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All-Northwest Offense
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Published: December 25, 2008
Updated: 12/24/2008 09:00 pm
all-northwest offense -
Corey Adams
West Forsyth Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
6-3 270 Offensive line
Adams, a two-time All-Central Piedmont 4-A selection, helped open holes for Dedrick Anderson, who was one of the most productive running backs in the area. Adams had 26 domination blocks and is being recruited by programs in the Football Championship Subdivision and Division II.
"He is very mobile, and he is an aggressive soul, and that's what you have to be to play this game and play the position he played," Coach Adrian Snow said. "It's nice to know that young 'uns like that can move, and I am glad he was on my side. He got in there and got to work and did a good job of leading, and he was a player you could count on week in and week out."
David Collins
East Forsyth Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
6-7 280 Offensive line
Collins, a two-time All-Northwest and All-Metro 4-A selection, was a dominant blocker for a team that reached the Class 4-AA quarterfinals. He lost more than 40 pounds since his junior season, finished this season with 50 pancake blocks and allowed only two sacks in 14 games.
He was picked for the Shrine Bowl and the AP all-state team and has committed to North Carolina.
"His size helps a lot," Coach Todd Willert said. "His strength is pass blocking because he has such a big reach. It's hard for a defender to get around him when he gets his hands on them. He was a strong kid before he lost the weight. He might have lost a little strength, but the weight loss by no means hindered him. It was a big plus, a big help."
Michael Dobson
Mount Airy Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
6-0 185 Running back
Dobson, a two-time All-Northwest selection and two-time Northwest 1-A offensive player of the year, rushed 156 times for 1,726 yards and 34 touchdowns, averaging 11 yards a carry for a team that finished 16-0 and won the Class 1-A title. Dobson, who missed three games with an ankle injury, has committed to East Carolina.
"He didn't have a lot of carries this year, and it really shows what kind of team player he is," Coach Kelly Holder said. "When you are a 1-A player and a Division I recruit, for him to handle that situation shows a lot about his character. As a running back, he just has good size and good speed to go with it. He has the ability to see a hole and get through it quickly, and when you have that combination, it's pretty tough to defend."
Chad Faircloth
Forbush Junior
Ht. Wt. Position
6-4 270 Offensive line
Faircloth was an All-Mountain-Valley 2-A selection and the top lineman on his team. He has taken recruiting visits to Clemson and Duke and is being recruited by other ACC programs, Coach Pat Mitchell said.
"He has the size, but he also has good footwork," Mitchell said. "He is not big and dumpy, and he has great feet, and he knows how to use them. He is pretty athletic for a guy that big. He has got to grow into playing as big as he is. He is a nice guy, and he can get the job done, but he hasn't gotten to the point where he will try to demoralize people. But I think that will come. This is a kid that … honestly we haven't seen a total package like this at Forbush ever."
Hunter Furr
Mount Tabor Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
6-1 205 Running back
Furr is a two-time All-Northwest and two-time All-Central Piedmont 4-A selection who has committed to North Carolina. He rushed for 1,819 yards and 25 touchdowns this season, had 3,500 yards and 50 touchdowns in the last two seasons and played in the Shrine Bowl.
"He was a security blanket; we knew we would run the football and that would help us control the clock and the pace of the game," Coach Laymarr Marshall said. "The first thing I noticed about him when he stepped on our campus, we knew about his speed, but as a running back, he is a physical specimen, and he plays like it. He is a power back that can take it the distance, and that's a pretty rare combination in today's high-school football."
Rashaun Gaither
Starmount Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
5-10 185 Running back
Gaither, a two-time All-Mountain-Valley 2-A pick and the offensive player of the year in the MVC this season, rushed 199 times for 2,052 yards and 29 touchdowns, averaging 10.3 yards a carry for a team that reached the Class 2-A semifinals. He is being recruited by teams in the Football Championship Subdivision and Division II.
