Central Cabarrus’ Damonte James is The Observer’s football athlete of the week

When Central Cabarrus visited Southeast Guilford on Nov. 7 in the first round of the N.C. 6A playoffs, Vikings running back Damonte James had a performance for the ages to earn High School Player of the Week honors for The Charlotte Observer.

The 6-foot, 180-pound senior running back and defensive back rushed 20 times for 244 yards with two touchdowns, caught one pass for 52 yards and also had an 80-yard touchdown interception return negated by penalty.

James’ efforts gave Central Cabarrus a 38-10 win, the school’s first in postseason play since 2013 and only the sixth in its 60-year history.

“It feels good to accomplish that,” James said. “I was super excited. And not just for the team but for our coach who was coming back home.”

That coach, Donnie Kiefer, is a 1975 Central Cabarrus High graduate who returned as head coach for the Vikings this season, following a five-year tenure there from 2012 to 2016. Kiefer, who now has 285 career head coaching wins at 11 high schools in his 40-year career, has been a part of three of his alma mater’s six opening round playoff victories. He played in the Vikings’ first-ever playoff appearance (and win) in 1973 and has coached the team to its last two playoff victories.

“Before I came here, I knew he was a great running back but the more I watched film of him, I was impressed with how well he played on the defensive side,” Kiefer said of James. “I think he can play on either side of the ball in college.”

Damonte James has been a leader for Cabarrus Central

James has been a leader for a young Central Cabarrus team that started as many as eight sophomores and finished with a 5-7 record following last Friday’s 40-8 second round playoff loss at Freedom.

“It was a good season overall,” said Kiefer, who has guided the Vikings to a 41-31 record in his six years as head coach. “Damonte obviously played a big role in that. We were hoping we would show a little better than we did in the Freedom. But they were a really good team - and my hat’s off to them.”

For James, college football beckons as soon as next summer.

So far, area NCAA Division II schools Wingate and Lenoir-Rhyne have shown the most interest but Kiefer thinks James will soon be receiving offers from NCAA Division I FCS schools.

“He’ll definitely be playing somewhere,” Kiefer said of James. “He’s an explosive player. And he’s a tough runner too. Most people think of him as a speed guy, but most of his runs are inside the tackles.

“He’s the kind of runner that is going to break one or two tackles. And once he breaks those tackles, nobody’s going to catch him because he’s a 4.38 (second 40-yard dash) guy.”