What the 4 defending football state champions return in 2024
We've now been through three months without high school football in North Carolina. Today, there's only four months between now and when games start. Throughout the month of April, we'll have some kind of football preview coverage released to HSOT Insiders each day.
First up, let's take a look at the four defending N.C. High School Athletic Association state champions and the pieces that they'll have back under the Friday night lights this fall.
HSOT Insiders: Prepare for the 2024 football season
- Confirmed transfers impacting the 2024 North Carolina high school football season
- The Huddle: 2024 QB Tiers
- The Huddle: 2024 RB Tiers
- Every in-state football offer for North Carolina's class of 2025
- Building the Fence: Class of 2025 in-state football commits
- These class of 2025 North Carolina players are committed to out-of-state programs
- Every in-state football offer for North Carolina's class of 2026
- Every in-state football offer for North Carolina's class of 2027
Weddington Warriors, 4A state champions
Weddington will look quite different on offense in 2024. Only three offensive starters from the 2023 championship game will return in 2024: running back Nick Diamond (991 yards, 11 TDs in 2023, wide receiver Javon Barber (611 yards, 7 TDs), and right tackle Jimmy Randazzo.
The Warriors' offensive line took over games during the playoff run, so finding four new players to step up into those roles is going to be a big task. Watch out for rising sophomore Bryce Johnson here, who played a good nunber of snaps on the defensive line as a freshman. Johnson is 6-foot-3, 285 pounds, and holds an offer from Boston College.
Quarterback Tyler Budge had outstanding junior and senior seasons leading the way and was terrific in the state championship despite having an injured shoulder. Unless Weddington adds a new quarterback before the season, rising senior 6-foot-4 passer Greg Fee seemingly has the inside track for the job after serving as Budge's top backup and throwing for 390 yards and four touchdowns last season. Weapons wise, it's going to be hard for Weddington to replicate the production that NC State signee Keenan Jackson had in his lone season with the Warriors (1,704 yards, 19 TDs).
Weddington is going to lean heavily on its defense in 2024. Six starters that beat Hoggard in the championship game are back.
The Warriors' 2026 class is special on that side of the ball, with 4-star prospects Thomas Davis Jr. at linebacker and Aiden Harris on the defensive line. Harris' twin brother Drew is slightly smaller and considered on the edge of that 4-star range. As if those premier Power 5 prospects weren't enough, Weddington is the beneficiary of a move by the family of former Panther Creek 4-star defensive lineman Trajen Odom. On3 has Odom ranked as the No. 120 rising senior in the country. Pairing Odom with the Harris twins on the defensive line will cause nightmares for other 4A West teams. Rising senior linebacker Braeden Barger is a quality starter alongside TJ Davis and Caleb Hill and James Colonna are back in the secondary.
Nine starters return for Weddington in total.
Hickory Red Tornadoes, 3A state champions
The Red Tornadoes are set to return just about all of their terrific offense from last season. HighSchoolOT All-State quarterback Brady Stober, running back Isaiah Lackey, and wide receiver Jamien Little will continue to be a three-headed monster as seniors this fall.
Stober tossed 3,933 yards, 47 touchdowns, and four interceptions last season. Lackey rushed for 1,910 yards and 36 touchdowns. Little, a Wake Forest commit, caught 70 passes for 1,372 yards and 20 touchdowns. Ellis Chappell (683 yards, 10 TDs) and Damarion Lee (678 yards, 6 TDs) are also returning to start at wide receiver. Graduating wide receiver/defensive back Dashawn Medley will be the biggest loss on offense as he had 863 yards and nine touchdowns last season. On the offensive line, Hickory returns three starters: RT Antonio McCombs, RG Dominic Sturghill, and C Jackson Fox.
Hickory has three starters back on the defensive line: Elijah Willhelm (33 tackles) at defensive end, Quenshea Abernathy (75 tackles, 5 TFL) at the other defensive end, and big 280-pound rising junior Rahshad Swinton (69 tackles) at defensive tackle. They'll miss Von Gwyn, who had 63 tackles as a defensive lineman last season. Hickory will have an all-new linebacker corps with seniors Tristian Williams, Turner Wood, and Henry Pitts set to graduate. Those three were credited for a combined 400 total tackles in 2023. Medley and Will Prince are big losses in the secondary. They combined for 130 tackles and Prince made multiple interceptions at key moments last season. Little (3 INTs, 2 PBUs) and rising senior Tylar Johnson (89 tackles, 1 INT) will be key pieces in the secondary next season.
