This may be another week where a quarterback from a North Carolina college team earns conference player of the week honors.
We have two candidates coming out of Saturday games who put up five-touchdown performances: Western Carolina’s Cole Gonzales and North Carolina Central’s Walker Harris.
Gonzales had one of the cleanest stat sheets of the season in the Catamounts’ 77-21 trouncing of Charleston Southern: 14-of-16 for 299 yards and five first-half touchdowns. The sophomore from Ocala, Fla., hit his first 12 passes before throwing an incompletion. His TD throws went to four different receivers.
Harris, a junior from Rolesville (Heritage HS), made his first start of the season in an NFL Stadium (Lucas Oil, home of the Colts) against Mississippi Valley State. He passed for 263 yards. His five touchdowns were the most by a Central quarterback since 2005 when Adrian Warren threw seven.
Here are other top North Carolina passers from weekend action, sorted by yardage totals.
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TOP PASSING YARDAGE DIVISION COMP ATT YARDS TDS INTS Hajj-Malik Williams (Campbell) FCS 33 41 367 1 1 Preston Brown (Catawba) D2 31 52 312 2 3 Cole Gonzales (Western Carolina) FCS 14 16 299 5 0 Drake Maye (North Carolina) FBS 22 30 296 1 0 Ethan Beamish (Brevard) D3 23 42 264 2 0 Walker Harris (NC Central) FCS 17 28 263 5 0 Riley Leonard (Duke) FBS 23 34 248 1 0 Donoven Davenport (ECSU) D2 15 31 237 2 2 Brandon Bullins (Methodist) D3 29 56 235 3 0 TOUCHDOWN PASSES TDS Cole Gonzales (Western Carolina) 5 Walker Harris (NC Central) 5 Brandon Bullins (Methodist) 3 Cleland Coulter (Davidson) 2 Donoven Davenport (ECSU) 2 Ethan Beamish (Brevard) 2 Jalen Ferguson (Lenoir-Rhyne) 2 Preston Brown (Catawba) 2
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Top Rushers Of Week 4
Chancellor Lee-Parker helped Brevard rush into the win column for the first time. Lee-Parker led the state this weekend with a 179-yard effort on the ground, and the Tornados beat Maryville 37-35 in triple overtime. The senior from Auburn, Ga., scored two touchdowns.
Jalen Hampton accounted for all four of Elon’s touchdowns in a 28-24 win at Campbell. Hampton finished with 169 yards and become the first back in a Phoenix uniform to rush for four scores since 2010.
Eight rushers from around the state hit the magical 100-yard plateau this week, including Mars Hill quarterback JR Martin, who dashed for 167 yards to lead the Lions past Barton. Seven rushers scored at least two touchdowns.
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TOP RUSHERS (100+ YARDS) DIVISION ATT YARDS TDS YDS/CARRY Chancellor Lee-Parker (Brevard) D3 23 179 2 7.8 Jalen Hampton (Elon) FCS 33 169 4 5.1 (QB) JR Martin (Mars Hill) D2 14 167 0 11.9 Keyshaun Pete (Methodist) D3 31 155 0 5.0 Justice Ellison (Wake Forest) FBS 18 137 0 7.6 Dwayne McGee (Lenoir-Rhyne) D2 15 123 0 8.2 Desmond Reid (Western Carolina) FCS 13 111 2 8.5 Nate Noel (Appalachian State) FBS 30 107 0 3.6 RUISHING TOUCHDOWNS TDS Jalen Hampton (Elon) 4 Aaron Maione (Davidson) 2 Chancellor Lee-Parker (Brevard) 2 Desmond Reid (Western Carolina) 2 Drake Maye (North Carolina) 2 Jordan Waters (Duke) 2 Kamarro Edmonds (East Carolina) 2
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Top Receivers For Week 4
Bo Pryor of Catawba and VJ Wilkins from Campbell loaded up on catches this week.
Pryor hauled in 13 receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns. He had 162 yards in receptions a week ago (also with two touchdowns), proving a steady target for Indians quarterback Preston Brown. Wilkins made 10 grabs for 114 yards and one score. Alas, the superb efforts weren’t enough to land either of their teams in the win column this week.
