All-Northwest Defense

Jared Barber

Ht. Wt. Position

6-1 200 Linebacker

Barber, a two-year starter, was an All-Central Piedmont 4-A selection. He finished the season with 103 tackles, including 12 for lost yardage, and also had four sacks and caused three fumbles.
"He is a heck of an athlete, and he has a great nose for the football," Coach Doug Illing said. "He can read, react, and he plays downhill. As he gets stronger, he is going to be a beast. He has all the mentality and the linebacker knowledge. He already has a big body. He has the body for it, and he is going to be a special one. He opened a lot of eyes as a freshman with his ability and the way he played. He is a playmaker, and he plays on the other side of the line of scrimmage. He covers a lot of field, sideline to sideline."

Ronald Brown

Mount Airy Senior

Ht. Wt. Position

5-10 207 Defensive line

Although undersized for the defensive line, Brown spent much of the season in the backfields of opposing teams and was the Northwest 1-A defensive player of the year. He finished with 96 total tackles, including 28 for lost yardage and seven sacks. He also had 10 quarterback hurries, forced one fumble and recovered a fumble.
"He is a quick lineman that's gets into gaps and (that) big guys can't block," Coach Kelly Holder said. "He is so quick off the ball. If you are a man-blocking team, it's tough for those big guys to get a piece of him, much less block him. The fact that he was the defensive player of the year said a lot about what our conference thought of him. He is one of the fastest defensive linemen we have had here in a while."

Michael Dobson

Mount Airy Senior

Ht. Wt. Position

6-0 185 Defensive back

Dobson, also an All-Northwest selection at running back, had 19 solo tackles, eight assists, three interceptions and eight pass-breakups. He is a three-time All-Northwest 1-A defensive back and has committed to East Carolina.
"We wanted to stop the run and lock Michael up on their best receiver and go from there, and he didn't disappoint many times," Coach Kelly Holder said. "He has good range, and I am sure when he gets to college that will help him if that's the position he plays. When you are 6-1 and can run, that's something that recruiters look for quite a bit. I am sure he has a lot to learn about the college game, but I don't think he will have too big a problem. He has pretty good football instincts, too."

Xavier Hill

Wilkes Central Senior

Ht. Wt. Position

5-10 215 Linebacker

Hill had 90 tackles, including 19 for lost yardage, forced six fumbles and recovered three. A four-year starter, and an All-Mountain-Valley 2-A selection this season, he also had three sacks and two blocked kicks and is a college prospect.
"He just strikes you," Coach Jeremy Funderburk said. "He is my guinea pig for new equipment. If a guy came by with new equipment, like shoulder pads or helmets, I would put it on Xavier and let him test it out because I knew he would get out and strike somebody and find out if it was any good. He is tough and mean like a good inside linebacker, and he leaves us with a giant hole to fill next year."

Brad Kepley

Central Davidson Senior

Ht. Wt. Position

5-9 160 Defensive back

Kepley had 53 tackles, 12 pass-breakups, seven interceptions, two blocked kicks and three forced fumbles this season. A three-year starter, he was an All-Central Carolina 2-A pick and is considering playing for a Division III college.
"He is probably the smartest defensive back I have ever coached," Coach Eugene Everhart said. "He understands where he needs to be in all coverages and how the defensive fronts fit with coverages. He made all our checks, whether it was a front or whatever. He runs pretty well and takes good angles to the football. He is a sub-4.6 guy, and with his savvy and his quickness, he could get to where he needed to be to make plays."

Chris Manns

Mount Tabor Sophomore

Ht. Wt. Position

6-0 285 Defensive line

Manns, a starter for the second straight season although he's just a sophomore, had 56 tackles, including 12½ for lost yardage and seven sacks despite missing three of 13 games with an injury. He already is being recruited by Division I programs.
"He has unusual athleticism for his size," Coach Laymarr Marshall said. "We're talking about a guy with the hips and feet of a tailback at 285 pounds, and he has a mean streak as well. Off the field, he's one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. On the field when the lights come on, he is a great competitor. He is only going to get better. He is a physical specimen, a big guy who can run and jump with agility."

