An outside linebacker, Deleon had five tackles, including three tackles for a loss and one sack, in Monroe’s 55-7 blowout over West Stanly.

LB — Jackson Forrest, senior, Northwest Cabarrus

• The senior Old Dominion commit had 11 total tackles and two tackles for a loss in Northwest Cabarrus’ 37-0 shutout win over Central Cabarrus.

LB — Jeremiah Lindsey, junior, Monroe

• Lindsey had a really good game as Monroe beat West Stanly 55-7. He had eight total tackles, including three tackles for a loss, and a fumble recovery.

DB — Theron Batiste, sophomore, Cleveland

• The sophomore grabbed his third interception in conference play and had lockdown coverage all night in Cleveland’s thrilling win over rival Clayton.

DB — TJ Ellerbe, junior Red Springs

• Ellerbee is a good defensive back, wide receiver, and return man for Red Springs. He had three tackles and 65 return yards for the Red REvils in their 29-20 win over West Bladen. On offense, he had six receptions for 154 yards and two touchdowns.

DB — Micah McCoy, senior, Community School of Davidson

• McCoy had six tackles and an interception in CSD’s 41-10 win over rival Pine Lake Prep. He raised his season total of interceptions to seven.

FLEX — Hampton Reed, junior, Maiden

• Reed, a junior defensive back and wide receiver, had eight total tackles, three pass breakups, and an interception in Maiden’s 48-14 win over Newton-Conover. On offense, he caught nine passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns.