704 Media Day Review: Midday Session

<p>The 704 Media Day, with 18 schools in attendance, was recently held at Harding University High School in Charlotte, NC. In the midday session, six schools attended the Media Day and answered questions & took pictures with local media in attendance. We'll share some of what was said from these teams in attendance. All player interviews can be found on my Twitter profile <a href="https://x.com/pepman704/media">https://x.com/pepman704/media</a> .</p>   <p><strong>Harding Rams </strong></p>   <p>Head Coach Terence Cunningham has the Rams trending in the right direction, as several area coaches have seen improvement from the Rams this offseason. Cunningham likes his kids and believes that they have a better overall chance to compete in their new conference with the realignment that took place. Cunningham spoke highly of the four players he brought to Media Day - [player_tooltip player_id='1760632' first='Jacob' last='Banks'] is a player that will play all over the field and is the only returning All-Conference player the Rams have. ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1788171' first='Jaquavion' last='Gaffney'] is a player who can make a big jump this season, he has excellent size and can make plays with the ball in his hands. Also, some breaking news - the Rams picked up a new quarterback in [player_tooltip player_id='1574942' first='Landon' last='Stewart'], which should help the offense in a good way. Check out what Coach Cunningham said in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1953836021042340296 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Corvian Cardinals </strong></p>   <p>The 1A state runner-ups from last season are back to prove that it wasn't just a one-year run, and Head Coach Chris Amill talked about building the culture and expectations for his program with me during his interview. The Cardinals still have some good talent returning this season, and Coach Amill brought three guys with him to the Media Day who are essential to that success. K/P [player_tooltip player_id='1548852' first='Cooper' last='Peterson'] is one of the best in the state, and he mentioned he handles pressure well from the work he puts in consistently in practice. OL Trey Dukes will be an anchor for an offensive line that lost a bit of talent due to graduation up front. LB [player_tooltip player_id='1716197' first='Jayden' last='Summers'] is back to help defensively, and he flies to the football and tackles well in the open field. Check out what Coach Amill had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1953533777273049348 </div></figure>   <p><strong>North Stanly Comets</strong></p>   <p>The Comets are proud to have been the best team in Stanly County the last few years, and Head Coach Chad Little stated that it is one of their main goals every season. Coach Little has been at Stanly County for a long time and has a lot of pride instilled in his program, and his players shared that same sentiment in their interviews as well. Coach Little brought three players with him to Media Day, all on the defensive side of the ball, as Coach Little believes that will be the major key to success this season. Cameron Brown at DB will help control the secondary and be a leader in the back end. [player_tooltip player_id='1572758' first='Caleb' last='Terhune'] recently made it into our rankings, as he has great size and can be a disruptor on the interior defensive line. [player_tooltip player_id='1600483' first='Lorquis' last='Lilly'] (Juice) is a big middle linebacker who is built to shut down the running game and can play some in space also. Check out what Coach Little had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1953830920508641472 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Charlotte Latin Hawks </strong></p>   <p>Head Coach Drew Dayton shared with me that the improvement last season the Hawks experienced wasn't about doing anything special; it was more about stressing consistency within their program. Dayton was also high on the types of kids in his program, noting that they don't make decisions for just a 1 year or 2 year deal, that it was a 40-year decision to attend Charlotte Latin. Dayton brought three players with him who are talented and essential to their on-field success. [player_tooltip player_id='612106' first='Banks' last='Cutter'] will play some tight end and defensive end, Georgetown commit [player_tooltip player_id='1368124' first='Matthew' last='Barber'] will play some offensive line and defensive line, and quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1308876' first='Troy' last='Logan'] will try to build on the big season he had last year. Check out what Coach Dayton had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/bronxbuddy/status/1953836156904247508 </div></figure>   <p><strong>Ambassador Christian Lions </strong></p>   <p>This upcoming season will be the first full varsity season for the Ambassador Christian program. The program has been attractive to some players, and Head Coach Jay Poag was transparent with me about the vision of the program and the support behind it. Coach Poag shared that they want to be a program that plays a more national schedule and provide their players exposure to do some unique things - he noted that next season the program will have the opportunity to play overseas in Ireland to start the season, as an example. Among the players, Coach Poag brought with him to Media Day, [player_tooltip player_id='1608324' first='Troy' last='Alderfer'], who recently received an offer to play football at North Carolina based on his performance at a 7 on 7 tournament over the summer. Check out what Coach Poag had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://youtu.be/cVyXhknfrzk?si=_CNq3KP3q9LenRSy </div></figure>   <p><strong>South Iredell Vikings </strong></p>   <p>Head Coach Lee Linville, coming off an appearance in the State Playoffs, shared that numbers are up in the program and that has helped get the program off to a good start this year. Coach Linville also shared that the biggest challenge in building the program has been trying to establish stability, given that before him the program had 4 head coaches in 4 years. Coach Linville brought three players with him - Adam Sharpe, a receiver who can make some plays in space with the ball in his hands. Also linebacker Griffin Luxton, who should help lead the defense, and offensive lineman [player_tooltip player_id='1599171' first='Brooks' last='Culp'] who has grown physically even more this offseason and has received some college interest. Check out what Coach Linville had to say in full below. </p>   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/pepman704/status/1953584251758424255 </div></figure>

The 704 Media Day, with 18 schools in attendance, was recently held at Harding University High School in Charlotte, NC. In the midday session, six schools attended the Media Day and answered questions & took pictures with local media in attendance. We'll share some of what was said from these teams in attendance. All player interviews can be found on my Twitter profile https://x.com/pepman704/media .