Demons hope to keep rolling in year 1 under Lewis

Rocky Lewis knew he was coming into a good situation when he agreed to become the 14th varsity football head coach in Ralph L. Fike High School’s long, illustrious history earlier this year.

The former South Brunswick head coach couldn’t wait to get going after assessing some of the players returning from the Golden Demons 2023 edition that finished 9-4, beat archrival Hunt for the seventh straight year, tied the Warriors for the 3-A Quad County Conference championship, won the Wilson County Schools championship again and reached the third round of the NCHSAA 3-A playoffs for the first time in 21 years.

Lewis realizes that the good situation comes with a target as the team to beat in the Quad County because his future players earned that respect last year.

“When you have the season that Fike had last year, and then you’re returning a lot of those juniors — seniors now — you rightfully so have a bull’s-eye on you, and so, we’re not going to be bashful about it,” he said. “That is our goal to win the conference, and it’s our goal to win the county. It’s our goal to advance very far in the playoffs. And so, any expectations others can put on us, we’ve already put on ourselves. So we look forward to that challenge, and we’ll just see how things play out.”

PITTMAN LEADS OFFENSE

Lewis is certainly an offensive guy, having played quarterback on his father, Bob Lewis’ first NCHSAA championship team at Clinton High a decade or three ago. Rocky Lewis is excited about his QB now, Demons junior Cam Pittman, who threw for 962 yards and 11 touchdowns while running for 356 yards and four more TDs last season.

“We’re just excited of what he can do for us offensively,” Lewis said. “He’s a well-rounded quarterback from being able to run and throw.”

Pittman will have no shortage of targets in Lewis’ spread, which the new Fike coach said probably will put the ball in the air more often than the spread attack favored by his predecessor at Fike, Tom Nelson. Senior Josiah Artis, who ran for 610 yards and caught 12 passes for 158 yards in 2023, will be one of the wide-outs along with junior Jaylen Ardion, junior Connor Spencer and promising freshman Braylen Loftin. Seniors Jeremiah Peart and Jamari Hill along with sophomore Jaiden Jones will alternate as the lone back behind Pittman.

Artis, who has been slowed by an injury, is a dynamic 5-foot-11, 195-pound speedster.

“We want him to touch it 10 to 12 times a game, at least, from the wide receiver position,” Lewis said. “So whether that’s put him in motion and get him the ball, whether it’s throw it to him, whatever the case may be, but we’ve got to get the ball with his hands.”

Loftin has immense potential at 6-2, 170 pounds while Spencer is a versatile performer at 6-1, 210 pounds. He and Pittman split time under center early last season until an injury sidelined Spencer. Now he’s back as wide receiver/tight end/H-back on offense as well as punter and, of course, the back-up QB now if needed.

“Yeah, good quality back up there,” Lewis said of Spencer. “He got a lot of game reps at quarterback last year, but he’ll get more time at tight end and H-back than he will anywhere else. He’ll play a little bit of outside linebacker. He’ll punt for us on the punt team, but he’s a big body that can run and can catch and so, he brings brings a lot to the table.”

Peart was limited in his carries last season but was impressive on his touches during the Fike Jamboree against D.H. Conley last Friday night. Hill rushed for 370 yards but will spend a fair amount of time on defense while Jones is a viable threat as well.

“I was pleased with how we moved the ball,” Lewis said of the Jamboree performance. “I felt we could have run it a lot more if we wanted to, but I wanted to work on some some aspects of the passing game. But for the first, I guess you call it dress rehearsal before we go live, I was pretty pleased with how the offense moved the ball.”

That success can be atttributed to the offensive line that is anchored by senior tackles Nick Rodgers and Eric Downing. Senior Christian Alabaster is situated at right guard while Riley Boswell, Christian Faison-Best and Braylin Boykin are vying for time at left guard, Boswell and senior Garrett Bunn are mixing it up at center.

Junior soccer standout Micah Foula is ready to handle the kickoffs and place-kicks.

EXPERIENCE UP FRONT ON D

The Demons bring the majority of their experience on the defensive side up front with Downing and Rodgers a formidable duo of down linemen in between senior ends Kadafi Hill and Jahre Richardson. Hill’s twin brother, Jamari, is Fike’s top returning tackler with 120 stops at his outside linebacker spot. Richardson can also slide to outside backer while seniors Kam Barbee (115 tackles) and Zachary Ellis man the inside backer spots.

The secondary, however, is a concern now because of overall lack of experience. Juniors Ti’Quise Williams and Will O’Neal are battling for one cornerback spot while Artis will get the nod at the other corner, at least for the early going. Loftin will play safety while Jamari Hill can also drop back in nickel coverage.

