First in a series of high school football previews …

By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — Things are on the upswing with North Rowan football.

Every Cavalier has a spring in his step, and the roster numbers have climbed to the mid-60s.

The Cavaliers finished eighth in the final MaxPreps rankings for 1A in 2023 following a stout 11-3 season that included a signature triumph against Thomasville, a second-place finish in the Central Carolina Conference. three playoff wins and a spotless record at home.

North is sixth in the MaxPreps preseason rankings for 2024.

Preseason rankings sometimes mean absolutely nothing, but head coach Josh Sophia isn’t a pessimist. He’s a realist and he makes no effort to lower the high expectations that are floating around.

“The plan is to be good,” Sophia said. “That’s what our guys work for. This is a different team and it’s still got some jelling to do, but we like the players that we have. We’ve got our question marks, but when you’ve got a quarterback who will be starting for the fourth year, you should have a chance to be really good.”

Any discussion of North’s chances to be a factor beyond the CCC has to start with that veteran quarterback — Jeremiah Alford.

Not many quarterbacks get the chance to start for four varsity seasons. Alford had that opportunity and embraced it. He has added durability and consistent production to the equation.

At 5-foot-10, 205 pounds, Alford may not look like the prototype QB, but his numbers speaks volumes. He has thrown for 5,304 yards in his career — that ranks sixth in the county history with a season to go — with 60 touchdown passes. He has rushed for 2,377 yards and 37 touchdowns.

In other words, he could reach the 100 milestone for touchdowns accounted for on opening night of his senior season. A level-headed combination of cerebral and rugged, Alford will be in position to break a lot of school and county career records as he leads the Cavaliers to more wins.

“He’s a load to bring down,” Sophia said. “He’s really valuable. He’s our best offensive player and he might also be our best defensive player, although we’ve got to find ways to rest him some on defense, especially while the weather is hot. Our offensive coordinator (Pedro Truesdale) and I are of the same mind when it comes for the need to be run-first, but with a senior quarterback who makes good decisions, we might throw it around a little more than we did a year ago.”

While Alford remains a fixture in green and gold, his celebrated running mate in the backfield, record-breaker Jaemias Morrow, who scored 80 TDs for the Cavaliers, has moved on. Khor’on Miller, the tough linebacker who was the other frequent ball carrier, also was a senior.

Sophia is looking at a committee to replace Morrow’s carries, yards and touchdowns.

“Our running backs are basically going to be a bunch of receivers,” Sophia said. “We’re looking for good things from guys like Jo Jo Tarver, Jaiden Brown, Emari Russell.”

Russell will be a new name to know. A former Central Cabarrus athlete who is expected to make a major basketball impact for North, Russell also is a dynamic football player.

“The first time we saw him play was in a 7-on-7,” Sophia said. “He’s definitely a field-stretcher. He could play slot receiver, running back or defensive back for us. I think he could play quarterback if he was needed there.”

Alford will be throwing to Russell, Tarver and Brown, plus Dyaon Norman-Jackson, a jayvee star a year ago, and A’son Best, the leading returning receiver. Best’s 14 catches in 2023 produced a whopping 447 yards and three scores. Tarver had one TD catch last season, while Brown had a handful of receptions, but Amir Alexander and Tsion Kelly, the main targets for Alford in 2023, are gone.

When North employs a tight end, it probably will be Khi Walker. He’s the younger brother of Malcolm Wilson, who was a star back for the Cavaliers.

As far as the blocking, North returns three offensive line starters — All-CCC Kamahri Feamster, Jasper Neely and Silas Sophia, the head coach’s son.

Tavon Lark and Kaleb McCubbin are being counted on to fill the holes left by graduation.

North lost standout kicker Daniel Medrano. The plan is for Tarver to handle punting and kicking chores.

While North has solid numbers for a 1A program, offensive linemen such as Feamster, Lark and Neely also will be counted on to play snaps on the defensive line. Yasir Wactor, a returning All-CCC player, will provide an anchor for the defensive line, and he can also help out on offense.

Trevon Brown, Alex Rutherford and Joseph Tulloch are also part of the d-line mix.

“We’ve got some kids who are OL only and some who are DL only, but we’ve also got some we cross-train to play on both,” Sophia said. “We’ve got a different practice plan for them.”

North’s line coaches are famous former Cavaliers — Jeff Chambers (d-line), who is scheduled for Salisbury-Rowan Hall of Fame induction on Saturday, and Steven Thurston (o-line), who played recently for Catawba.

Marcus Hamilton again will coordinate the North defense. He’ll have no worries at the two inside linebacker spots in North’s 4-2-5 defense. Jeremiah Alford will play on the inside and will be joined by younger brother Mike Alford. Malik Miller will get a lot of snaps.

There are a lot of candidates for the outside position that is a combination of linebacker and safety. Khi Walker, Jaden Walker, Grey Causby and Donald Horton are all in the mix there.

North also has no issues at cornerback. Tarver is a special athlete, while Brown has proven himself. He was All-CCC last season.

“It would be hard to find two better corners,” Sophia said.

North’s safety candidates include Russell, sophomore Nick Morrow, rangy 6-foot-4 basketball standout Dyzarious Carpenter, Quan Thomas and Davion Williams, a West Rowan transfer.

“Carpenter is new to football, but he’s covering some ground,” Sophia said.

Phillip Brown coaches the North defensive backs. The receivers are coached by newcomer Samuel Moore, who was at Highland Tech with Truesdale, and former Cavalier Deandre Gray.

The non-conference schedule will again include East Rowan, Forest Hills, Anson and High Point’s TW Andrews. North went 3-1 against that lineup last season and built some confidence.

As far as the CCC, Sophia views it as a tough league that’s getting tougher.

“Lexington is turning things in the right direction and West Davidson had one heck of a jayvee football team last year,” Sophia said. “Salisbury lost good guys, but they always have dudes, and Thomasville is Thomasville. The game that’s most important for us in a lot of ways is Thomasville because we’re in a split (1A/2A) league and they’re 1A like us. That game will go a long way toward determining our playoff seeding.”

Weather permitting, North is scheduled to scrimmage at Concord on Friday.