Last week, Nate McCollum put up career receiving numbers for the North Carolina Tar Heels. This week it was teammate JJ Jones, who earned 117 yards on six throws from Drake Maye.
Kevin Concepcion from rival NC State showed that the future looks bright at wide receiver for the Pack, making six grabs for 116 yards and two touchdowns in a narrow win at Virginia.
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TOP RECEIVERS DIVISION NO. YARDS TDS LONG Bo Pryor (Catawba) D2 13 131 2 49 JJ Jones (North Carolina) FBS 6 117 0 52 Kevin Concepcion (NC State) FBS 6 116 2 48 VJ Wilkins (Campbell) FCS 10 114 1 25 Kameron Johnson (Barton) D2 6 110 1 65 Corey Washington (Western Carolina) FCS 3 108 0 65 Reggie Taylor II (Brevard) D3 4 102 1 75 Malik Laurent (Mars Hill) D2 3 99 1 60 RJ Mobley (Winston-Salem State) D2 5 96 1 56 AJ Colombo (Western Carolina) FCS 3 95 2 50 Twan Flip (NC Central) FCS 4 89 0 40 Censere Lee (Western Carolina) FCS 2 86 1 54 Jordan Moore (Duke) FBS 8 86 1 22
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RECEIVING TOUCHDOWNS TDS Ah’shaan Belcher (Shaw) 2 AJ Colombo (Western Carolina) 2 Bo Pryor (Catawba) 2 Chauncey Spikes (NC Central) 2 Joaquin Davis (NC Central) 2 Kevin Concepcion (NC State) 2 Tremel Jones (Wingate) 2
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Longest Scoring Plays
Camar Kyle from Winston-Salem State returned a fumble 84 yards for a touchdown in the Rams’ 30-0 triumph over Bluefield State in Saturday CIAA action.
That explosive play gave WSSU a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter and set the tone for the evening at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Kyle’s touchdown turned out to be the longest score of the weekend involving a player from a North Carolina school. Kyle’s teammate Dante Bowlding also recorded a defensive touchdown, bring an interception back 52 yards for a score late in the third quarter.
St. Andrews suffered a stinging defeat at Davidson but quarterback Darius Holly managed to record the longest offensive rushing touchdown of the weekend in the state. He went 75 yards for six points.
Brevard’s Reggie Taylor II covered the same yardage on a pass play from quarterback Ethan Beamish.
Here is a list of the most explosive scoring plays of the weekend:
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PLAYER DIVISION PLAY DESCRIPTION OPPONENT Camar Kyle (Winston-Salem State) D2 84-yard fumble recovery Bluefield State Darius Holly (St. Andrews) NAIA 75-yard rushing touchdown Davidson Reggie Taylor II (Brevard) D3 75-yard reception from Ethan Beamish Maryville Sincere Baines (UNC Pembroke) D2 67-yard touchdown run West Liberty Kameron Johnson (Barton) D2 65-yard reception from Jaquan Lynch Mars Hill Elijah Starkey (Elizabeth City State) D2 63-yard reception from Donoven Davenport Shaw Malik Laurent (Mars Hill) D2 60-yard reception from JR Martin Barton Daquan Mosley (Wingate) D2 57-yard interception return Emory & Henry Sean Hill (UNC Pembroke) D2 54-yard interception return West Liberty Alijah Huzzie (North Carolina) FBS 52-yard punt return Pittsburgh Dante Bowlding (Winston-Salem State) D2 52-yard interception return Bluefield State AJ Colombo (Western Carolina) FCS 50-yard reception from Cole Gonzales Charleston Southern Bo Pryor (Catawba) D2 49-yard reception from Preston Brown Tusculum Kevin Concepcion (NC State) FBS 48-yard reception from Brennan Armstrong Virginia Chancellor Lee-Parker (Brevard) D3 46-yard rushing touchdown Maryville Tremel Jones (Wingate) D2 42-yard reception from Brooks Bentley Emory & Henry Tremel Jones (Wingate) D2 38-yard reception from Brooks Bentley Emory & Henry Chancellor Lee-Parker (Brevard) D3 37-yard rushing touchdown Maryville Censere Lee (Western Carolina) FCS 32-yard reception from Cole Gonzales Charleston Southern Marlin Cochran (WCU) FCS 31-yard rushing touchdown Charleston Southern
