Young Mallard Creek team part of early Sweet 16 football poll
Mallard Creek football coach Kennedy Tinsley said his team returns five starters this season. So you might be wondering why the Mavericks are ranked No. 4 in The Observer’s annual “way too early” Sweet 16 high school football poll.
“It’s because of the young talent that we have,” said Tinsley, who will start his fifth season at the school this fall. “We’ve got an extremely, extremely good young group.”
And we agree. Some of that young Mavericks core played on junior varsity last season and only lost to Weddington early in the season.
“And after that,” Tinsley said, “they dominated the rest of the conference.”
So after you mix in the young guys with the five returning starters — linebackers Deuce Midgett and Askia Mustafa, QB Perry Justice, lineman Anthony Cook and receiver Khalil Price — and Tinsley thinks he’s got a team that can potentially make a deep playoff run.
Providence Day, the state and national power, is No. 1 in the early poll, followed by Hough and West Charlotte, the reigning N.C. 3A state champion.
The poll was compiled by The Observer’s high school staff along with longtime N.C. high school football experts Jay Edwards and Chris Hughes. It includes the top teams in the media company’s coverage area, which includes schools in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln and Union counties.
Many area teams, including Mallard Creek, begin spring workouts Monday.
Tinsley said they’ll be especially important for his team, considering its youth and inexperience at the varsity level.
“The size and talent of this group is what’s exciting,” Tinsley said. “I think it’ll be challenging (to coach them), but I think we know it’ll be rewarding,too. It will be a matter of how well we jell and how we put it together when it’s challenging. That’s something I’ll talk about on Monday. I’ll say, ‘We can make it challenging now, or the season will make it (a) challenge.’ But it could be both.”
Way too early Sweet 16 football poll
| Rk. | School | 2024 record |
| 1. | Providence Day | 9-3 |
| 2. | Hough | 12-2 |
| 3. | West Charlotte | 13-2 |
| 4. | Mallard Creek | 10-3 |
| 5. | Weddington | 13-1 |
| 6. | Charlotte Christian | 7-4 |
| 7. | Monroe | 15-0 |
| 8. | Independence | 10-2 |
| 9. | Mooresville | 11-2 |
| 10. | Myers Park | 4-6 |
| 11. | Lake Norman | 7-4 |
| 12. | JM Robinson | 12-1 |
| 13. | Charlotte Catholic | 9-3 |
| 14. | South Point | 9-2 |
| 15. | Palisades | 8-4 |
| 16. | East Lincoln | 7-4 |
