Record-setting night makes East Lincoln’s Cameron Dollar a social-media sensation

East Lincoln’s Cameron Dollar has had quite a week.

The Observer first reported that his seven touchdown catches in one half against Christ The King was a national record. The story was picked up by national media during the week and Dollar became a social-media celebrity. His phone constantly rang.

“At school, most everybody knew I had a good game,” Dollar said. “Every now and then I’d walk by somebody and they’re like, ‘Dude, were you really on ESPN?’”

Last week, when East Lincoln beat Huntersville’s Christ The King 69-0, Dollar caught all nine passes that quarterback Marcus Graham completed. They were all in the first half. Dollar’s 299 yards receiving ranks fifth in N.C. history. His seven touchdowns broke a 16-year-old N.C. record set by former Independence High star Mario Raley.

Nationally, seven touchdowns in a game ranks No. 2. But seven touchdowns in a half is a record.

Dollar, who has committed to play for the the Charlotte 49ers, caught 57 passes for 1,063 yards and 16 touchdowns last season as one of the main targets for high school All-America quarterback Chazz Surratt, now a freshman at North Carolina.

But last week’s game put him on a different level. And Thursday night, he did a live interview on ESPN News via Skype.

“It’s definitely a blessing,” said Dollar, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound senior. “I’ve been trying to stay humble through it all, but it’s nice. We’ve still got a whole season ahead of us, but setting a record is definitely a good thing. It was definitely a phone-ringing-off-the-hook moment.”

Dollar and East Lincoln (2-0) play at North Lincoln (0-2) Friday.

▪ Some Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools coaches don’t think it’s fair that most games scheduled for Friday will move to Monday if Hurricane Hermine rains them out, because CMS is allowing two games to potentially be played Saturday. CMS athletics director Sue Doran said Danville (Va) at Vance and Byrnes (S.C.) at Mallard Creek could be played Saturday because of the long distances the visiting schools must cover.

A number of CMS schools were ready to play Thursday, coaches and athletics directors told the Observer, and could probably be ready to play Saturday.

And CMS should let them. There’s no need for kids to play Monday and Friday of the same week if it can be avoided.

▪ West Rowan lost 41-0 to Davie County last week. The Falcons had not been shut out since 2002, a streak that covered 186 consecutive games.

▪ MaxPreps has compiled a list of the nation’s top 50 winningest active football coaches. Several Carolinas coaches made the list: No. 23 Tom Knotts, Dutch Fork SC (375-63, 32 years); No. 26 David Gentry, Murphy (346-183-3, 45 years); No. 27 Dave Gutshall, Dorman SC (363-128, 38 years); No. 28 Tom Brown, East Burke (362-133-7, 41 years).

This story was originally published September 1, 2016 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Record-setting night makes East Lincoln’s Cameron Dollar a social-media sensation."