There is a major typo on Mitchell Summers’ bio page at MaxPreps.com. The online high school sports hub lists the Grimsley (Greensboro) senior running back at 5-foot-3, 375 pounds. Oops.
Whether good-natured or a genuine miscue, there are no errors or misunderstandings when it comes to Summers’ production – or his impact on Grimsley football over the past three seasons.
Summers, whose measurables land in the 5-foot-6, 160 range, just finished one of the most dynamic careers in North Carolina high school football history.
He rushed for 2,000+ yards in three straight seasons. He scored 47 rushing touchdowns in 2024 and helped lead Grimsley to a 4A state championship this past December.
Summers’ 6,614 career rushing yards rank 21st all-time in North Carolina prep football history (NCHSAA). His 114 career rushing touchdowns place him fifth all-time in that category.
His 47 touchdowns in 2024 tie him for 10th most in the NCHSAA record books. His 43 rushing scores as a junior rank 16th-best all-time.
Yet for all the eye-popping statistics and abundance of highlight reel moments – see a montage of explosive plays and long touchdown runs here – Mitchell’s career lacked the college recruiting hype one would expect to find around superstars with those kinds of numbers.
“Big Mitch” as he is referred to (or Mitch The Magician) received only two reported Division I offers: from Gardner-Webb (Boiling Springs) and Sacred Heart (Fairfield, Conn.). Both schools play at the FCS level. Gardner-Webb competes in the OVC/Big South and Sacred Heart is currently an independent (formerly of the Northeast Conference).
Had to get one last picture with the Grimsley G.O.A.T. Big things ahead for The Magician! I know a lot of teams will be happy to see this dude walk across the stage 😂! Sacred Heart got a steal, go ball out @BigMitch_22 🤟🏼 pic.twitter.com/WUN4awvVuv — Coach Rigs (@jmrigsbee) February 28, 2025
Summers also reported offers from a variety of D2 programs, including Mars Hill and Winston-Salem State within our borders.
While Summers could have followed in the footsteps of an NC prep star like Eastern Randolph’s Jordan Terrell, who ran wild at D2 Barton College, he opted to take one of his D1 opportunities.
In February, Summers announced his commitment to Sacred Heart, setting the stage for what could be one of the biggest steals of National Signing Day 2025 out of our state.
“He’s not the biggest guy, but he’s got the things you are looking for in a running back,” said Ernesto Purnsley, who joined Sacred Heart’s staff as running backs coach in 2024. “We were surprised that he was available, that more guys weren’t taking a good look at him. We can’t wait for him to get up here in August.”
‘Everybody in the stadium knows that he’s getting the ball’
If you watch Summers’ HUDL video highlights, you’ll see a theme appear: the ball is snapped, the Grimsley offensive line creates space, and Summers flies through the openings like a rocket, usually breaking away from pursuers or pinballing off potential tacklers.
Yes, you have to credit a stout line and future Tennessee quarterback Faizon Brandon for making life easier for Summers. But he still has to find the holes, shoot through them and elude tacklers, all of which he does in Houdini-like fashion, hence the fitting Magician nickname.
“He is impossibly strong for his size,” Grimsley coach Darryl Brown told HighSchoolOT in an interview prior to the 2024 season. “People do get caught up in his size, and I understand that, but if you watch film and you’ve seen us play … Mitchell’s not your typical 5-6, 165-pound scatback. That’s not who he is. He’s an A-gap runner. He’s going to get it downhill. He’s going to get you three yards when you need three yards.
“And everybody in the stadium knows that he’s getting the ball, and he’s still going to get you three yards. He does a great job of never being tackled by the initial guy, whether it’s him breaking the tackle or having the ability to make you miss. He’s a different kind of back … The numbers speak for themselves.”
Summers isn’t just one dimensional. He scored two touchdowns receiving this past season, including a 71-yarder in a win over Southeast Guilford. And he doesn’t seem to want to come out of a game.