"His body-fat percentage is probably 5," Coach Scott Johnson said. "He weighs 185, and there is no fat on him. He has real narrow hips and huge calves. His legs are tremendously strong. That's where his cutting ability comes from. He knows how to move his body to avoid getting hit, and he has learned how to run behind his pads and use that 185 pounds."
Jeff Harris
East Forsyth Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
6-2 265 Offensive line
Harris, a three-year starter, played all five positions on the line and was a two-time All-Metro 4-A selection. He had 52 pancake blocks and allowed only one sack this season. He is being recruited by Championship Subdivision programs and has a scholarship offer from Gardner-Webb.
"He is a little undersized and was outshadowed by David (Collins), but he was the heart and soul of our line," Coach Todd Willert said. "He started playing tackle this year, moved to guard and wound up playing center. We will miss him a lot making all the offensive-line calls. He has that offensive-lineman attitude that you need."
Nichalos James
Parkland Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
6-0 170 Wide receiver
A two-time All-Piedmont Triad 3-A selection, James had 1,255 receiving yards and scored nine touchdowns this season. He has scholarship offers from Buffalo and Western Carolina and is also being recruited by Coastal Carolina, Coach Dee Bell said.
"He had a great year," Bell said. "Throwing it around a little like we did, he catches everything and had 100 yards about every game. He has great hands, speed, and he runs his routes well, and he blocks, so he had the total package. He is strong and does what he needs to do in the weight room. But he has great character, and he works hard every day in the classroom and the weight room to get better."
William Miller
Reynolds Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
6-1 185 Wide receiver
Miller was quarterback Jeremy Peterson's top target and finished with 76 catches for 1,342 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was all-conference in the Central Piedmont 4-A and is being recruited by Division II and NAIA programs.
"The thing about Luck (Miller's nickname) is he isn't the fastest, and if you make him do drills he might not be overly impressive," Coach Mike Propst said. "But when you turn the lights on, all that changes. He is as fast as anyone on the field with pads on, and he made play after play for us. He doesn't have the highest vertical, yet he out-jumps everyone for footballs over and over. He also blocked his tail off."
Jeremy Peterson
Reynolds Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
5-9 180 Quarterback
An honorable-mention All-Northwest pick in 2007, Peterson is the two-time offensive player of the year in the Central Piedmont 4-A. He completed 218 of 343 passes for 2,576 yards and 24 touchdowns and also started at defensive back. He has committed to Elon and will move to slot receiver in college.
"He has a ton of experience with our offense and could just about run it without coaching," Coach Mike Propst said. "He was one step ahead of the defense. He's got savvy for the game, and that's one thing you want a quarterback to have, smarts. The two biggest assets are his intelligence and his ability to scramble and be outside the pocket when he needed to be. He was not a one-dimensional quarterback."
Jesse Salazar
Mount Airy Senior
Ht. Wt. Position
5-8 225 Offensive line
Salazar was an All-Northwest pick in 2007 as a defensive lineman and is a three-time All-Northwest 1-A selection. He was the heart of a line that opened holes for an offense that had the sixth-highest single-season rushing total in NCHSAA history.
"I know our running backs will tell you they felt pretty secure when Jesse was pulling, because they could put their hand on his back and just follow," Coach Kelly Holder said. "He has an innate ability to make blocks that most people his size aren't capable of making. He is so strong. The fact that he is only 5-8 allows him to get underneath people, and you don't think he can run as well as he can until you see it."
Shawn Williams
North Davidson Sophomore
Ht. Wt. Position
6-1 165 Place-kicker
Williams made 29 of 30 extra-point attempts and 9 of 13 field-goal attempts, with three of the four missed kicks coming from 50 yards or more. He was all-conference in the Central Piedmont 4-A and is receiving Division I recruiting interest.
"He ranks right up there with the best we have had right now," Coach Mark Holcomb of North said. "It depends on how hard he will work. He was the JV kicker for the majority of last year, and they moved him up late in the season. He is consistently good from 40 and kicked a school-record 48-yarder. He missed one from 45 yards, but he can kick them from 50. We have confidence with him kicking those, so that's not an issue at all."
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