Week 7 Instant Analysis

Friday night of Week 7 is in the books, and there's plenty to dissect from across the state. We're always player-focused, so we'll have plenty of “top performer” or “things you may have missed” content later in the week. This isn't that. Instead, I'm focused on reacting to some of the night's biggest storylines while talking about a few key performers.   There were plenty of high-profile matchups tonight. Check out my raw reactions to some of the biggest results in this instant analysis.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Week 7 Instant Analysis</h2>   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Resetting Expectations in Conference Play</h3>   Especially with the expansion to eight classifications this season, it's incredibly important not to overreact to the non-conference. That goes both ways. Some top teams played brutal non-conference schedules and left with misleading records. Others, aware of the difficulty of their conference slates, padded the non-conference slate to enter the conference slate with extra wins.   An example of the former, Rolesville sat 2-2 entering CAP 8A play and drew Millbrook out of the gate, falling to 2-3. On Friday, the Rams played the way we've come to expect from last year's runners-up in a 51-0 win over Broughton. [player_tooltip player_id='378957' first='Amir' last='Brown'] had his best game of the year, scoring five touchdowns. [player_tooltip player_id='771299' first='Kaleb' last='Williams'] was efficient and took care of the ball, hitting [player_tooltip player_id='1616145' first='Henry' last='Evans'] for a 10-yard touchdown.   Holmes started the season 1-4 against much bigger schools, but the Aces started Albemarle Conference play with an easy 51-7 win over Camden County.   Similarly, Reidsville has been rolling since a 1-2 start. In a shutout win over Rockingham County, [player_tooltip player_id='869974' first='Dionte' last='Neal'] and [player_tooltip player_id='953008' first='Kendre' last='Harrison'] had huge games as the Rams rolled.   Finally, the biggest is probably Havelock. Difficult schedule or not, it's been a tough season for a team used to competing for state championships, especially offensively. So it has to feel good for the Rams to have an offensive outburst against a good West Carteret team.   The Rams got off to a hot start as [player_tooltip player_id='1705638' first='Zyking' last='Patillo'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1665917' first='Jayden' last='Howard'] each had two touchdowns in the first 14 minutes of the game. Howard finished with four touchdowns, and Jacob Vasquez had a pick six in a huge 51-14 win.   There's a bit of renorming that will happen in the first few weeks of conference play as we see which teams' records are due to their talent and which are skewed by schedules.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Big Greater Neuse River 7A Result</h3>   I've mentioned multiple times that I think the Greater Neuse River 7A conference is one of the deepest conferences in the state. Friday, we saw why as Southeast Raleigh downed Clayton in a 22-19 defensive showdown.   Both teams moved the ball well, but struggled in the red zone. Clayton quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1243204' first='Aiden' last='Smalls'] threw two early touchdowns, one to [player_tooltip player_id='1600153' first='DeAngelo' last='Ruffin'] and one to [player_tooltip player_id='714587' first='TJ' last='Campbell']. There were some weird special teams plays with multiple missed field goals and defensive stops. In the second half, the Southeast Raleigh running game got going with [player_tooltip player_id='1251476' first='James' last='Adams'] and [player_tooltip player_id='378921' first='Christian' last='Freeman'], as the Bulldogs scored twice on the ground. Smalls added a rushing touchdown late, and the Comets got a stop, but couldn't complete a final 2-minute comeback.   The win shakes up an already crazy conference. Cleveland and its state-best 45-game regular season winning streak is the clear favorite, but Garner looks strong (73-0 win in Week 7), and Southeast Raleigh has a shot at Cleveland in two weeks.   <h3 class="wp-block-heading">3A Madness</h3>   It's official; 3A is the craziest classification in the state.   Among contenders, several teams put up impressive shutouts, including Eastern Randolph (38-0), North Stanly (37-0), Lincolnton (57-0), East Rutherford (57-0), and Martin County (63-0).   Of the four remaining 3A unbeatens, only North Stanly had it easy. RJ Brooks had two touchdowns, and the defense played well again as the Comets picked up their sixth-straight win to start the year.   The other three unbeatens played one-score games, and we saw one go down. Pasquotank County held a 13-point lead with six minutes left, but Hertford County quarterback Rucker Nixon led two scoring drives to squeak out a 26-25 win, handing Pasquotank County its first loss of the year. Ayden Everette had another big game for the Bears, scoring early int he first half.   Louisburg and Pender each survived very different scares to remain unbeaten. Louisburg pulled out a 16-15 win over Nash Central, while Pender's offense once again showed its magic, scoring the last 12 points of the game to beat Clinton, 50-45. Clinton actually led the majority of the game behind a strong performance from [player_tooltip player_id='897126' first='Miles' last='McCallop'], but Pender's offensive balance was too much for the Dark Horses. The Patriots are averaging over 400 yards and 42 points a game.   Finally, we had a couple of big results.   I can't call it an upset because, based on this year alone, the better team was the winner, but Currituck County over Northeastern is a massive result. [player_tooltip player_id='402295' first='Luka' last='Britt'], the two-way heart and soul of the Knights, got the scoring started with a 60-yard touchdown, one of four from quarterback Jamie Dance, who had a massive game. Britt added a later interception in a huge 28-7 win.   Wallace-Rose Hill, finally healthy, pushed to 3-3 with a blowout win over a strong Princeton team as [player_tooltip player_id='1600181' first='Jamarae' last='Lamb'] became (I think) the first running back in the state to 1,000 yards. If the last two weeks are any indication, the Bulldogs' health had a lot to do with some early losses, and they may be contenders after struggling early.   James Kenan beat Midway, 42-22, behind strong games from [player_tooltip player_id='1925414' first='Jeremiah' last='Hall'] and Eli Avent. The Tigers are true contenders in 3A, one of 10-15 teams that have a chance.   Finally, Ayden-Grifton downed Kinston in a matchup of some of the best skill position players in the state. I haven't heard much about how it went down, but the little I've heard sounds close to what I thought could happen when I <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/10/3-underrated-matchups-to-watch-in-week-7/">previewed that game</a> earlier this week.   3A is WIDE open, and I have a feeling we're going to be closely tracking upsets in this class every week.   Obviously, I can't hit everything in this one piece, but what did I miss? Who do I need to write about this week? Let me know on Twitter (<a href="https://x.com/whelms21">@whelms21</a>)

Friday night of Week 7 is in the books, and there's plenty to dissect from across the state. We're always player-focused, so we'll have plenty of “top performer” or “things you may have missed” content later in the week. This isn't that. Instead, I'm focused on reacting to some of the night's biggest storylines while talking about a few key performers.