Athletes of the week: Shelby High star jumps in record books with memorable performance

Ja’hari Mitchell says he is always ready to make a play to help his Shelby High School football team win games.

But Friday night, Mitchell made play after play as he exploded with 10 catches for 261 yards and a school-record five touchdowns to lead the Golden Lions to a 58-21 win over A.C. Reynolds.

Mitchell’s 261 yards is 23rd in state history, while his five touchdowns is tied for fourth, according the NCHSAA record book.

Mitchell’s career night included touchdown grabs of 65- and 72-yards to help Shelby senior quarterback Isaiah Bess to a big game. Bess went 19-for-32 passing for 403 yards and six touchdowns.

“The entire game (A.C. Reynolds) was extremely fun, but really unexpected, I had no idea I was going to make that many plays,” Mitchell said. “But, if the ball is coming my way, I’ve got to do my job, catch the ball and make a play.”

Shelby High football coach Mike Wilbanks didn’t share his receiver’s surprise.

“I equated Ja’hari’s night to a three-point shooter who gets hot,” said Wilbanks, in his first year as head coach after 12 years as a Golden Lions’ assistant. “Isaiah (Bess) and Ja’hari (Mitchell) just got in a rhythm and made a lot of big plays. But with our offense, on a given night it could be any one of our receivers. Next week it could be Diavanni (Daley) or Kamarde (Huskey).”

The Shelby offense has already proven it will be potent as the Golden Lions (2-0) are averaging 50 points per game this season.

While Bess (595 yards passing, 10 touchdowns) leads the way at quarterback, he has a wealth of options in Mitchell (12 catches for 363 yards and seven touchdowns), Daley (10 catches for 123 yards, two touchdowns) and Huskey (six catches for 99 yards, touchdown).

The Shelby offense should get even better when running back Donye Fuller returns to the lineup after a shoulder injury, according to Coach Wilbanks.

Mitchell says it’s fun just to be a part of an offense that “knows it’s going to score,” early and often. He had 62 catches for 817 yards and nine touchdowns last year, and is already on pace to improve on all those marks in 2019.

“If we (Shelby) were an NFL team, Isaiah Bess would be Tom Brady, he is such a great quarterback and leader, I’ve never played with a guy like him,” Mitchell said. “…With this offense, we know we’re going to score and that puts a lot of pressure on the teams we’re playing to keep up.”

▪ At Shelby, the expectations are clear: state championship or bust, as the Golden Lions have won five of the last six 2AA state titles.

The 2019 Shelby team is embracing the challenge.

“There’s a lot of pressure on our players to perform to up that state championship level every year,” Wilbanks said. “But I think we embrace it and expect it and our kids thrive on that pressure. Some teams hope to win games, but at Shelby we expect to win every game.”

If Mitchell and others can continue to play bigger roles for an already loaded, Shelby team they should be in great position to compete for another state championship.

Mitchell hopes his play will help him earn a scholarship to play college football.

Charlotte, Gardner-Webb, Lenoir-Rhyne, Wake Forest and Western Carolina have all shown interest, according to Mitchell and Wilbanks.

“I think it’s basically every high school player’s dream to play college football,” Mitchell said. “It’s been my dream to play college football since I started playing when I was four years old.”

Troy Hoilman, Avery County Football: The Avery County junior quarterback also but up big numbers going 18-for-28 for 365 yards passing and six touchdowns throws to lead the Vikings to a 51-6 win over West Wilkes, Aug. 30.

Hoilman, who also rushed for a touchdown in the same game, has 713 yards passing for 11 touchdowns in two games for Avery County (2-0) this season.

Jayden Birchfield, Freedom Football: The Freedom senior quarterback had another big night going 11-for-15 for 316 yards passing and six touchdowns through the air to lead the Patriots to a 60-14 victory at Draughn, Aug. 30.

Birchfield, a U.S. Naval Academy commit, also rushed for another score to set a Burke County-record with seven touchdowns in the same game.

