Extra Effort: Isreal Terry takes Vance County to new heights

There's no need to overthink it, football is fun for Isreal Terry.

"It's really like playing tag," The Vance County High School senior said. "So that's how I think about it."

Of course tag is a lot more fun when you're the fastest kid on the playground.

"Isreal is the fastest receiver that we had," Vance County head football coach Aaron Elliott said. "Teams put double coverage on him, they knew he was our best receiver."

Isreal also plays basketball at Vance County and the first word his coaches use to describe him is "leader."

"Isreal has always been that type of guy," Elliott said. "Whatever he's doing everybody else wants to be a part of."

"He's a soft spoken guy, but he's a leader," Vance County basketball coach Chad Wilson said. "Guys, the rest of the student body they tend to follow him."

Isreal helped lead Vance County football to its first conference championship (shared with Southern Durham) and first playoff win last season. Isreal tied Vance County's single game touchdown record (4) with his older brother Noah Terry.

"He's a humble child," Isreal's mother Fanta Terry said. "He does a lot of work behind the scenes, he's one that not only wants to be spotlighted for himself but is always pushing for his teammates to be spotlighted. If the team is winning everybody is winning."

Isreal has dreams of one day playing NFL football on Sundays, but for now you'll find him in church playing drums in the family band.

"I love playing, love having fun with my siblings and my dad," Isreal said.

A couple years ago the Terry family feared they might lose a member.

"I had been healthy, I had been fine," Isreal's father Orlando Terry remembered. "I just had this pain to come."

It was a Christmas party in 2019 when Orlando experienced an excruciating pain on his right side. He was taken to the hospital where tests revealed tumors on in his kidneys.

"My biggest scare was not being here for my family,"

A biopsy revealed the Terry family's worst fear, Orlando had kidney cancer. Orlando had surgery in April of 2020. His decision to remove one full kidney could have saved his life.

"Come to find out when they took the kidney out there was even more cancer under what they saw," Orlando said. "Being obedient to the Lord I think really just saved my life."

"It taught me not to take life for granted," Isreal said. "You never know what's going to happen you never know when you might go and my dad was blessed to beat cancer."

Next season Isreal will continue his football journey at Winston-Salem State.

"It's another opportunity to go show what I can do," Isreal said.

Isreal's leadership, athletic and academic achievements and work in the community earned him WRAL's Tom Suiter Extra Effort Award. Isreal hopes he can be an example that others in Vance County can follow.

"Showing the youth that you can do anything," Isreal said. "Just have faith and trust in God and anything can happen."