5 Takeaways from Week 1 of North Carolina high school football

The 2024 North Carolina high school football season is in full gear now with the public schools opening play. Weddington beat Providence Day in a game with national ranking implications, Mount Airy won its 31st consecutive game and Reidsville found a quarterback.

Here are five key takeaways from this week’s games.

This was like a heavyweight title fight between two superpowers, with Weddington coming in as the reigning NCHSAA 4-A state champion and Providence Day the NCISAA Division I titleholder. In a 13-7 game, defense obviously ruled the day in the nightcap of the Keep Pounding doubleheader at Bank of America Stadium.

Weddington held an offense featuring Zaid Lott, Kendre Harrison and David Sanders to 150 yards of offense, including 18 on the ground. That’s impressive. It helps that the Warriors have four power-4 recruits, including end Aiden Harris and linebacker Thomas Davis Jr., on that side of the ball.

On the offensive end, the Warriors ground out 105 yards on the ground and limited Providence Day’s possessions. Weddington also had superior depth.

Reidsville entered the season as the reigning 2-A state champion but with a question mark at quarterback.

Not anymore.

It’s Dionte Neal, who was a superstar from the beginning of his freshman year in both football and basketball. Neal was 12-of-14 for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Rams’ 28-3 over Western Alamance. He also ran for 81 yards and a touchdown on 6 carries. That’s not all. Neal had a 93-yard kickoff return and ran back an interception 35 yards.

The Rolesville-Butler matchup figured to one to watch. But that was before Rolesville scored 57 points.

In the first half.

Quarterback Braden Atkinson was 22-of-31 for 317 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 64-14 rout. De’Von Thomas had 160 yards of total offense and 3 touchdowns. 

The Rams rolled up a whopping 474 yards of offense in the first half.

The opener of the Keep Pounding Classic wasn’t bad either. Independence raced to a 24-0 lead before having to hold on at the end.

Independence tailback Jayden Jones ran for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns on 20 carries. Much of that production was in the first half. Quarterback Justin Little threw for 201 yards and a touchdown.

Myers Park quarterback Jared Lockhart rallied his team in the second half, finishing with 249 yards and a pair of touchdown passes – both to Chaz Portis, the son of former NFL running back Clinton Portis.

Mount Airy has won back-to-back 1-A state championships. The Granite Bears mauled North Surry 50-14 to win their 31st consecutive game.

Taeshon Martin ran for 185 yards and 4 touchdowns as Mount Airy dominated after an early 14-7 deficit. Fisher Leftwich ran an interception 62 yards for a touchdown and caught a 31-yard touchdown pass.