Rodney McCloud

North Forsyth Senior

Ht. Wt. Position

5-11 225 Defensive line

McCloud was the defensive player of the year in the Central Piedmont 4-A after making 55 tackles, with 22 for lost yardage. He also had eight sacks, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles and is a college prospect.
"He has a low center of gravity and good strength and great quickness, and his motor goes all the time," Coach Pete Gilchrist said. "You cannot single-block him. The only reason he didn't make the Shrine Bowl is that he wasn't able to get to the combine, because he can play with those guys. When we drew up a game plan, we knew there were certain runs we didn't need to worry about because we knew they couldn't block Rodney."

Brandon Moss

Thomasville Senior

Ht. Wt. Position

5-10 185 Linebacker

Moss was the defensive standout on Thomasville's 1-AA state-championship team and is a two-time defensive MVP in title games (2006 and 2008). He is also a two-time All-Yadkin Valley 1-A pick. He had 182 solo tackles this season, including 53 for lost yardage and 12 sacks, and he also forced eight fumbles and recovered four.
"He is not a big kid, but he is quick and strong and has tremendous instincts in terms of trying to find the ball," Coach Allen Brown said. "He is an old-time player that loves to play the game, practice the game, and he shows up for work every day, and that's what you want in a linebacker. He also does an excellent job in terms of pass coverage that's becoming more and more important for linebackers these days."

Landen Thayer

West Forsyth Senior

Ht. Wt. Position

6-0 210 Punter

Thayer, a two-time All-Central Piedmont 4-A selection, handled all of the kicking and punting for West Forsyth and finished the season with an average of 39.7 yards a punt. He has a scholarship offer from Winston-Salem State.
"He can flat-dab boom it," Coach Adrian Snow said. "There were countless times, we practiced all the time pinning people inside the 10, and it got to where we would have to be on the other side of the 50 to get it inside the 10. The kids would get upset because they would have to run so far to cover it. He worked hard on his craft. He is not a soccer player turned into a football player, he is a football player, and as a football coach that was exciting."

Xavier Varner

Mount Tabor Senior

Ht. Wt. Position

6-1 170 Defensive back

Varner had seven interceptions and broke up a school-record 15 passes this season and also made 39 tackles. An all-conference pick in the Central Piedmont 4-A, he is being recruited by Division II programs.
"I am not more proud of any of our players than Xavier," Coach Laymarr Marshall said. "He had difficulty in the middle of last season and didn't finish the season. He really came into the year having a lot to prove to his teammates and coaching staff, and this is a great honor for him. He is a big guy that could match up speedwise and sizewise, and he is a great leaper as well. X buckled down and did everything he was supposed to do."

Luke Wheeler

Mount Airy Junior

Ht. Wt. Position

5-10 185 Linebacker

The first seven tackles Wheeler made in the 1-A state final were for lost yardage. An All-Northwest 1-A pick, he finished with 105 total tackles, including 33 for losses. He also had seven quarterback hurries, two interceptions, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.
"We always knew Luke was going to be good, but he has exceeded our expectations," Coach Kelly Holder said. "Those tackles he made in the state-championship game were not with him not getting blocked, that's with people trying to block him. He is so quick laterally that he gets off of blocks a lot easier than other kids would. And when he comes to make a play, he comes with a mission. He has really turned out to be a great player for us."

Matt Walker

Starmount Senior

Ht. Wt. Position

5-9 190 Defensive line

Walker was the defensive player of the year in the Mountain-Valley 2-A and is a two-time All-MVC pick on the offensive and defensive lines. He had 26 solo tackles, 54 assists, eight tackles for losses and four sacks to help the Rams to the Class 2-A semifinals this season.
"He is a ball of muscle and has a motor that doesn't stop," Coach Scott Johnson said. "He plays as hard as anyone we have been around. You wouldn't think he could dominate like he did, but he gets under people. He has great leverage from being a wrestler. He is relentless. He just goes until he hits somebody on both sides of the ball. When the play went away from him, he would be relentless to chase it down. And you had to double him because he was so strong."