Welcome to the USA Today Network’s recruiting ladder, a statewide feature by reporter Joe Hughes highlighting top prospects and outstanding performances throughout the 2026 North Carolina high school football season.
Anyone is eligible for consideration, whether it be an unranked player who had a career game, a recruit with mid-level offers, or four- and five-star talents adding to their personal highlight reel.
Do you have a player to recommend? Feel free to submit their name, position and graduation class, as well as other relevant information (statistics, scholarship offers) to jhughes@gastongazette.com or X (@JoeLHughesII)
Here's our latest updates following week 9 action.
DON'T SLEEP ON BIG RED: Second-half surge pushes South Point football past Kings Mountain
STATEMENT MADE: Ashley football recaptures consistency in dominant win over New Hanover
STIFLING: Cape Fear football sustains intensity to finish off Gray’s Creek
Armahd Barber
Walkertown | Sr., DE
Barber continues to turn heads in his senior season.
The 6-foot-2, 180-pound edge rusher had three sacks in a 59-0 win over McMichael. It was the third straight game in which he had three sacks, bringing his season total to 12. He also has an interception and a forced fumble.
Walkertown is 7-1 overall, 4-0 in Mid-State 3A/4A/5A competition.
Bryson Gray
Millbrook | Sr., QB
Gray has been the model of efficiency this season for Millbrook, completing 11 of 15 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown in a 49-0 victory over Enloe.
With the win, Millbrook moved to 7-0-1 (4-0-1 CAP 8A) ahead of a Week 9 matchup with Wakefield.
Through eight games, he is completing 59% of his passes for 1,584 yards and 18 touchdowns. Such comes on the heels of a 2025 campaign in which he threw for 2,518 yards and 24 TDs, helping the Raleigh-based school to an appearance in the NCHSAA 8A state final.
In late July, Gray committed to Mercer University.
Karvin Magwood
New Bern | Sr., RB
Magwood is turning in quite the senior season, and the New Bern High standout added to his 2026 highlight reel in an Oct. 16 win over D.H. Conley.
The 5-foot-10, 185-pound back rushed for 277 yards and four touchdowns on 32 carries, helping the Bears to a hard-fought 42-35 win. It is the latest in a season full of impressive performances, including a 329-yard, eight-TD outing Sept. 25 against Hertford County. Through eight games, he has 1,591 yards and 24 TDs
A four-year letter winner, Magwood has rushed for 4,167 yards and 55 TDs. He holds offers from Chowan, Concord University (West Virginia), Elizabeth City State, Fayetteville State, Hampden-Sydney (Virginia), Lawrence University (Wisconsin), Midland University (Nebraska), Minot State (North Dakota) and UNC Pembroke.
Cristian Simmons
South View (Hope Mills) | Sr., RB
Simmons surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for a second year in a row, such as part of a big night in which he rushed for 194 yards and three touchdowns in a 56-0 win over Douglas Byrd.
It was the seventh time in eight games this fall in which he rushed for 100 yards or more. Westover is the only defense to hold him under the century-mark, limiting the 6-foot, 195-pound back to 75 yards on 15 carries.
Averaging nearly eight yards per carry, Simmons is up to 1,173 rushing yards this fall to go with nine TDs. Over the course of four years at the varsity level, he has 2,850 career yards and 30 TDs.
Connor Smith
Middle Creek | Jr., Edge
Cardinal Gibbons had no answer for Smith in their Oct. 16 matchup, with the Middle Creek edge rusher finishing with 14 tackles (four for a loss), two sacks, three quarterback hurries and a blocked kick in his team’s 27-21 win.
Following a 2025 campaign in which he had 114 tackles (31 for a loss), five sacks and a forced fumble, Smith has 66 tackles (20 for a loss) and 10 sacks this fall. He also has two forced fumbles and the aforementioned blocked kick.
After playing for the NCHSAA 6A title a season ago, Middle Creek is 6-2 overall, 3-0 in Triangle Six 6A/7A.
Ryan Strickland
Topsail | Sr., LB
Strickland led Topsail with 10 tackles, in addition to a sack in a 28-0 win over West Brunswick.
It was the eighth time the 5-foot-11, 205-pound linebacker was credited with double-digit tackles in nine games this fall. He has 114 tackles (four for a loss), four sacks and an interception.
Over the course of his career, he has 193 tackles (five for a loss), 4 1/2 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble.
Sincere Thompson
Southern Alamance | Jr., RB
The 6-foot, 190-pound back rushed for 356 yards and six touchdowns on 22 carries in a 65-24 win over Person.
He has reached the century mark in seven of his eight games, the only exception a 94-yard, 3-TD outing Week 1 against Eastern Randolph. Friday’s showing isn’t Thompson’s highest rushing output of the season, however, needing only 13 carries in a Sept. 4 win over Southeast Guilford to collect 414 yards and five TDs.
A three-year letter winner, he’s surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in two of his three varsity campaigns. He has 3,017 career rushing yards and 35 TDs.
Southern Alamance is 6-2 overall, 2-2 in Mid-Carolina 4A/5A/6A.
Tay Williams
Asheville | Sr., QB
Williams is playing his best football as the season drifts into its most important stretch.
Asheville High’s 6-foot, 190-pound quarterback completed 9 of 13 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns, along with 58 rushing yards and two TDs in a 56-23 win over Erwin.
It was the sixth time in eight games that Williams completed 60% of his passes or better. He is hitting on 64% of his passes for 1,416 yards and 18 TDs this fall, along with 275 rushing yards and six TDs.
In 20 games as Asheville starter, he has 3,142 passing yards and 36 TDs, in addition to 131 rush yards and 15 TDs.
Asheville is 7-1 overall, 3-0 in Mountain 5A/6A heading into the season’s final two weeks.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: What NC high school football standouts' stock rose most in Week 9?