Queen City Senior Bowl all-star football game is back for Charlotte’s best HS players

Langston Wertz Jr.
·2 min read

The coronavirus pandemic has taken away most high school football and basketball all-star games for players in the class of 2021.

But Queen City Senior Bowl executive director Bobby Collins said he was determined to keep his all-star football game going. Collins told The Observer on Thursday that the second Queen City game will be played May 14 at the Matthews SportsPlex and will feature 80 of the area’s top seniors.

The head coaches will be Vance High’s Glenwood Ferebee and Charlotte Country Day’s Drew Witman.

The game will be played less than a week after the N.C. High School Athletic Association is scheduled to conclude its high school football season with state championship games May 8.

This will be the second Queen City game. Collins said 40 of the 80 players in the inaugural game, which was played in December 2019, received a scholarship offer, including 13 during the week of team practice.

Last year’s game included players from Mecklenburg County and one Gaston County team, Mountain Island Charter. This year, Collins said the game would expand and potentially include players from Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston and Union Counties as well as Mecklenburg. Players can submit film and resumes beginning Sunday for potential consideration for a roster spot to queencityseniorbowl.com

“I’m super excited, for the mere fact, that we’re giving kids an opportunity,” Collins said. “These kids didn’t get a Shrine Bowl, but this game gives them another chance to show off their skills and be able to play in an all-star game.”

Collins said practices will be live streamed at Olympic and Rocky River High Schools, so college coaches — who won’t be allowed to attend in person — can watch the prospects.

This year’s game will be televised locally and streamed on the ESPN app.

The 2019 event also raised $2,500 for The Metro School, a CMS school for students with cognitive disabilities. Collins said a donation would again be made to The Metro School after the 2021 game.

▪ Collins said this will be the first of two Senior Bowl games in 2021. He said a second game will be held in December for players who will be seniors in the class of 2022.