The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1177236
116 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER H ere's a look at how the 16 members of NC State's 2020 class are doing in their senior seasons thus far: OFFENSIVE LINEMAN JONATHAN ADORNO Rolesville (N.C.) High Adorno and his team are making his- tory this season. After a 49-19 victory at Raleigh Wakefield High Oct. 11, the Rams improved to 6-0 and had won five of those con- tests by at least 20 points. Rolesville, one of the newer high schools in Wake County, had its first varsity season in 2014. In its first five years, the most wins it had were six, and it never posted a winning record. Adorno is helping lead the way. The 6-4, 300-pounder became the first Rolesville player to ever be picked for the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas All-Star Game, which will be played Dec. 21 in Spartanburg, S.C. Rivals.com rates Adorno as a three-star recruit, the No. 18 prospect in the state of North Carolina and the No. 74 offensive tackle nationally. LINEBACKER DEVON BETTY Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas High Betty plays on one of the best squads in the country, and his opportunity to pile up stats is more lim- ited than most players. He had 16 tackles (11 solo) in St. Thomas Aquinas' first six games, all wins for the team ranked No. 2 nation- ally by USA Today. The 6-1, 215-pound Betty is rated by Ri- vals.com as a three-star recruit, the No. 65 prospect in the state of Florida and the No. 17 weakside defensive end nationally, though the Wolfpack recruited him to play linebacker. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN AUSTIN BLASKE Bloomingdale (Ga.) South Effingham High B l a s ke p i l e d u p 6 1 knockdown blocks for South Effingham High in seven games, helping his team go 6-1. One of those wins was a victory over New Hampstead High in Savannah, Ga., which is coached by Kyle Hockman, father of NC State redshirt soph- omore quarterback Bailey Hockman. The 6-5, 270-pound Blaske is rated by Rivals.com as a three-star recruit and the No. 82 prospect in the state of Georgia. DEFENSIVE BACK DEVAN BOYKIN Greensboro (N.C.) Ragsdale High Last year, the 5-11, 175-pounder played a lot of option quarterback for Ragsdale, but with the arrival of new signal-caller Ashton Hooker — the younger brother of Virginia Tech starting quarterback Hendon Hooker — Boykin has shifted to a receiver role on offense. In the first seven games of the season, he caught 27 passes for 341 yards and seven touchdowns. Boykin, though, was recruited to play defense for the Pack. He had 18.5 tackles, four stops for loss, three interceptions, one forced fumble and one pass broken up on that side of the ball. He has also returned six punts for an average of 20.0 yards. The senior is rated as a three-star pros- pect and the No. 33 player in North Caro- lina by Rivals.com, and he was also se- lected to the Shrine Bowl. QUARTERBACK BEN FINLEY Phoenix Paradise Valley High Finley jumped out to a banner start for Paradise Valley, helping them begin the year 5-0. The 6-2, 195-pounder completed 73 of 97 passes (75.3 percent) for 1,398 yards with 17 touchdowns and one inter- ception, and added a rush- ing score in that span. Since then, Paradise Valley has dropped two straight, and the quarterback's night was cut short in a one of them with an injury. Through seven games, the younger brother of former NC State starter Ryan Finley was 94-of-139 passing (67.6 percent) for 1,775 yards with 20 scores and three picks and one rushing TD. He is listed by Rivals.com as a three-star prospect, the No. 13 senior in Ari- zona and the No. 26 pro-style QB nationally. WIDE RECEIVER STEPHEN GOSNELL Pilot Mountain (N.C.) East Surry High While helping East Surry to a 7-0 re- cord, Gosnell had eclipsed 100 receiv- ing yards in five contests and 200 yards twice. Overall, the 6-2, 195-pounder had 35 receptions for 882 yards (25.2 yards per catch) and 13 touchdowns. He has also rushed for 135 yards, in- cluding 101 yards and two scores at Reidsville (N.C.) High. The versatile pros- pect has posted a touchdown in all but one contest, and he added 12 tackles and an interception on defense. Gosnell's banner season has caught the eyes of other colleges, notably North Caro- lina, which extended him an offer Sept. 28. Rivals.com ranks Gosnell as a three-star player and the No. 38 recruit in the state of North Carolina. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN SEAN HILL Snellville (Ga.) Brookwood High After a 1-3 start to the year, Hill and Brookwood won two straight to even its overall record at 3-3. Hill was named his team's Offen- sive Player of the Game in week three when he graded out at 88 percent on his blocking assignments and had six knockdown blocks. A week later he was named the Walton EMC Lineman of the Week for the region. The 6-3, 300-pound Hill is listed by Ri- vals.com as a three-star talent, the No. 75 recruit in Georgia and the No. 80 offensive tackle in the country. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN ETHAN LANE Lawrenceville (Ga.) Archer High Archer High is 4-2 through six games. Lane led an ground attack that was averaging 192.8 yards per game and 6.2 yards per rush. Overall, Archer was averaging 326.8 yards of to- tal offense a contest. Rivals.com ranks the 6-3, 270-pound Lane as a three-star recruit, the No. 99 prospect in Georgia and the No. 10 center nationally. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN PATRICK MATAN Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga High Gonzaga rose to No. 8 nationally in USA Today's Super 25 nationally after winning its first five games, but it then dropped a five- ■ FOOTBALL RECRUITING Wolfpack Commitments Are Having Strong Seasons