Week 4 of North Carolina college football left us with no shortage of standouts. From emphatic rivalry statement wins to record-breaking offensive and defensive performances, players across every division delivered performances that deserve recognition.
Nine of our Fabulous 15 teams might have lost this weekend, but plenty of individuals and programs still rose above the chaos.
Each week, we spotlight the best of the best — naming a Team of the Week along with our Offensive, Defensive, and Special Teams Players of the Week, plus a long list of honorable mentions who made their mark.
Here are this week’s winners:
🦅 Team of the Week: North Carolina Central
The Aggie-Eagle Classic usually brings drama, but this year North Carolina Central left no doubt. The Eagles rolled to a 62-20 win at North Carolina A&T, piling up a program-record 765 yards of offense and handing their rivals a fourth straight defeat in the series. It marked the second straight year NCCU has hung 60-plus on A&T, this time doing it on the road at Truist Stadium.
Running back Chris Mosley led the charge with five touchdowns — three rushing and two receiving — while piling up 258 total yards. His 75-yard sprint in the fourth quarter punctuated a night where he averaged more than 15 yards per carry.
Quarterback Walker Harris proved just as sharp, completing 22-of-29 passes for 380 yards and three scores, earning HBCU National Player of the Week honors from BOXTOROW. Mosley was also tabbed by Stats Perform as the national HBCU Player of the Week, giving NCCU a double sweep of weekly awards.
The NCCU defense made its presence felt early with a pair of first-quarter safeties and never let A&T’s run game get going, holding the Aggies to just 42 rushing yards. By halftime, the outcome was already decided, and by night’s end, the Eagles had delivered one of the most lopsided performances in the storied rivalry’s history.
Honorable Mentions
- Wingate – The last remaining unbeaten college team in our state beat UVA Wise 28-7 and jumped into the AFCA coaches poll at No. 19 and the D2Football.com media poll at No. 20.
- Duke – Blue Devils continued their mastery over in-state opponents, knocking off NC State 45-33 in Durham.
- Western Carolina – Rolled up 733 yards of offense to earn their first SoCon win of the year, 50-35 over Samford.
- Campbell – Kamden Sixkiller threw five touchdowns, and Randall King caught four TD throws, as the Camels outlasted Bryant 50-48 in a wild double-overtime shootout.
- Davidson – New coach Saj Thakkar notched his first win with the program as the Wildcats blanked Greensboro 48-0.
- Brevard – The D3 Tornados stunned D2 foe Erskine 38-34, another notch in their growing reputation for punching above their weight.
- Fayetteville State – Dominated Elizabeth City State 51-8 in the Down East Viking Classic, tallying 13 tackles for loss and scoring on seven of eight red-zone trips.
- Catawba – Improved to 3-1 with a 21-10 victory over Newberry, the program’s first win over the Wolves in seven tries and already equal to last season’s win total.
💥 Offensive Player of the Week: Taron Dickens, Western Carolina
Talk about a return. Making his 2025 debut after missing the first three games, Western Carolina’s Taron Dickens put together one of the most explosive individual performances in FCS football this season. The redshirt sophomore quarterback torched Samford for 582 passing yards and six touchdowns, adding 42 more yards on the ground for a program-record 624 yards of total offense in the Catamounts’ 50-35 win.
Dickens’ passing total was the most by any quarterback in the nation this year, the second-highest in Southern Conference history, and second only to Cole Gonzales’ 620-yard outing last fall in the WCU record books. His six touchdown passes tied a school record, and he spread the ball to 10 different receivers in front of the home crowd at Whitmire Stadium.
The honors piled up quickly: Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Week, NCAA FCS Offensive Player of the Week from College Football Network, and an honorable mention from Stats Perform.
Combined with his 408-yard effort at Samford last November, Dickens has thrown for 990 yards and accounted for 1,006 total yards in his last two outings against the Bulldogs. If there was any doubt about how much WCU missed him during its 0-3 start, Saturday erased it in emphatic fashion.
Honorable Mentions
- Walker Harris (North Carolina Central) – Completed 22-of-29 passes for 380 yards and three TDs in the Aggie-Eagle Classic win, earning HBCU National Player of the Week honors from BOXTOROW.
- Chris Mosley (North Carolina Central) – MEAC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring five touchdowns (three rushing, two receiving) and piling up 258 total yards, including 168 rushing yards on just 11 carries.
- Anderson Castle (Duke) – Rushed for 92 yards and three touchdowns in a statement win over NC State, garnering ACC Running Back of the Week honors.
- Trevon Humphrey (North Carolina Central, OL) – MEAC Offensive Lineman of the Week; graded out at 92 percent with four pancake blocks as the Eagles posted a program-record 745 yards of offense.
- Randall King (Campbell) – CAA Co-Offensive Player of the Week with eight catches for 142 yards and a school-record-tying four TDs in the Camels’ double-overtime win over Bryant.
- Ethan Beamish (Brevard) – USA South Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 345 yards and four TDs in a 38-34 win over Division II Erskine.
- Kamden Sixkiller (Campbell): Threw five touchdown passes in Camels’ back-and-forth game against Bryant, including the game-winner in the second OT.
- Bennett Galloway (Catawba): Rushed for all three of Catawba’s touchdowns in the win over Newberry, finishing with 147 yards on the ground and averaging 9.2 yards per attempt.
- Xayden Watson (Fayetteville State): Playing in his first collegiate game, the CIAA wide receiver of the week caught seven passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns.