“Well, I feel really good about the front seven — the D-line and the linebackers — and they will have to help the defensive secondary with pressure on the quarterback while those guys are learning and coming along and getting better each each practice,” Lewis said. “And so, we’re investing in the veteran part, the more experienced part of our defense. We’re going to depend on them, and the secondary? They’ll get better each week. We have confidence in that.”

TOUGH START TO SEASON

While the Demons may be the unofficial coaches’ favorite to win the 3-A Quad County this year, the toughest portion of their schedule may be before conference play starts. Fike kicks off the season with the first installment of the county championship series Friday at Beddingfield and then plays 3-A heavyweights Northern Nash and Southern Nash before taking a week off heading into Quad County play in September. While the surest path to the NCHSAA playoffs remains winning a conference championship, Lewis said that it’s critical for the Demons to play well during this early rugged stretch, especially in the opener Friday at Beddingfield against talented Bruins sophomore quarterback Sam Finch.

This will be Fike’s first game at Beddingfield since the spring 2021 COVID season.

“If you break the season down into quarters, that first quarter of the season for us is really tough, and so can you come away with two wins?” Lewis mused. “Can you come away somehow with three wins? If you do that, then I think you’re talking about a magical season. But that’s what we’ve got to deal with and what we’re excited about. And it all starts with Beddingfield.”

2024 Schedule

DATE OPPONENT

Aug. 23 Beddingfield^

Aug. 29 Northern Nash

Sept. 6 @ Southern Nash

Sept. 13 OPEN

Sept. 20 West Johnston*

Sept. 27 South Johnston*

Oct. 4 @ Smithfield-Selma*

Oct. 11 C.B. Aycock*

Oct. 18 @ East Wake*

Oct. 25 Southern Wayne*

Nov. 1 @ Hunt^*

^ Wilson County Schools Championship game

* 3-A Quad County Conference game

2024 ROSTER

No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl.

0 William Monk WR/DB 6-4 175 Sr.

1 Josiah Artis WR/DB 5-11 195 Sr.

2 Zy’Quan Hines RB/WR/CB 5-7 150 Jr.

3 Jerimiah Peart RB/LB 5-7 175 Sr.

4 Stedman Hutcherson LB/TE 5-10 180

5 Cameron Pittman QB 5-10 200 Jr.

6 Jaylen Ardion FS/WR 5-10 145 Jr.

7 Xzavion Barnes WR/CB 5-11 160 Sr.

8 Ti’Quise Williams WR/CB 5-7 140 Jr.

9 Connor Spencer TE/LB/QB 6-1 210 Jr.

10 Jahkir Jenkins DB/WR 5-10 160 Jr.

11 Tashawn Thorne DL/TE 6-2 200 Jr.

12 Nysear Battle DB/WR 5-9 150 Sr.

14 Jamir Loftin DB/WR 5-10 170 Jr.

15 Kameron Barbee ILB/TE 6-2 230 Sr.

16 Braylen Loftin WR/DB 6-3 180 Fr.

17 Jahre Richardson LB/RB 5-11 185 Sr.

18 Jordan Joyner WR/CB 5-10 145 Jr.

21 Jeremy Guion Jr. FS/WR 5-6 140 So.

22 Will O’Neal DB/WR 5-8 165 Jr.

23 Zack Turner DL/TE 5-9 180 Sr.

24 Jamari Hill OLB/RB 5-10 180 Sr.

33 Zachary Elis ILB/TE 5-11 220 Sr.

34 Jaiden Jones RB/DB 5-7 155 So.

51 Clark Mangum OL/DT 5-9 180 Sr.

52 Braylon Boykin OL/DL 5-10 240 Jr.

53 Riley Boswell OL/DL 6-3 265 Jr.

54 Eric Downing OL/DL 6-2 250 Sr.

55 Nicholas Rodgers OL/DL 6-2 275 Sr.

56 NiKayle Clemmons OL/DL 5-8 215 Sr.

58 Kadafi Hill DL/OL 5-10 230 Sr.

65 Garrett Bunn OL/LS 6-3 230 Sr.

68 Christian Alabaster OL/DL 5-10 275 Sr.

71 Xayvion Joyner OL/DL 6-2 315 Sr.

72 Trevon Edwards DL/OL 5-11 320 Sr.

74 Christian Best OL/DL 6-2 270 Sr.

82 Micah Foula K/P 5-10 160 Jr.

88 Cayden Thorne DL/TE 6-1 175 Sr.

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