Baseball’s his game, but UNC recruit Vance Honeycutt drives Salisbury to football crown
He ran and passed his team to a state football championship Thursday night, and quarterback Vance Honeycutt is headed to the University of North Carolina in the fall.
But don’t get excited, UNC football fans. Honeycutt probably won’t ever score a touchdown for the Tar Heels.
In fact, Salisbury’s 42-14 rout of St. Pauls in the 2AA state finals at N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium likely was Honeycutt’s final bow on the football field.
“He’s a five-star athlete, a great player,” Salisbury coach Brian Hinson says. “But his sport is baseball.”
Honeycutt, a 6-2, 170-pound senior, was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after passing for a touchdown and running for four more.
It marked a successful finish for a Salisbury team that lost to Shelby in the 2019 2AA finals and saw its playoff hopes nearly ended midway through the spring 2021 season after a pair of losses.
When the attention leading up to Thursday’s title game was focused on Salisbury junior linebacker Jalon Walker, Hinson noted, “We have a couple five-star athletes around here. Vance Honeycutt is another.”
Honeycutt’s father, Bobby, played baseball for the Tar Heels. His mother, Leah Ann, ran track and field for UNC. So it’s no surprise that Vance would follow the same route to Chapel Hill.
But those unfamiliar with the younger Honeycutt’s athletic background might be surprised his primary sport isn’t football.
Honeycutt rushed for 14 touchdowns and passed for 11 more in the Hornets’ 9-2 season.
But baseball scouts say he is a superb prospect, considered among the Tar Heels’ best-ever infield recruits. Honeycutt has been playing with an elite Charlotte-based travel team for several years. He hits for power and can play several infield positions.
When the Hornets needed a big play Thursday night, their quarterback usually delivered.
After St. Pauls (8-1) rallied from an early 14-0 deficit and tied the score at 14-14 early in the second quarter, Honeycutt had three big completions in the drive for the go-ahead score midway in the period.
Then he led Salisbury on a 57-yard scoring drive in 75 seconds shortly before the half, turning a potential sack into a 35-yard gain and then running 10 yards for a touchdown on the next play.
Honeycutt might have been at his best late in the third quarter, after St. Pauls drove to the Salisbury 1 and was stopped on a fourth-down run by Hornet defenders Jalon Walker and Mike Geter.
Honeycutt drove Salisbury 99 yards and scored on a 6-yard run. That put the Hornets ahead 35-14 with 1:46 left in the third quarter, and the game was effectively over.
Afterwards, Hinson talked about his team’s resilience.
The Hornets lost to Oak Grove and North Davidson in Central Carolina 2A Conference games and had their playoff hopes hanging by a thread. They got into the playoffs as a wild card, then needed last-second field goals by Wade Robbins to beat Burns and North Davidson in the playoff quarterfinals and semifinals.
“Those were two of the best football games I’ve ever been involved in,” Hinson said.
He said his team kept battling. “Some of our kids come from tough situations in life, but they keep working hard.
“They earned this.”
THREE WHO MATTERED
Vance Honeycutt, Salisbury: In what was probably his final football game, Honeycutt completed 8-of-12 passes for 105 yards and one touchdown, with a quarterback effiency rating of 167.7. He also rushed 17 times for 113 yards and four touchdowns.
Jalon Walker, Salisbury: The Hornets’ five-star junior linebacker, Walker had a game-high 12 tackles, including eight solos. He also caught a 25-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and had another 20-yard reception. Walker has committed to Georgia.
Mike Geter, Salisbury: Geter, a freshman wide receiver and safety, ran five times for 55 yards and caught a 16-yard pass. On defense, he had a fumble recovery and a pass break-up.
WORTH MENTIONING
▪ This was Salisbury’s second N.C. High School Athletic Association state title. The Hornets also won the 2AA crown in 2010. They were champions of the old Western N.C. High School Athletic Association in 1973 and 1974 and tied with South Point for the 1971 crown.
▪ St. Pauls, from Robeson County, was appearing in a state championship game for the first time.
▪ St. Pauls coach Mike Setzer was head coach of the Bulldogs in 2006 and 2007, then left for the head position at a bigger school. He returned to St. Pauls in 2018. Setzer is a West Caldwell graduate.
▪ Salisbury will need to find a new quarterback for the fall season, but the Hornets will have most of their other key performers returning. That includes Jalon Walker and his freshman brother, Deuce (who had an interception and a key pass reception Thursday); Geter, a freshman; and running back JyMikaah Wells, a sophomore who carried for a game-high 147 yards Thursday.
▪ Salisbury’s defense shut down St. Pauls’ Kemarion Baldwin, a sophomore who averaged 146 rushing yards a game this season. Baldwin twisted an ankle in the first half and was slowed for the rest of the game. But the Hornets held him to 56 yards in 15 carries.
▪ St. Pauls averaged about 8 yards per rush in its first eight games. The Bulldogs averaged 3.9 yards in 34 carries Thursday night.
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
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Salisbury 14 14 7 7 – 42
St. Pauls 7 7 0 0 – 14
SAL – Vance Honeycutt 4 run (Wade Robbins kick)
SAL – Honeycutt 5 run (Robbins kick)
SP – Waltay Jackson 14 pass from Mikail Breeden (Ayham Hajran kick)
SP – Daekwon Payne fumble recovery in end zone (Hajran kick)
SAL – JyMikaah Wells 17 run (Robbins kick)
SAL – Honeycutt 10 run (Robbins kick)
SAL – Honeycutt 6 run (Robbins kick)
SAL – Jalon Walker 26 pass from Honeycutt (Robbins kick)
State finals scoreboard
Class 4AA at N.C. State
Vance (9-1) vs. Rolesville (9-0), Saturday, May 8, 5 p.m.
Class 4A at UNC-Chapel Hill
Grimsley (8-0) vs. Cardinal Gibbons (9-0), Friday, May 7, 7 p.m.
Class 3AA at UNC-Chapel Hill
Mount Tabor 24, Cleveland 16
Class 3A at N.C. State
Charlotte Catholic (8-1) vs. Havelock (10-0), Friday, May 7, 7 p.m.
Class 2AA at N.C. State
Salisbury 42, St. Pauls 14
Class 2A at UNC-Chapel Hill
Mountain Heritage (7-1) vs. Reidsville (9-0) Saturday, May 8, 5 p.m.
Class 1AA at UNC-Chapel Hill
Tarboro (8-0) vs. East Surry (9-1), Saturday, May 8, noon
Class 1A at N.C. State
Pinetown Northside (8-2) vs. Murphy (9-1), Saturday, May 8, noon
