First impressions, top performers from 2024 Cumberland County Football Jamboree

High school football is back.

The 2024 Cumberland County Football Jamboree on Friday saw all 10 of Fayetteville's NCHSAA teams battle nonconference opponents in hour-long scrimmage games, with half playing at Pine Forest and the others at Gray's Creek.

We checked in on the action on Andrews Road, where E.E. Smith, Westover, Pine Forest, Seventy-First, and Jack Britt gave fans a glimpse of what's to come this season.

Here's what we learned about each team performing at Pine Forest and top performers from the last scrimmages heading into Week 1 of the regular season, which starts next Friday.

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E.E. Smith

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The Tevell Williams era has officially begun with the jamboree in the books, and the defense stole the show.

Opening up the 10-play session on defense, E.E. Smith forced back-to-back fumbles that were both recovered by senior defensive tackle Zyron Gerald, including one scoop-and-score in the beginning stages of the scrimmage, and the Golden Bulls’ only touchdown of the afternoon.

Coming into the season, Williams wasn't sure about the quarterback situation — until 6-foot freshman Quinton Nelson showed up at practice and was placed behind center. And versus Goldsboro, he showed that the potential is there.

Nelson stood tall in the pocket all afternoon, and did a nice job of seeking out his receivers despite connecting on few passes. But the reads for the young quarterback are there.

"The sky is the limit for him. He started off kind of raw this summer, but he's been progressing and I'm impressed by him," Williams said.

The Golden Bulls receiving corps is young, including freshman Nick Smith and junior track star David Hickmond, but speed and athleticism will most likely carry them throughout the season.

Westover

FINDING CONSISTENCY AMONG YOUTH: Youthful Westover football team centering on 'being consistent' in 2024 season

The Wolverines’ approach in the jamboree was to try to be as "vanilla" as possible and not give away too many of their looks.

An already youthful team is down two quarterbacks on the depth chart and placed Tramell Hankins behind center, who is normally at the wideout spot as the Wolverines’ top target. "He's our guy right now, and his play wasn't bad,” coach Ernest King said.

King harps on consistency, and that was Westover's biggest contribution to their game against St. Pauls.

Ethan O'Neil-Hubbard was the most consistent for the Wolverines on the offensive end, using his strong, dynamic running attack to break open holes at the line of srimmage or bouncing the run to the edge was a plus for the offense.

"I'm expecting him to have a big year this year. He's our guy, because he's electric," King said. "He's a hard runner, that's physical on both sides of the ball, and he's going to get us a lot of touchdowns this year."

Although the Wolverines didn't touch the end zone in the 60-minute scrimmage, King sees tremendous upside in the physicality and conditioning of the team, especially on the defensive side with the leadership and spark in the middle linebacker position of Jaylin Jessup. Jessup was all over the place, and showed why he's the anchor of the Westover defense in his junior year, along with fellow newcoming junior Mekijah Latiker.

Latiker, the 6-6, 250-pounder, was a force in the middle all-game, picking up a sack and being extremely disruptive in the trenches.

"He's (Latiker) a great one for me," King said. "He hasn't reach his full potential, but he's getting better each week. Once he gets it all together, he's going to be special."

Seventy-First

REIGNING 3A EAST CHAMPS: NCHSAA 3A East champion Seventy-First football 'not taking things for granted'

Seventy-First was its usual dominant self versus Apex-Friendship.

As last year's 3A East champions, while keeping things "plain" in the playbook, the Falcons went on a tear of breakaway scores from two of the Falcons’ three-headed monster, Donavan Frederick and Jayson Franklin.

Frederick got things going with a 35-yard blast up the middle that was one of his three touchdowns on the night. That was followed by Franklin, who ran the ball strong and took advantage of the substantial blocking from the Falcons' veteran offensive line.

But Seventy-First's expected X-factor for the season, Shon Pone, did an excellent job of making his mark all across the field for the Falcons, being a reliable target for DeAndre Nance as a speedy threat, and being an extra guy to gain reps in the backfield.

"He's going to be our guy. He can easily rush for 700 yards, receive for 500 yards, and catch punts and kick returns, and that's big for us. He's going to be all over the place this season,” coach Duran McLaurin said.

Although this was Seventy-First's first and only scrimmage of the 2024 preseason, the Falcons are already picking up where they left off from last season — in playoff form.

Pine Forest

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The host team came out and showed a consistent run game against Jack Britt, but failed in the passing department, with a plethora of drops from their targets. And for coach Bill Sochovka, that was one of the main concerns, along with the secondary.

"I feel like our quarterbacks threw really good balls, but we dropped about 10 passes in the open field, and we can't have that" Sochovka said. "We're going to be run-heavy, but not making those plays can't make us a one-dimensional team."

Jack Britt

ELITE EXECUTION: Jack Britt, Brian Randolph pushing for 'elite execution' in 2024 football season

Although they have the toughest Cumberland County schedule this season, the Buccaneers have a lot to be excited about heading into the first week of play next week.

Jack Britt had a rough start due to mental mistakes, but was able to get it together over the next two offensive possessions.

The Bucs found their guy at quarterback in Gavin Stokes, and he managed the game in orderly fashion with crisp, precise passes and making plays for the Buccaneers offense. And the Stokes-Javonte Brooks connection will be one to witness this season. The two connected on two short passes that turned into 40-plus yard breakaway receptions with one resulting in a touchdown.

The Buccaneer defense was stout all game. They were flying around in the secondary, and controlled the flats where Pine Forest tried to complete many of their passes. But for coach Brian Randolph, dominating in the trenches with the defensive linemen he calls his "big behinds" is where it all begins.

However, while it’s a good team so far, being good isn't good enough for Randolph and company. "We have too great of competition this year to be just good, it's important that we eliminate the stuff before snap like false starts, bad snaps, and lining up wrong. We have to be elite," Randolph said.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: First impressions, top performers from 2024 Cumberland County Football Jamboree