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Dudley

Last season: 13-3, 4-2 Triad 3-A (3rd place), 3-A state champions

-Dudley sent six players from last year’s team to play in college, but you’d never know it to look over the roster. The Panthers bring back their entire “Four Horsemen” defensive line - Darius Hall, Kelton Shepherd and three-year starters Josh Jones and Chris Neal - and they’ll be joined by linebackers Major Bryant and Tevin Williams for what Davis says could be a better unit than the one that allowed 148 points in 16 games last season. “It could be the best front seven I’ve had since I started coaching, period,” Davis said.
-Senior quarterback Ricky Lewis Jr. returns, too, a year after he threw 17 touchdowns without an interception. Lewis, a running back his freshman year, moved to quarterback when the Panthers adopted the zone read offense perfected by West Virginia and Appalachian State. “You don’t have to be a great runner. You don’t have to be a great passer. You just have to be smart enough to make the read,” Davis said. “I would have been the first to say he wasn’t a great passer, but he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.”
-Four-fifths of the offensive line is back as well, in the form of Jones, Shepherd, Tavorus Standback and Cameron Ingram. Junior Stephen McCain rounds out a group that should open plenty of holes for new starting running back Fred Overby, a senior.