NCHSAA 3A East champion Seventy-First football 'not taking things for granted'

With August on the cusp, high school football is coming into focus.

Summer workouts are in full swing prior to the first day of official practice on July 31, and The Fayetteville Observer is checking in with each of Cumberland County’s 10 public schools to see how their football teams are coming together ahead of the season.

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The Cumberland County Football Jamboree is scheduled for Aug. 16 at Gray's Creek and Pine Forest with the regular season set to kick off on Aug. 23.

Seventy-First had a historic season on all fronts finishing the year 15-1, United 8 conference champions, and 3A East Region champions before falling in the state title game to Hickory 33-26 in a slugfest that came down to the final moments.

After carrying pride into the offseason and with a full reset on their mentality, here is how Seventy-First is gearing for another successful season with hopes for a push to another NCHSAA title championship run.

Offseason Theme

Situational football is an intricate detail for the Falcons this season after blasting through the 3A East just a season ago.

"I'm a stickler for everything, all the details," coach Duran McLaurin said.

"When you're winning games, you'll realize that sometimes you'll be better than some teams, and sometimes the team you're playing will just make mistakes — but if we play a certain way, and our kids are doing the things that they are coached to do, then it doesn't matter who's on the field with us," he said.

And for McLaurin and the Falcons, they understand that the game is more than just run and jump — it's a cognitive approach that starts with being great.

"A lot of people don't realize that there's a cognitive approach to the game that you have to have in order to be successful," McLaurin said. "Being talented is cool, but there are a lot of kids out of position and it hurts their team. We're getting our guys to understand that all 11 guys have a job to do, and they have to do it so we can be successful."

Summer Standouts

The core for the Falcons are back for another season, and the "three-headed monster" for Seventy-First consisting of Donovan Frederick, DeAndre Nance, and Jayson Franklin are all standing out as expected during the summer.

"Our leaders will be leaders," McLaurin said. "We expect DeAndre and Donovan to be leaders on both sides of the ball, but I can't praise our offensive line enough for the strides they've made this summer for us to be successful."

Zymeir Mcphaul and Ziare Ealy are two forces that will lead the offensive line for the Falcons this year entering their senior season.

"But more than anything, we only lost one guy up front so I'm excited to see how our offensive line puts out for us. Those guys (Mcphaul and Ealy) are outstanding — they can play anywhere across the front.

“We're very veteran up front," McLaurin said. "Tackle Zaevon Hutchinson is returning for us, and Nathan Lasane is new for us, but he's extremely smart, along with Ryland Graybill who started 16 games for us last season. Hopefully having these guys can help us control the ball, and the game."

"Our secondary are also making strides. We really feel like that will be one of our major points of improvement in that area from guys like Anthony Bethea and Kalen Lucas, that would be big for us."

Sophomore nose-tackle John Archer, and the return of defensive tackle Hector Bautista will be huge contributions for the reigning 3A champs down in the trenches on the defensive line.

"Once John (Archer) realizes his full potential, no one man would be able to block this young man, he will likely take that next level this season — he's a force over the ball."

On the offensive side, the Falcons lost Isaiah Kirby, and Amire Drummond, but senior Jy'taivius Whitted and sophomore Shon Pone have been prepping to take the reins as the top receiving threats for Seventy-First.

Goals before August

Seventy-First's goals are pretty simple before heading into the season, but it can be easier said than done.

McLaurin continuously harped to his players that last season was last season, and that the Falcons as a team aren't "looking down the road" when it comes to the 2024 season.

While they have a goal of getting back to the 3A state championship, the focus is Week 1 — Richmond Senior.

"We just don't want to take anything for granted, and everything is earned," McLaurin said. "Making it back to the title game isn't just something we expect to happen for us — I could care less about what's going on down the road. The most important thing is going into game one healthy, and playing Falcon football."

"We're focused on what's in front of us, and that's all we need to think about."

Seventy-First will begin its season at the Cumberland County jamboree at Pine Forest High School versus Apex Friendship at 8 p.m. Their regular season will begin hosting Richmond Senior on Aug. 23 with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff time.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NCHSAA 3A East champion Seventy-First football 'not taking things for granted'