Hickory has about 13-14 starters returning in total.
Reidsville Rams, 2A state champions
The Rams will be loaded again in their second season under new head coach Erik Teague.
The biggest difference for this Reidsville team will be the lack of quarterback Al Lee, who put up huge numbers for the Rams over the last three seasons. Lee was unconscious during the 2023 playoff run, positing a ridiculous touchdown to interception ratio of 21:0 over the six rounds. My expectation is that Reidsville will move rising senior two-sport standout Johnniyus Sharpe into the role. Sharpe transferred to Reidsville last offseason and played a huge role as the safety on the Rams' defense, but as a sophomore quarterback at Cummings High, Sharpe threw for 1,800 yards, 18 touchdowns, and three interceptions. He also rushed for 445 yards and nine touchdowns that season.
If Sharpe is the quarterback, he will have a very similar array of weapons to what Lee benefited from. Supreme 5-star rising junior tight end Kendre Harrison (940 yards, 16 TDs in 2023) is the state's most unique athlete and confounding option for defensive coordinators to strategize against. His fellow class of 2026 standout Dionte Neal still put up nice numbers at receiver (547 yards, 7 TDs) and defensive back (3 INTs, 8 PBUs) despite missing most of the season. Rising senior Cam Jones was a 1,000-yard receiver for Reidsville in the fall. Oh, and they also have a rising senior running back prospect with App State, Marshall, and NCCU offers in Jariel Cobb (1,213 yards, 17 TDs).
In addition to the incredible group of skill players coming back, four starters on Reidsville's offensive line were juniors last season (LT Tyreese Turner, LG Lucas Gengler, C John Flippin, and RT Noah Ware).
Reidsville will miss receiver Que'shyne Flippen, a key component of that offensive core who became Reidsville's all-time leading receiver last fall. The Rams will also lose linebacker standouts Paul Widerman and Aidan Mansfield to graduation. Those two both made over 148 tackles last season and have been key rotational running backs throughout their respective careers. The Rams are also going to miss graduating defensive end Devin Shryock (75 tackles last fall).
Starting linebacker Kori Rhodes and defensive back Juhkeir Pinnix round out a group of seven returning starters on the defensive side of the ball.
Mount Airy Granite Bears, 1A state champions
The Granite Bears are winners of back-to-back 1A state titles and 30 consecutive games. To get that win streak up into the record book (lowest end of the included teams is at 43), Mount Airy will have to do it without a very key piece. Former head coach J.K. Adkins returned to be the head coach at his alma mater of Freedom this offseason. In his place, Mount Airy promoted longtime assistant and former Granite Bears quarterback Austin Taylor.
Mount Airy is set to graduate one of the best classes of players that we've seen in 1A. All-state standouts in running back Tyler Mason and defensive end Deric Dandy will be playing for Virginia Tech this fall. They're also set to lose other key pieces, like quarterback/stud linebacker Ian Gallimore, triple phase star Walker Stroup, steady running back/linebacker Caleb Reid, two-way skill player Mario Revels, and big lineman Spencer Baldwin.
The Bears' 2025 graduating class is not going to be nearly as strong, but there are some good players in that group. Mount Airy is going to lean heavily on its rising juniors, the class of 2026, which is comparable to this outstanding 2024 group.
Defensive end DJ Joyce (95 tackles, 37 TFL, 12.5 sacks) is a standout in that rising junior class and mauling space-eater Third Floyd has been a lynchpin of that defensive line as a freshman and sophomore. Adding in rising senior Dee Dawkins (82 tackles, 19 TFL), the majority of the Bears' defensive line will be back.
Without Reid, Stroup, and Gallimore, Mount Airy will have a completely new linebacker corps in 2024. In the secondary, Zach Goins and Taeshon Martin return.
Martin is going to be the fixture of Mount Airy's offense this fall. A rising junior, Martin is scary quick and broke out with 1,436 yards and 17 touchdowns last fall. With Mason and Reid graduated, Martin is this offense's star.
Ian Gallimore's younger brother Landon is expected to take over the starting quarterback role as a senior this fall. Landon threw for 302 yards, five touchdowns, and no interceptions in 2023.
The Granite Bears have two starting offensive linemen back: rising senior LT Jourdain Hill and rising senior LG JD Harper.
In total, nine starters are returning for Mount Airy.
