Sweet 16 previews: Maiden, ‘best little football town in the world’ has another big star
Editor’s Note: The Observer is taking a look at the 16 teams that are ranked in the preseason Sweet 16 prep football poll, released in random order. The true order of the teams will be revealed later this month.
Chris Culliver has always been fast.
Long before the Maiden High football star committed to play for Mack Brown at North Carolina and long before he became one of the state’s top 20 recruits, he used that speed to become an 11-year-old national champion in the 200 meters and run past Catawba County teenagers in flag football or basketball or whatever sport was in season.
“It’s been easy for me my whole life,” Culliver said. “But I knew I also had to work to get” where I wanted to go.
The speed, and the work ethic, is in his genes. His mother ran track in high school in Virginia. Culliver’s father played football, basketball and ran track at Newton-Conover High School.
Once a star at Maiden High himself, current Blue Devils coach Will Byrne compares Culliver to one of the greatest Blue Devils of them all, defensive back Caleb Farley, who was a star at Virginia Tech and a first round NFL draft pick in 2021. And Byrne said it’s rare to find someone with Culliver’s natural gifts who is wiling to work so hard at his football.
“I tell all the coaches that recruited him, that he’s eerily similar to Caleb Farley in terms of speed and athleticism,” Byrne said. “He’s by far the best receiver to ever play here. Speed kills and it’s hard for people to cover him. He’s worked hard on his ball skills and his route running, and he really tracks the ball well. Sometimes, we tell our quarterback, ‘You’ve got time, just throw it as far as you can.’ You’re not going to overthrow him. He’s gonna go get it.”
Culliver will be the centerpiece of a Maiden team that feels it can challenge for a N.C. 2A state championship. A year ago, the Blue Devils upset reigning state champion Salisbury, which was unbeaten, in the third round of the playoffs. The next week, Maiden lost, by a point, to East Surry in the state quarterfinals — after Culliver got hurt and had to leave the game with his team up two scores.
This season, 16 starters and 25 lettermen return from the 2021 team, which finished 13-1. And the Blue Devils will have a new quarterback — 6-foot-4, 195-pound senior Wesley Thompson — who transferred after throwing for nearly 2,000 yards and 16 touchdowns at Ashe County last season.
“I think we’re going to have a really good team,” said Maiden booster club president Charlie Abernathy. He’s been in the booster club since it started in 1962. “I mean, Caleb (Farley) is one of the best to come through here, and you would take a guy (Culliver) who can do what Caleb can do.”
For years, Maiden has called itself “The Best Little Football Town In The World,” and on Friday nights, it’s not unusual for the football stadium to have more fans in it than the 3,500 or so people who live in town.
Abernathy said when the Blue Devils are good, and they almost always are, Maiden shuts down on home football Fridays.
“I worked in Hickory for years (for a grocery distributor) and sometimes they would have a ‘Moonlight Madness’ sale at their stores on Fridays,” Abernathy said. “Most of the stores would do very well in the area, but they had a store in Maiden that didn’t do very good. At the meeting the next week, somebody stood up and said, ‘I wonder why?’ I said, ‘Well, you had it on a Friday night, and we had a home football game, and there’s (then) 2,500 people in Maiden and 2,000 are at the ballgame. You tell me who’s going shopping?”
This season, the Blue Devils should give their fans a treat, Abernathy thinks, chasing a 27th straight playoff appearance with what could be one of the school’s better teams in recent years.
And it means something special to everyone in town, including the head coach, whose father, Fred, was once a defensive coordinator at Maiden. Will Byrne was a ball boy who later set receiving records and played in the Shrine Bowl.
“This has been a part of my life since I was born,” Byrne said. “I was in the gym and my dad was coaching and I was in diapers. I’ve got assistant coaches, just like I was, that played here and they talk about it all the time. It’s neat and an honor to be the head coach here.”
Culliver said it’s also an honor to play at Maiden.
“There’s nothing like it,” he said. “Coming out of that smoke on Friday nights (during introductions) and knowing you’ve got a bunch of fans on your side. It’s just crazy. Bandys didn’t really have that. It was all politics down there. WIth Maiden, the best players play on the field and that’s how it should be. I mean, the fans are good at Bandys but there’s nothing like Maiden fans. They’re into it. Basically most of them I know and they come down to the field after the game.
“It just feels good to know that other people like to see me play on Friday nights and talk after the game. That makes me want to give my all.”
Inside: Maiden High Blue Devils
Head Coach: Will Byrne (7th year).
2021 Record: 13-1
Returning Starters: 16 (8 offense; 8 defense).
Returning Lettermen: 25
Key Returnees: Chris Culliver, Sr., WR/DB (6-2, 185); Alec Hall, Sr., WR/OLB (6-2, 200); Ben Gibbs, Sr., RB/DB (5-9, 175); Jackson Hensley, Sr., OL/DE (6-4, 220); D.J. Spring, Sr., OL/DL (6-0, 255); Jacob Sigmon, Sr., WR/OLB (5-9, 185); Quinn Rembert, Sr., OL/DL/LB (6-1, 230); Carson Foard, Sr., K/ATH (5-7, 145); Caron McDaniel, Sr., DB/WR (5-9, 165); Caden Brantley, Sr., DB (5-11, 165); Bryson Foard, Sr., WR/DB (5-8, 155).
Fresh Faces: Wesley Thompson, Sr., QB (6-4, 195) (Ashe County transfer); Josh Stover, So., WR/DB/QB (6-0, 165); Will Stover, Jr., WR/DB (5-11, 160).
This story was originally published August 12, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