Birchfield, the reigning Northwestern 3A/4A conference player of the year, is 22-for-48 for 388 yards passing and six touchdowns, and has 11 rushes for 68 yards and two more scores this season for Freedom (1-1).

Xavier Jordan, A.L. Brown Football: The A.L. Brown senior offensive and defensive lineman play a key role in the Wonders’ 28-6 season-opening win over Ashbrook on both sides of the ball, Aug. 30.

Jordan started the game off strong with a 53-yard fumble recovery to set up the Wonders’ first score.

He also finished off the game with a 35-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown to seal the victory.

Jordan also anchored the A.L. Brown offensive line for the entire game, according to Wonders’ football coach Mike Newsome.

Lawson Harkey, West Lincoln golf: Won the junior club championship and men’s club championship at teh Lincolnton Country Club. He’s the first ever player to win both titles in the same year, and he’s the youngest to win both. As a freshman last season in high school, Harkey, 15, helped his team to a regional championship and a third place state finals finish.

Logan/Chase Gilley, East Lincoln Soccer: The East Lincoln twin brothers’ senior duo combined for 10 goals and five assists to help the Mustangs to wins over Forest Hills and Hunter Huss to remain unbeaten (4-0).

Chase Gilley has 10 goals and four assists, while Logan Gilley has eight goals and four assists for East Lincoln this season.

Both Gilleys are all-state players, who are also Division I recruits, according to East Lincoln soccer coach, Billy Howell.

Julian Evans, Charlotte Latin Soccer: The Charlotte Latin junior midfielder came up big for Hawks in two wins to help them remain a perfect 6-0 this season.

Evans scored the game-winning goal with 23 minutes left in a 2-1 win at Cannon School, converting a head off a corner-kick in the Aug. 27th game.

Two days later, Evans dished out the game-winning assist on a 40-yard chip to teammate Sullivan Phillips to lead Charlotte Latin to a 1-0 victory over Davidson Day.

Evans has one goal and one assist for the Hawks this season.

Patrick Fenton, Charlotte Catholic Soccer: The Charlotte Catholic senior midfielder/forward had huge games last week to help the Cougars (4-0-1) remain unbeaten.

Fenton accounted for both goals in a 2-2 tie with Ardrey Kell, with a goal and an assist in the draw, Aug. 27.

Two days later, Fenton had a hat trick (three goals) in a 4-0 win over Christ the King.

Fenton, the reigning Southern Carolinas’ conference player of the year, is a 2018 all-region and all-state pick.

Mitchell Zammitti, Davidson Day Cross Country: The Davidson Day sophomore won the Carolinas’ Kickoff Cross Country Invitational running a personal-best 16:45, outkicking Arborbrook Christian sophomore Benjamin Timberlake (16:45.1) to earn the victory at Metrolina Christian Aug. 31.

Zammitti is the younger brother of former Davidson Day standout and state champion Melissa Zammitti, now a junior on the Cornell University cross country and track teams.

Charlotte Observer Girls’ Athletes of the Week

Cierra Huntley, Davidson Day Volleyball: The Davidson Day senior had a monster week on the court with 43 kills, 24 digs and seven aces to lead the Patriots to win over University Christian and Charlotte Country Day.

Huntley had her best match of the season so far with 29 kills, 15 digs and two aces in a 3-1 win over Charlotte Country Day, Aug. 29.

Two days earlier, Huntley had 14 kills, nine digs and five aces in a 3-0 sweep at University Christian.

Huntley, a Virginia Tech commit, has 59 kills, 38 digs and 13 aces for Davidson Day (4-0) this season.

Tori Hester, West Rowan Volleyball: The West Rowan senior captain had 47 kills, 33 digs, seven aces and five blocks in wins over South Rowan and East Surry to help the Falcons remain unbeaten (6-0) this season.

Hester had her best match of the week in 3-1 win at East Surry with 25 kills, 21 digs, four block and three aces, Aug. 28.

