2023 Ball Hawks to Look Out For

Chris Norcross

July 8, 2022 @ 05:31 PM

In North Carolina’s 2023 class, there have already been a fair share of DB’s who have made their case to be some of the most talented ball hawks in the state. Last season, out of the plethora of players who had success on defense, we have listed some of our favorite players who consistently found ways to be around the football, thus creating interceptions for their team, further putting their team’s offense in good position. Jaylen Bellamy- West Columbus Last season, as a Junior, Bellamy began to step up to the plate for his defense, as he not only played a very lockdown style of football, but he also played with very good awareness of the game at hand. Throughout the season, Bellamy proved to be able to shadow movement well, while also displaying improvement on his movement skills throughout the season. By the end of the year, Bellamy managed to total 6 interceptions, with a total of around 80 yards from all of them. In addition to this, he also averaged around .5 interceptions a game. [player_tooltip player_id="149087" first="Brody" last="Barnhardt"]- Providence Day By the end of the year, Barnhardt had proved to be a standout player for Providence Day, which tends to produce plenty of talent each season. As a Junior, not only did he make a huge impact on his defense due to the tackles, and pass break ups that he caused, but he found ways to create turnovers, further putting his team’s offense in a great position. After 11 games, Barnhard found himself with 6 interceptions as well, which ultimately resulted in about 189 yards total. Camauri Mcdougald- Triton In a 9 game span, Mcdouglad did more for Triton than make interceptions. As the season progressed, he had proven to be a consistent part of the secondary, making it hard for opposing QB’s to make easy throws to his side of the field, and making it even more difficult for opposing WR’s to run effective routes. Throughout the year, Mcdougald did a great job of staying in the receivers hip pockets, and being able to mirror their movement. He played with good balance, and footwork, and proved that he can change direction and get out of his breaks with ease. As a result of this, he saw himself with 5 interceptions, and about 40-50 total yards from this. His turnovers proved to be very helpful for his team, and we expect him to step up for his team next season as well. Joshua Porch- Robinson Just like Mcdougald, we fully expect Porch to have a solid season next year, especially due to the way that he managed to prowl around the secondary last season. Not only was porch a successful WR, but he had a great season lining up as a CB. He not only broke up passes, and pressured bad throws, but he made it difficult for opposing receivers to find any wiggle room on their routes. This amount of consistency allowed for him to have a great season, causing minimal yards allowed, and the creation of 5 interceptions. Next season, especially due to his body control and the way that he reads opposing QB’s, we expect him to come down with a few more turnovers.