Before joining UNC and N.C. State, can these four-star recruits win state championships?
As their future teams ramp up postseason bowl game preparation, top incoming recruits for the UNC and N.C. State football programs are trying to end their prep careers on a high note this weekend.
Four-star 2022 Shelby outside linebacker Malaki Hamrick, a UNC commit, and four-star 2022 J.H. Rose running back Michael Allen, an N.C. State commit, will both play for NCHSAA state championships.
Eastern regional champion J.H. Rose (11-4) will play Dudley (14-1) in the 3A state title game at 7 p.m. this Friday at UNC’s Kenan Stadium. And western regional champion Shelby (14-1) will play Wallace-Rose Hill (13-2) in the 2A state title game at 3 p.m. this Saturday at N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium.
It’ll be a last hometown hurrah for Hamrick and Allen, two of the top graduating recruits in the state, ahead of next week’s early signing period and their freshman seasons in Chapel Hill and Raleigh next fall.
Hamrick, the No. 13 edge rusher and No. 163 player in the nation per 247Sports composite rankings, delivered seven tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and a blocked punt last Friday as the Golden Lions cruised past East Surry, 45-13, to secure their 16th all-time state championship appearance.
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On the season, the 6-foot-4, 205-pound Hamrick, who also won a state championship with Shelby as a sophomore in 2019, has 118 total tackles, 37 tackles for loss, 18.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.
Allen, the No. 20 running back and No. 250 player in the nation per 247Sports, went off for a season-high 154 rushing yards and four touchdowns (on just 17 carries) in the Rampants’ 35-28 win over Jacksonville.
On the season, the 5-foot-9, 200-pound Allen has rushed 136 times for a career-high 1,003 yards and 14 touchdowns (good for 71.6 yards per game and 7.4 yards per carry) and thrived as a receiver, too.
He’s second on the team with 36 catches for 579 yards and eight touchdowns, all career highs, and has lost just one fumble this year for Greenville’s J.H. Rose, back in a state title for the first time since 2015.
Other top senior recruits competing this weekend include: three-star 2022 Shelby defensive lineman Santana Hopper (App State), 2022 Wallace-Rose Hill running back Kanye Roberts (App State), three-star 2022 Dudley wide receiver Mehki Wall (Duke), three-star 2022 Chambers edge rusher James Pearce (undecided) and three-star 2022 Cardinal Gibbons tight end Jake Taylor (Duke).
Read more: NCHSAA football regional finals results, state championship schedule
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Chapel Fowler is a recruiting reporter for The Fayetteville Observer and the USA TODAY Network. Reach him by email at cfowler@gannett.com or on Twitter at @chapelfowler.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC, N.C. State football recruits playing for state championships