Hester, a Troy University commit, has 93 kills, 73 digs, 16 aces and 10 blocks so far this season.

Sophie Fischer, Nation Ford Volleyball: The Nation Ford senior All-American had a strong weekend leading the Falcons to a third-place (team) finish at the Circus City Classic in Sarasota, FL.

Fischer helped Nation Ford (10-3) to a 4-2 record with 69 kills, 32 digs, six blocks and three aces.

Fischer, the reigning S.C. Gatorade player of the year, is a University of North Carolina commit.

Fisher was also named one of the top volleyball recruits i the 2020 class by prepvolleyball.com Fischer has committed to UNC.

Moira Darling, Charlotte Catholic Field Hockey: The Charlotte Catholic senior had a huge opening week, scoring 10 goals while dishing out five assists in three Cougars’ wins in as many days.

Darling started her week with four goals and three assists to lead Catholic 8-0 win over rival, South Mecklenburg.

The next day, Darling had her team’s lone goal in regulation play as Charlotte Catholic outlasted Charlotte Country Day, 2-1, in four overtimes.

Darling finished off her week with five goals and two assists in a 10-0 win at Providence, Aug. 29.

Sophie Holland/Amanda Sambach, Cannon School Golf: The Cannon School duo both shot an even par 36 to earn co-medalist honors and lead the Cougars to 37-shot victory in the season-opening match with Charlotte Country Day and Charlotte Latin.

Holland, a senior, had three birdies, and Sambach, a junior, had two, as they led Cannon School to a team score of 116, while Charlotte Country Day was runner-up with a 153.

Both Cannon School standouts are also two of the top junior players in the state with Sambach ranked No. 1 and Holland No. 11, according to the Tarheel Youth Golf Association (TYGA).

Jonna Strange, North Iredell Cross Country: The North Iredell senior ran the nation’s best 5,000-meter run this season with a 17:10 to win the race at the Raiders’ home meet Aug. 27.

Strange shaved one-minute and 23 second off her previous personal-best (18:23) that she ran as a sophomore.

Strange finished fifth at the 3A state meet last year, after winning both the North Piedmont conference (NPC) and 3A West Regional titles.

Gabriella Castro/Marissa Bosland, Cuthbertson Cross Country: The Cuthbertson senior and freshman teamed up to win Weddington’s 2X2X2-Relay, Aug. 28.

Castro and Bosland ran a combined time of 27:56, averaging 5:36 per mile to win the race by 26 seconds.

Sophie Spada, Charlotte Country Day Cross Country: The Charlotte Country Day star won the CISAA conference opener running a 19:17 at McAlpine Creek Park to win the race by nearly 50 seconds, where she also led her Bucs’ team to victory Aug. 27.

Spada also won the Mecklenburg County two-mile preview, running a personal-best 13:42.90 at Myers Park High’s course to dominate the field (by one-minute, four seconds) Aug. 17.

Gracie Neff, South Caldwell Tennis: The South Caldwell junior didn’t lose a game at No. 4 singles’ in helping the Spartans to three wins in four days last week.

Neff blanked her opponents from Hibriten, Patton and West Caldwell, 6-0, 6-0 in singles’ play.

She also won all three No. 3 doubles’ matches losing only one game with partner and teammate, junior Nathaly Lopez.

Neff is 4-0 in singles’ play, while a perfect 3-0 in doubles with Lopez for South Caldwell (3-0) this season.

** Information published today includes statistics through September 1.

Want to nominate an athlete?: Athletes of the week highlights high school players with outstanding performances. The goal is to recognize all athletes in all sports, both the most accomplished and the underrated or underappreciated players. If you want to suggest someone to be included in the Athletes of the week column, send email to Jay Edwards at edwardswork23@gmail.com. Please include the athletes’ name, school, class and applicable game performance statistics. Coaches must be willing to verify information.

This story was originally published September 4, 2019 at 1:54 PM.