A trio of elite North Carolina Division II pass-catchers hit the 1,000-yard mark in receptions in 2024 – Johnson C. Smith’s Brevin Caldwell, UNC Pembroke’s Jo Hayes and Lenoir-Rhyne’s Adonis McDaniel. All three earned at least one top honor in our North Carolina Football News 2024 D2 Stat Champions lists for wide receivers.
Caldwell, an HBCU Football All-American and all-CIAA pick, finished with the most yards (1,090) and the best yards-per-game average (109.0) in the D2 section of the Old North State.
Hayes, an AFCA D2 All-American and all-Mountain East selection, led the way in touchdowns (17) – by far.
McDaniel, an all-South Atlantic Conference pick, had the top single-game performance of 2024, hauling in seven passes for 202 yards and a pair of scores at West Alabama in the playoffs.
All three players helped their teams to winning seasons. Lenoir-Rhyne won 10 games, including that come-from-behind 37-34 playoff thriller at West Alabama. Johnson C. Smith went 8-2, while UNC Pembroke surged late in the season to finish 6-5.
Caldwell could stretch the defense or take short passes for big gains. He led the state’s D2 ranks with 85 total receptions.
Hayes finished second in the nation (D2) in touchdown catches. He also averaged 19 yards per reception, tops among our state’s receiving leaders this season.
Shaw’s Ah’shaan Belcher recorded nine touchdown receptions, second to Hayes in the state. Caldwell had eight TDs.
Chowan’s Jakobe Lane (755 receiving yards), Lenoir-Rhyne’s Songa Yates (723) and Barton’s Jayden Flood-Brown (710) led the way among our second tier of standout receivers. Wingate’s Evan McCray made seven touchdown grabs.
Caldwell’s top receiving game, yardage-wise, came in week three against Lincoln. He made eight catches, including an 80-yarder, and finished with 188 total in the 52-6 blowout.
Hayes had a pair of three-touchdown games, burning Wheeling in week six and West Virginia State in week nine. Caldwell went for three touchdowns against Morehouse early in the season. Those were the only two D2 players to amass three receiving TDs in one contest.
Hayes was responsible for the longest TD reception of the season among our D2 wideouts, taking a pass from Colin Johnson and turning it into an 85-yard score in a 35-32 nailbiter over Wheeling.
2024 D2 Stat Champions | Receiving
Total Yards | Season Leaders
- 1,090 – Brevin Caldwell (Johnson C. Smith): 10 games, 85 receptions, 8 touchdowns, 109.0 yards-per-game, 12.8 yards per catch
- 1,025 – Josiah Hayes (UNC Pembroke): 11 games, 54 receptions, 17 touchdowns, 93.2 yards-per-game, 19.0 yards per catch
- 1,000 – Adonis McDaniel (Lenoir-Rhyne): 13 games, 56 receptions, 5 touchdowns, 76.9 yards-per-game, 17.9 yards per catch
- 755 – Jakobe Lane (Chowan): 10 games, 64 receptions, 4 touchdowns, 75.5 yards-per-game, 11.8 yards per catch
- 723 – Songa Yates (Lenoir-Rhyne): 13 games, 51 receptions, 3 touchdowns, 55.6 yards-per-game, 14.2 yards per catch
- 710 – Jayden Flood-Brown (Barton): 11 games, 46 receptions, 4 touchdowns, 64.5 yards-per-game, 15.4 yards per catch
- 678 – Evan McCray (Wingate): 11 games, 46 receptions, 7 touchdowns, 61.6 yards-per-game, 14.7 yards per catch
- 620 – Ah’shaan Belcher (Shaw): 10 games, 43 receptions, 9 touchdowns, 62.0 yards-per-game, 14.4 yards per catch
- 547 – Kobe Christian (Catawba): 10 games, 40 receptions, 2 touchdowns, 54.7 yards-per-game, 13.7 yards per catch
- 522 – Que Kennedy (UNC Pembroke): 10 games, 33 receptions, 4 touchdowns, 52.2 yards-per-game, 15.8 yards per catch
- 517 – JaQuan Albright (UNC Pembroke): 11 games, 39 receptions, 6 touchdowns, 47.0 yards-per-game, 13.3 yards per catch
- 474 – Deuce Linder (Catawba): 10 games, 38 receptions, 4 touchdowns, 47.4 yards-per-game, 12.5 yards per catch
- 452 – Malik Laurent (Mars Hill): 9 games, 31 receptions, 4 touchdowns, 50.2 yards-per-game, 14.6 yards per catch
- 444 – Maceo Wingate (Shaw): 10 games, 27 receptions, 5 touchdowns, 44.4 yards-per-game, 16.4 yards per catch
- 436 – Mali Harris-Strayhorn (Fayetteville State): 8 games, 29 receptions, 3 touchdowns, 54.5 yards-per-game, 15.0 yards per catch
- 416 – DeAree Rogers (Lenoir-Rhyne): 8 games, 37 receptions, 4 touchdowns, 52.0 yards-per-game, 11.2 yards per catch
- 406 – Beau DeBerry (Mars Hill): 9 games, 38 receptions, 0 touchdowns, 45.1 yards-per-game, 10.7 yards per catch