🛡️ Defensive Player of the Week: Nick Iannone, Guilford
Sometimes a scheme dictates who gets the action — and against Washington & Lee’s triple-option, that meant Guilford linebacker Nick Iannone was in the middle of everything. The senior from Wellington, Fla., shattered the Quakers’ single-game tackles record with 24 stops in Saturday’s ODAC opener, finishing with five solo tackles and 19 assists in a 35-7 road loss.
His total surpassed the previous Guilford record of 22 (set in 2014 by Satiir Stevenson) and stands as the top mark in the ODAC this season, while ranking second nationally at the Division III level entering the week, per Guilford’s sports information department.
Iannone added a pass breakup and led a swarm of Quakers who all had career-best days. Travis Burton (Pikeville, N.C.) and Aden Reece (Wilmington, N.C.) each notched 11 tackles, while Avery Lilly (Mount Gilead, N.C.) and Chase Evans (Fayetteville, N.C.) posted 10 apiece. Even in defeat, the Guilford defense produced five double-digit tacklers, a rare feat that speaks to how physical the night became.
The record-setting performance carried extra meaning for Iannone. After missing nearly all of the 2024 season with injury — appearing in just one game with one tackle — the 5-foot-10, 210-pound business major has returned with a vengeance as a senior. Saturday night’s historic showing not only set a new program standard but also marked a personal milestone in perseverance and impact.
Honorable Mentions
- DaShawn Stone (Duke) – Picked off a pass and recorded four tackles in the opening quarter of the Blue Devils’ win over NC State. Finished with a career high 11 tackles in the game, picking up ACC Defensive Back of the Week honors.
- Hudson Altenburg (Davidson) – In his first career start, had two interceptions (both in Davidson territory) and four tackles in a 48-0 shutout of Greensboro; earned Pioneer Football League defensive player of the week.
- Marquis Raspberry (UNC Pembroke) – Conference Carolinas Defensive Player of the Week with six tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup in a win over Ferrum.
- Jaden Perkins (Shaw) – Helped the Bears to their first win with two interceptions, three pass breakups and four tackles.
- Kenyon Garner (Livingstone) – CIAA’s Defensive Lineman of the Week recorded four sacks in a 17-16 victory over Bowie State, the most in a single game by any North Carolina player this season.
- Keno Jones (Barton): Recorded a team-high 17 tackles in a loss at West Alabama, one week after earning 19 against North Greenville.
- Matthew Leach (Fayetteville State): Recorded 7 total tackles and 3.0 tackles-for-loss to spearhead a defense that held Elizabeth City State to just 89 yards. Named this week’s CIAA Linebacker of the Week.
🎯 Special Teams Player of the Week: John Hernandez-Vargas, Fayetteville State
When Fayetteville State got into scoring position in the Down East Viking Classic on Saturday in Rocky Mount, John Hernandez-Vargas made sure the Broncos kept piling up points. The redshirt sophomore from Biscoe (Montgomery Central HS) accounted for 15 points in FSU’s 51-8 rout of Elizabeth City State — the most by any college kicker in North Carolina this season. He was the CIAA’s Special Teams Player of the Week.
Hernandez-Vargas went 3-for-4 on field goals, connecting from 49, 35 and 32 yards, with the 49-yarder tying the longest made field goal in the state this fall. He also drilled all six of his PAT attempts.
Hernandez-Vargas’ work wasn’t limited to scoring. On 10 kickoffs, he averaged 60.8 yards with three touchbacks — and even chipped in a tackle in coverage. It was the kind of all-around performance that reminded CIAA opponents why he was a three-time Special Teams Player of the Week in 2024.
Head coach Richard Hayes has a saying for his kickoff unit: “Reward your kicker.” True to form, every time Hernandez-Vargas blasted a kickoff into the end zone Saturday, Hayes had the special teams run all the way to the goal line, dead ball or not. On Saturday in Rocky Mount, his kicker gave them plenty of chances to sprint and celebrate.
Honorable Mentions
- Rivers Teeter (Wingate) – SAC Special Teams Player of the Week and D2Football.com’s national Special Teams Player of the Week; averaged 44.3 yards per punt with three of four punts downed inside the UVA Wise 5-yard line in a 28-7 win.
- Taylor Harris (UNC Pembroke) – Perfect day for the Conference Carolinas special teams player of the week with two field goals (long of 47) and 5-for-5 PATs; also kicked three touchbacks on eight kickoffs in the win over Ferrum.
- Kaleb Robison (North Carolina Central) – MEAC Special Teams Player of the Week after going 7-for-7 on PATs and adding a 21-yard FG, with six of his kickoffs resulting in touchbacks.
- Hayden Vandegriff (Brevard) – USA South Special Teams Player of the Week; hit a 30-yard field goal and went 5-for-5 on PATs for eight points in the Tornados’ win over Erskine.
More NC College Football Coverage
Check out these recent stories from NC Football News:
👉 Remembering Shawn Clark: Our Fabulous 15 tribute to the late App State coach and player.
👉 Week 4 Stat Champions: Which NC players had the big box-score busting moments this past weekend.
👉 Western Carolina’s 733-yard outburst: How the Catamounts’ record-setting win over Samford could flip their season.
👉 Campbell’s breakthrough: The Camels finally got over the hump, but only after surviving a double-overtime thriller.
👉 Fayetteville State’s statement: After an 0-3 start, the Broncos dominated the Down East Viking Classic to remind everyone they’re still here.
👉 Division II Game Day Thread: Relive all the scores, highlights, and storylines from across the state.
👉 FCS Game Day Thread: Catch up on every game, every storyline from a jam-packed Saturday.
