State Championship Wrap-Up

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And just like that, the season is over. Eight NCHSAA state champions were crowned over the weekend, and it's almost time to turn the page to the offseason. Before we move all the way on, though, I wanted to take one last look back at the weekend. Here's what you may have missed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">State Championship Weekly Recap</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Big-Time Players Make Big-Time Plays</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Among the eight state championship winners, almost every one was paced by a superstar performance out of one or more of its superstars.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Where else can we start than with Watuaga's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1868481' first='Evan' last='Burroughs']</strong>? The two-way star put up one of the best championship game performances in the history of the state. In the first half alone, Burroughs had three rushing touchdowns, a receiving touchdown, and two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. Burroughs finished with nearly 200 yards from scrimmage in a 47-25 win. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>So great was Burroughs' performance that it overshadowed quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1895140' first='Cade' last='Keller']'s</strong> impressive game. Keller had just four incompletions and over 275 yards, adding 41 rushing yards in an elite performance. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Reidsville relied on its stars to put an exclamation point on another state championship. Their three highest-ranked players in our rankings were unstoppable. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='869974' first='Dionte' last='Neal']</strong> had over 200 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns, including a long run and another long catch, as well as a fumble recovery and interception on defense. 2027 quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1050807' first='Tyson' last='Broadway']</strong> had his best game of the season, averaging nearly 30 yards per completion and throwing for over 275 yards and four touchdowns. 2026 No. 1 <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='953008' first='Kendre' last='Harrison']</strong> lived in the backfield defensively and had over 100 receiving yards on three catches.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If there's one big takeaway from the weekend, it's that it's really hard to win a state championship without at least one star player elevating the unit around him.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">About that Shelby-Kinston Game...</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>We all predicted a high-scoring outcome in the 3A State Championship Game, but I can safely say no one predicted <em>that</em>. Shelby was completely unable to stop <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1368098' first='Tyreek' last='Copper']</strong>, who broke both the North Carolina single-season yardage and touchdown records in the first half of a 229-yard, three-touchdown game, and yet the Golden Lions won, 84-41, in the highest-scoring state championship game ever.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1099168' first='Lan' last='Farmer']</strong> had 10 (no, that's not a typo) touchdowns, eight as a passer and two as a runner, while putting up nearly 500 total yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1905611' first='Jonas' last='Woods']</strong> played arguably his best game of the season, adding 130 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shelby set all sorts of records, while Farmer rocketed into the leaderboard for a number of career and season passing and touchdown records. It wasn't all offense (okay, it was mostly), as Shelby shut down Kinston's running game and picked off two passes (one by edge rusher <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1687752' first='Tyson' last='Williams']</strong>) en route to a historic victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Huge Defensive Performances</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hough had an argument for being one of the best defensive units in state history, and the Huskies proved it on Thursday. From the beginning of conference play to the end of the season, Hough allowed 33 total points, with five shutouts in nine games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Millbrook's talented offense just couldn't get anything going as all three levels of the Huskie defense thrived. Linebackers <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='974827' first='LJ' last='Porter']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='950969' first='Ryan' last='Peterson']</strong> combined for 18 tackles. I saw Peterson, in particular, a top-10 prospect in the 2028 class, finally getting some national love for his downhill quickness and tackling ability. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the secondary, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1788073' first='Jackson' last='Heath']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='284097' first='Samari' last='Matthews']</strong> each played physically and on the front foot, making sure Millbrook couldn't find width.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That may have been expected (While I picked Millbrook to win, all three of us had Hough's defense holding Millbrook under 20 points), but two other elite defensive performances weren't as likely.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>All of our staff expected a high-scoring 1A championship game. Instead, we got a defensive struggle. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2060060' first='Travon' last='Usher']</strong> hit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1580029' first='Nazir' last='Vines']</strong> for Wilson Prep's only touchdown of the game, but it was the senior quarterback's defensive contributions that led to his MVP award. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2075151' first='Ethan' last='Nelson']</strong> had over 100 rushing yards, five tackles, and hit the game-winning field goal, the Tigers' first field goal attempt of the season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Finally, we all thought Tarboro would win. We thought they'd win in a shootout. Instead, it was the defense that took the headlines. In a game that was scoreless at the half, the Vikings' defense shined until <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='473838' first='Kamerin' last='McDowell-Moore']</strong> and the offense were finally able to wear down the Murphy front.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>McDowell-Moore shined defensively too, finishing with 15 tackles. Edge rusher <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1408773' first='Tyler' last='Powell']</strong> was unblockable, with three tackles for loss and two sacks, while <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1698484' first='Josiah' last='Dickens']</strong> added another 1.5 sacks and <strong>Carmello Bullock</strong> had two takeaways in a 22-0 shutout.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>The season may be over, but our work has just begun. In the next month, you can expect a top 50 players list, rankings updates for each class, and plenty of offseason coverage.</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->