Joshua Dobson, the nation’s No. 12 ranked prep football player, moving to Hough

Just a few weeks after winning the first state football championship in school history, Hough High School just improved its chances for a repeat.

Catawba Ridge’s Joshua Dobson, the nation’s No. 12 recruit overall recruit in the class of 2027, announced on social media that he is leaving the S.C. school to transfer to Hough.

247 Sports ranks Dobson as the top recruit in South Carolina in the class of 2027 and the No. 2 cornerback prospect nationally.

Dobson, a 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, is a 5-star recruit who played in the Under Armour All-America game in Florida.

He has offers from schools Division I schools, including Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Notre Dame and Tennessee and in-state programs like Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State.

Last season, Dobson played on a Catawba Ridge team that finished 6-6 and reached the S.C. playoffs.

At Hough, he could step into the role vacated by N.C. Mr. Football Samari Matthews, a cornerback who signed with Texas last month.

This story was originally published January 12, 2026 at 12:51 PM.