Touchdowns Yards | Season Leaders
- 17 – Josiah Hayes (UNC Pembroke): 11 games
- 9 – Ah’shaan Belcher (Shaw): 10 games
- 8 – Brevin Caldwell (Johnson C. Smith): 10 games
- 7 – Evan McCray (Wingate): 11 games
- 6 – JaQuan Albright (UNC Pembroke): 11 games
- 5 – Adonis McDaniel (Lenoir-Rhyne): 13 games
- 5 – Maceo Wingate (Shaw): 10 games
- 4 – Jakobe Lane (Chowan): 10 games
- 4 – Jayden Flood-Brown (Barton): 11 games
- 4 – Que Kennedy (UNC Pembroke): 10 games
- 4 – Deuce Linder (Catawba): 10 games
- 4 – Malik Laurent (Mars Hill): 9 games
- 4 – DeAree Rogers (Lenoir-Rhyne): 8 games
Total Yards | Single-Game Leaders
- 202 – Adonis McDaniel (Lenoir-Rhyne): 7 catches, 2 touchdowns, long reception of 78 yards, 28.9 yards-per-catch, Week 13 at West Alabama (playoffs) (W, 37-34)
- 188 – Brevin Caldwell (Johnson C. Smith): 9 catches, 1 touchdown, long reception of 80 yards, 20.9 yards-per-catch, Week 3 vs. Lincoln (PA) (W, 52-6)
- 183 – Josiah Hayes (UNC Pembroke): 8 catches, 3 touchdowns, long reception of 85 yards, 22.9 yards-per-catch, Week 6 at Wheeling (W, 35-32)
- 182 – Brevin Caldwell (Johnson C. Smith): 15 catches, 1 touchdown, long reception of 29 yards, 12.1 yards-per-catch, Week 8 vs. Shaw (W, 21-14)
- 162 – Jayden Flood-Brown (Barton): 7 catches, 2 touchdowns, long reception of 69 yards, 23.1 yards-per-catch, Week 5 vs. Anderson (W, 27-13)
- 157 – Josiah Hayes (UNC Pembroke): 7 catches, 2 touchdowns, long reception of 58 yards, 22.4 yards-per-catch, Week 11 vs. Frostburg State (W, 58-17)
- 151 – Jakobe Lane (Chowan): 11 catches, 2 touchdowns, long reception of 39 yards, 13.7 yards-per-catch, Week 7 vs. Shorter (W, 31-27)
- 144 – Christian Kobe (Catawba): 6 catches, 0 touchdowns, long reception of 54 yards, 24.0 yards-per-catch, Week 10 at Barton (L, 35-49)
- 140 – Brevin Caldwell (Johnson C. Smith): 9 catches, 3 touchdowns, long reception of 43 yards, 15.6 yards-per-catch, Week 2 at Morehouse (W, 37-13)
- 140 – Brevin Caldwell (Johnson C. Smith): 9 catches, 0 touchdowns, long reception of 22 yards, 15.6 yards-per-catch, Week 4 vs. Virginia Union (W, 21-16)
- 140 – Evan McCray (Wingate): 10 catches, 1 touchdown, long reception of 22 yards, 14.0 yards-per-catch, Week 10 at Lenoir-Rhyne (W, 14-10)
- 140 – Jayden Flood-Brown (Barton): 9 catches, 0 touchdowns, long reception of 36 yards, 15.6 yards-per-catch, Week 2 vs. West Virginia State (L, 24-27)
- 139 – Josiah Hayes (UNC Pembroke): 5 catches, 3 touchdowns, long reception of 61 yards, 27.8 yards-per-catch, Week 9 vs. West Virginia State (W, 62-17)
- 135 – Adonis McDaniel (Lenoir-Rhyne): 8 catches, 1 touchdown, long reception of 47 yards, 16.9 yards-per-catch, Week 14 vs. Virginia Union (playoffs) (L, 12-44)
- 135 – Kameron King (Fayetteville State): 8 catches, 1 touchdown, long reception of 33 yards, 16.9 yards-per-catch, Week 6 vs. Bowie State (W, 27-24)
- 134 – Adonis McDaniel (Lenoir-Rhyne): 5 catches, 0 touchdowns, long reception of 75 yards, 26.8 yards-per-catch, Week 5 vs. Tusculum (W, 37-23)
- 130 – Que Kennedy (UNC Pembroke): 8 catches, 2 touchdowns, long reception of 62 yards, 16.3 yards-per-catch, Week 7 vs. West Liberty (W, 67-20)
- 127 – Brevin Caldwell (Johnson C. Smith): 11 catches, 0 touchdowns, long reception of 42 yards, 11.5 yards-per-catch, Week 9 at Virginia (W, 41-14)
- 120 – Josiah Hayes (UNC Pembroke): 8 catches, 1 touchdown, long reception of 45 yards, 15.0 yards-per-catch, Week 12 at Concord (W, 63-7)
- 120 – Songa Yates (Lenoir-Rhyne): 9 catches, 1 touchdown, long reception of 31 yards, 13.3 yards-per-catch, Week 12 vs. Anderson (W, 27-24)
- 118 – Josh Jenkins (UNC Pembroke): 6 catches, 2 touchdowns, long reception of 33 yards, 19.7 yards-per-catch, Week 7 vs. West Liberty (W, 67-20)
- 117 – Davontay Deloatch (Livingstone): 8 catches, 1 touchdown, long reception of 20 yards, 14.6 yards-per-catch, Week 8 vs. Winston-Salem State (L, 17-31)
- 116 – David Baros (Fayetteville State): 6 catches, 0 touchdowns, long reception of 37 yards, 19.3 yards-per-catch, Week 2 vs. UNC Pembroke (W, 35-31)
- 114 – Josiah Hayes (UNC Pembroke): 5 catches, 2 touchdowns, long reception of 40 yards, 22.8 yards-per-catch, Week 7 vs. West Liberty (W, 67-20)
- 113 – Evan McCray (Wingate): 4 catches, 1 touchdown, long reception of 56 yards, 28.3 yards-per-catch, Week 13 vs. Virginia Union (playoffs) (L, 31-34)
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