East Lincoln’s Chazz Surratt a finalist for Parade national player of year

East Lincoln’s Chazz Surratt is among 10 finalists for the Parade Magazine All-America team national player of the year.

Surratt, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound senior quarterback, led East Lincoln to an unbeaten regular season. Surratt suffered ligament damage to his left throwing elbow in a playoff game two weeks ago.

Surratt was fitted with a special brace and cleared to play in a 35-14 win over East Burke in the state 2AA quarterfinals. He completed four passes for 10 yards. He has 16,593 career offensive yards, breaking the 13-year-old record of 16,590 set by former Independence quarterback Chris Leak. Surratt did not play in last week’s semifinal loss at Monroe.

Surratt ends his career with 10,770 passing yards and 136 touchdowns. His 681 completions rank fourth in N.C. public school history. His passing yards rank fourth, and his passing touchdowns rank third. This season, Surratt threw for 3,511 yards and rushed for 1,311 yards.

Two other Carolinas athletes are among the 10 Parade finalists: Asheville QB/RB Rico Dowdle and Spartanburg QB Austin Scott.

Girls basketball

Providence Day (7-0), No. 1 in the Observer’s Sweet 16, is ranked in Blue Star Media’s elite national poll. The Chargers are ranked in Blue Star’s list of the nation’s top 10 teams. It is not ranked numerically.

The Chargers are ranked No. 20 in USA Today’s national poll.

Providence Day, which has won six straight state championships, plays Charlotte Catholic (3-3) Thursday at home at 6.

Tuesday’s Top Games

No. 6 Berry (6-1) at No. 5 Charlotte Catholic (7-0), 7:30 p.m.: The SoMeck 8 season-opener behind two hot teams that are favored to win a league championship. Berry’s Jael Scott and Catholic’s Josh Brodowicz are both having strong seasons.

Cannon School (6-2) at Greensboro Day (10-1), 6:30 p.m.: After playing four straight road games, Greensboro Day returns home. The reigning N.C. Independent School 3A champs have had two blowout wins since losing to Providence Day. Cannon has won three straight and seeks a big road upset.

No. 11 Hough (5-1) at No. 2 Hopewell (5-0) girls, 6: Hough has played great defense this season, allowing less than 32 points per game. Hopewell is also playing tough defense, allowing just 33 points per game. This rivalry game, and MECKA conference opener, could be low scoring.

No. 10 Rocky River (3-2) at No. 4 Myers Park (4-1) girls, 6: Myers Park had a 93-game win streak against Mecklenburg County teams snapped last week by Mallard Creek. Now the Mustangs get to take on perhaps the biggest threat to another Southwestern 4A championship. Rocky River, though, will be trying to snap a two-game losing streak and beat Myers Park for the first time.

This story was originally published December 7, 2015 at 6:46 PM with the headline "East Lincoln’s Chazz Surratt a finalist for Parade national player of year."