At Vance High, “Hollywood” comes through just when his team needs him in Hough win
Friday afternoon, before Vance High beat Hough 24-10 in the N.C. 4A quarterfinals, Cougars running back Daylan Smothers got an offer from N.C. State.
And Friday night, when his team needed him most, Smothers, a sophomore who answers to the nickname “Hollywood,” played like a big star who will one day play on Saturday afternoons.
Smothers had two electric touchdown runs during the game.
One gave his team a 17-7 lead in the third quarter. The second, with Vance ahead 17-10 in the fourth, put the game away.
On his first score, which covered 56 yards, Smothers burst into the line like he was catapulted, then made two wicked jump cuts before running so fast past the Hough defenders it literally looked like he was being pushed by the wind.
“The first one,” he said, “I was really just trying to get something going and coach told me just to carry it, and my offensive line was blocking the way they’re supposed to, and I guess big time players make big time plays.”
And on the second?
“I said, ‘Coach, do you want me to end this game?’” Smothers said. “He said, ‘Yes.’ So I had to step up to the plate.”
Smothers took the handoff, just inside the Hough 40, and he appeared to be stopped at the line of scrimmage. A Hough player tugged at the ball and Smothers, for a brief moment, turned sideways. The play appeared to be over. But just as quickly, Smothers twisted and got away.
Smothers ran clean until he got near the goal line and then he simply spun and pulled and carried a couple defenders into the end zone.
Vance coach Glenwood Ferebee told me last summer that his freshmen and sophomore classes were about the best he’d ever seen, and Smothers and receiver Kelvin Concepcion -- who had an awe-inspiring 2-point conversion run and a powerhouse kick return -- are two of the best sophomores I’ve seen in a long time.
And now they -- and Vance -- are two games away from their goal of a repeat N.C. 4AA state championship.
▪ The Cougars had nine penalties for 105 yards Friday but seemed much sharper, more focused than they were against Hough the first time (a 29-22 loss three weeks ago) and against Ardrey Kell last week (when Vance rallied from 12 points down to win 44-28).
This Vance team looked a lot more like the one Ferebee had been hoping to see, the team he thought about when would tell anyone who would listen that the only thing that could prevent Vance from repeating was Vance.
“It’s just the focus and paying attention to detail and the energy level,” Ferebee said. “I think they realize now that it’s right there for the taking. And I don’t think, from here on out, that I will have to motivate them. I think they’ll be motivated to finish thing out over the next two weeks.”
Quick Links
Defense, Smothers lead Vance past Hough
Friday’s statewide scores, next week’s semifinal schedule
Davion Nelson’s monster night leads Butler past Providence, to 4A semis
Myers Park learns a tough lesson, but gets to keep playing
Friday’s Photo Galleries
Cardinal Gibbons 28, Richmond Senior 14
Friday’s #BIG5 Top Performers
Ayden Burkey, Myers Park: junior wide receiver returned a kickoff 35 yards in the final minutes, giving the Mustangs good field position after Panther Creek had taken a 21-20 fourth quarter lead. He later caught a crucial fourth-down pass to keep the game-winning drive alive.
Davion Nelson, Butler: ran for 239 yards, three touchdowns in a 35-0 win over Providence
Wade Robins, Salisbury: made a 39-yard field goal on the final play of the game to lift Salisbury to a 10-7 win over Burns. Salisbury will play Central Carolina conference rival North Davidson in next week’s state semifinal on the road. North Davidson beat Salisbury 34-23 March 19 (Burns played Friday without starting QB Cam’Ron Sweezy who injured his hamstring against Hibriten last week).
Kyrie Sims, North Rowan: threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 101 yards and two touchdowns in a 30-27 state quarterfinal loss to Polk County.
Jalen Swindell, Vance: a 6-foot-2, 260-pound junior, Swindell was a force all night on the defensive line. He lived in the Hough backfield and had a huge stop on third and goal at the 2, when Vance was leading 17-7. Hough settled for a field goal on that possession.
Observations
▪ Hough High’s defensive line is really, really good. That’s two games that Vance -- as talented a team as there is in the state -- had a lot of trouble running the ball. Smothers, the hero Friday, ran seven times for 100 yards. He got 94 on two great carries.
Hough lost at least seven top 100 N.C. recruits to early graduation. You have to wonder how good the Huskies would’ve been with their full team.
▪ Same with Weddington, which lost state offensive player of the year Will Shipley, now at Clemson. Weddington lost 21-10 to Mount Tabor ending a 33-game win streak Friday, and ending a quest for a third straight N.C. 3AA state championship.
▪ Charlotte Catholic QB Sean Boyle threw two touchdown passes in a 27-0 win at Asheville Reynolds. Catholic, a three-time reigning N.C. 3A champion, will try to return to the state finals next week. The Cougars will host Monroe, in a rematch of the season opener that Catholic won 27-0 at Monroe.
▪ Myers Park coach Mark Harman is interim after taking over the job just before the regular-season began when Scott Chadwick left to an assistant position at the University of Maryland. What’s Harman done? He’s taken the Mustangs as far as any Myers Park team has ever been, to the regional championship game.
Myers Park will play for the school’s first state final, at home, against Vance next week.
Time to take the “interim” off the title.
▪ Mount Pleasant had five turnovers in its 26-15 loss to Mountain Heritage. QB Ryan Tyson finished with 227 yards passing and two scores.
This story was originally published April 24, 2021 at 7:15 AM.