“He’ll take us down the field on an 80-yard drive and he’ll punch one in and he’ll run to the sideline and beg to go out on kickoff team,” Brown said in the preseason HighSchoolOT interview. “He’ll fly down on kickoff team and make a tackle. We’ll run our punt unit out. He’s the personal protector and he’ll pick up a blitzer and the next thing you’ll see him downfield making a tackle on punt team.”
Summers’ most prolific offensive game in 2024 came in a 35-28 playoff win over Hough in early December. Summers carried 30 times for 302 yards – that’s an average of a first down every touch – and scored twice. One of his touchdowns covered 80 yards.
He galloped for 240 yards and five touchdowns against Southeast Guilford. He enjoyed a 212-yard effort against Mount Tabor in the season opener and rushed for 211 against Northern Guilford.
🏆 OUR 2024 MVP is @BigMitch_22 of @grimsleyfb 🗣️ Summers rushed for 49 TDs & 2,356 yards on 286 carries💥 The senior RB will go down as one of the best RB’s in NC High School Football History📚 pic.twitter.com/a77xTJ7E6m — Game of Inches-High School Sports (@GameofInchesHSS) February 6, 2025
Summers scored at least two rushing touchdowns in every 2024 game, including two scores (and 149 rushing yards) in the 4A state title win over Rolesville in Chapel Hill. He twice scored five touchdowns in a game and notched four TDs in three different contests.
Summers rushed for 290 yards and scored six rushing TDs in a 2023 playoff win over Sun Valley. He also forged a six-touchdown game against Rolesville in an early season 2023 clash of 4A titans.
“He’s really an unselfish guy,” Purnsley said. “He does all the dirty work, whatever a team needs to do to win. The more you talk to his coach and dig down and talk to his parents, you see that he is a very grounded person and works extremely hard.”
So how the heck did he wind up on Sacred Heart’s radar?
North Carolina connection unearths a gem
Part of Purnsley’s recruiting territory is North Carolina. Which makes sense considering he’s from the Old North State. He attended Pinecrest High School and graduated from Catawba College in 1990, playing wide receiver and quarterback for the Indians.
Sacred Heart began mining North Carolina for football talent last year – and may have struck gold with Mitchell.
“This is our second year of getting into the state,” Purnsley said. “I’m on the recruiting trail and driving all around, and people were like, ‘He’s a great kid and if you have a chance to talk to him you should.’ He’s really humble, low-key. And he can play. He’s got the tools. You know he’s going to have success and be a good student, a good leader.”
Summers’ diminutive stature is likely what scared most other recruiting staffs off. But where other schools pulled away, Sacred Heart leaned in and respected the on-field production.
“I guess his size turned a bunch of guys off, but for us we think he’s a good fit for what we do.”
Summers will join an FCS program with an established coaching staff and offensive identity. The Pioneers finished 5-6 in 2024, leaning heavily on the rushing attack.
Mark Nofri has been the Sacred Heart head coach since 2012, compiling a 74-68 record, with four Northeast Conference championships before the school left the league.
Sacred Heart averaged 180.1 rushing yards per game in 2024. The Pioneers’ leading rusher, Jalen Madison (966 yards, 7 TDs), was a grad student a year ago. The other primary running back, Xavier Leigh (557 yards, 5 TDs) was a senior.
There could be chances for Summers to compete right away. “We’re about 65 percent run, so this is an opportunity for him to showcase what he can do,” Purnsley said. “He is going to have to learn the terminology and how we call things, but scheme-wise this will be similar to what he’s done in the past.”
Summers’ career will be an intriguing one to watch.
Will he be one that folks are talking about years from now, with regret that he was allowed to get away from his home state?
“Mitchell is a phenomenal football player,” Grimsley coach Brown told HighSchoolOT. “He’s very dependable. He’s tough. He’s always there. He’s always present … I mean, he’s a winner.”
