Catawba Shores Conference Media Day Recap

As we continue the tour of Charlotte Metro Area Conference Media Days, we were at Community School of Davidson this past Monday for their first-ever Catawba Shores Conference Media Day. The conference consists of 8 schools that are all charter or parochial schools: Community School of Davidson, Corvian, Lake Norman Charter, Pine Lake Prep, Christ The King, Lincoln Charter, Bradford Prep, and Langtree Charter. We'll go through each team and highlight a player that we think will be really key to their overall success on each team.   Community School of Davidson Spartans Head Coach Kenneth McClamrock OL Matt Worley QB [player_tooltip player_id='1041542' first='Ty' last='Sigler'] K/P Liam Carniero LB Cade Rasmussen The Spartans were the media day hosts, and I've projected them to finish 2nd in the conference. Coach McClamrock is in his first year leading the Spartans, and he's very excited, as they have made a huge investment in the weight room and have some talented players back in the fold to help chase a conference championship and make a run in the state playoffs. The fun part from their media availability was them naming Corvian and Pine Lake as their rivals - those will be some must-see games on their schedule this year.   <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/L1aYEQORjcc?si=FtW_n6cX5jVbHwRS </div></figure>    The Spartans have several good-looking players, but their success is going to ride with the talented returning senior quarterback. Ty had a good junior year, and he should be a great fit in Coach McClamrock's offense, which likes to spread the football around to multiple targets all over the football field. It would not surprise me to see Ty throw for over 2,000 yards this season.    Corvian Cardinals   Head Coach Chris Amill OL/DL Nathaniel Kamba OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id='1353067' first='Jesiah' last='Fields'] WR/DB Cam Simpson ATH Cam Clark Head Coach Chris Amill has turned the Cardinals into a state power in a short period of time. I thought the Cardinals carried themselves with a sense of confidence overall, knowing that they have strong talent in the right positions in order to make another run at both a conference championship and a potential state title. In just looking at the Cardinals, you can tell that they all did a lot of work in the weight room in the offseason. Both Nathanel Kamba and [player_tooltip player_id='1353067' first='Jesiah' last='Fields'] described their recruiting processes in order to make their respective decisions to play college football.   <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/p3ZrrDhMwfU?si=TXhFO-3dUXRYntmj </div></figure>    It had been almost 2 years since I saw Jesiah up close in person, and man, what a physical transformation he has made with his body. I can see why he was such a highly recruited prospect, and why he became a dominant player on his highlight film. Jesiah was well spoken and intelligent in describing his recruiting process to me, and I think Louisville is going to be ecstatic to welcome this young man into their football program.    Lake Norman Charter   Head Coach Matt Montroy QB Dylan Wignot RB/DB Chase Gentile OL/DL Wyatt Herron LB [player_tooltip player_id='2265487' first='Logan' last='Frate'] Coach Montroy is entering his 4th year at Lake Norman Charter and is excited for the fact that they can now qualify for the state playoffs and make a run after having some successful seasons overall. I thought that this group is confident in their abilities, and they really seem to enjoy being together as a team. I have them in the middle of the pack in this conference as my projection, but they're going to be a group that isn't going to be an easy out on Friday Nights this season.   <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/B2Lk9JwMtoE?si=7CZ3JBn9Q7Xu-lOe </div></figure>    Logan was one of the leading tacklers for the Knights last season, and he'll be one of the team leaders overall, and definitely on defense this upcoming season. I liked how he gave credit to his defensive linemen for allowing him to make so many tackles in one of his answers during Media Day. There are a wide variety of offenses in this league, and having a senior returning linebacker will definitely make things a little easier for everyone.    Pine Lake Pride Head Coach Austin Trotter LB TJ Kieffer LB/TE Nathan Bleckley OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id='1815345' first='Paul' last='Mahoney'] RB Logan Pettit The Pride is an interesting bunch that I've predicted to finish 5th overall in the conference this year. Coach Trotter was excited, as he feels he has a team where he can get back to his preferred offensive identity of being a run-first team that takes vertical shots over the top of the defense when given the chance. As far as the players go, TE Nathan Bleckley was excited that he'll be able to catch more passes in their offensive attack. OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id='1815345' first='Paul' last='Mahoney'] is a strong player, and expect the Pride to run a good bit behind him to establish that time of possession they love to control in their games.   <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/EfqritutMxg?si=9y6D3hkmZdkZzYmi </div></figure>    TJ continues the trend of impressive linebackers this season in conference play; he's been an All-Conference player, a tackling machine, and a constant bright spot on a Pride team that has gone through some struggles the last year or two. He's going to have some more help overall this season, though, and I think the Pride has a shot at both a winning season and making the playoffs in their future this year.    Christ The King Crusaders Head Coach Charlie Jackson WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id='1224735' first='Carter' last='Stevens'] LB/RB [player_tooltip player_id='1678636' first='Caden' last='Fritz'] QB Jameson Ehret DL Josh Tolcher This group left the strongest impression on me after their Media Day session. From Coach Jackson all the way down, there was a quiet confidence in everything they said. Coach Jackson stated that this 2027 class has been a group people around the school have been excited about for a while, so it seems there are some expectations here. However, Coach Jackson said their team goal is to take it one game at a time, and hopefully make it past the 2nd round of the state playoffs, which has not been done in school history.   <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/YX2e4JJSoHw?si=jvhti4eP-nvLKdHD </div></figure>    We have Carter ranked as a wide receiver, but he just as easily could go into our athlete category, as he has been a contributor on both sides of the ball for a while for the Crusaders. Carter is definitely a playmaker, and his contributions will be essential for a team that wants to play physical on both sides of the ball and send a message on Friday Nights.    Lincoln Charter Eagles Assistant Coach Parker ATH Lalan Harris QB [player_tooltip player_id='2247459' first='Cody' last='Puskar'] WR Brody Ward LB/S [player_tooltip player_id='2265500' first='Justin' last='Hudgins'] Well-known head coach Mike Byus was not in attendance for Media Day, but Coach Parker shared some words about the journey for the Lincoln Charter program as a whole. Last year was their first year as a varsity program, and they were able to win three games, so they feel like they're a little bit ahead of schedule. They did have a really talented quarterback transfer out, unfortunately, this past offseason, so it will be a little bit of a rebuild again, but this group is confident they can build and add to the successes they had last season.   <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/5sxQVbuHq-8?si=EX3wclozG-NH2H_L </div></figure>    Justin is a returning All-Conference player for the Eagles, and he's confident that he can be a defensive leader both on and off the field. I liked his overall presence, and I took a brief look at his film; he's a good candidate to be a leading tackler for this squad, in my opinion.    Bradford Prep Bears Head Coach Adam Webber QB Noah Shorts ATH [player_tooltip player_id='2265504' first='Josh' last='Caves'] DL Tyler Gunter OL/DL Blake Asker The Bears are entering their first year of Varsity Football after playing a year of JV Football under a different coaching staff. First-Year Head Coach Adam Webber is confident that the Bears can compete immediately within the conference and says the team has a chip on its shoulder to prove they will be better than what people think early on in their program's history.   <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/bLPVPsx5DQE?si=Xh8AhbD5DFrMqjUc </div></figure>    Josh is going to be an important player on both sides of the ball in skill positions for the Bears, and he's going to be one of the players who is bringing some valuable experience, having played JV for the Bears last season. Coach Webber stated he's been one of the players that has been at Bradford since the start of the program, and he's going to be counted on to make some big plays to put the Bears in position to win ball games early and often this season.    Langtree Lions Head Coach Will Weir QB [player_tooltip player_id='2210033' first='Easton' last='Roschke'] WR/DB [player_tooltip player_id='2113125' first='Thomas' last='Hay'] ATH Jackson Berry OL/DL Zach Lane Coach Weir enters the season with a year of varsity football under his belt, and a returning quarterback who I think does have some good size and talent in his game, based on film and offseason work I was able to check out ahead of this Media Day. Coach Weir was pretty laid back at Media Day, but I did like his answer that the Langtree administration has been supportive of his work with the program and that they want football to be a successful sport. That was refreshing to hear, because you never know what a situation may truly be like sometimes. I also like OL/DL Zach Lane's confidence - he said that he's a disruptive defensive lineman who likes to create havoc in offensive backfields.   <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/8C8NP8sVu4I?si=S94GLR0182h51CQy </div></figure>    Easton is an interesting prospect who I think has some real potential in his game. He's also a baseball player, which gives him some advantages at the quarterback spot. He's got good size and fundamentals based on what I've seen, and he threw double-digit touchdowns last season in a first-year varsity situation. There are some good trends there, and he's going to be someone I keep an eye on this season for sure.

As we continue the tour of Charlotte Metro Area Conference Media Days, we were at Community School of Davidson this past Monday for their first-ever Catawba Shores Conference Media Day. The conference consists of 8 schools that are all charter or parochial schools: Community School of Davidson, Corvian, Lake Norman Charter, Pine Lake Prep, Christ The King, Lincoln Charter, Bradford Prep, and Langtree Charter. We'll go through each team and highlight a player that we think will be really key to their overall success on each team.