Former SSS linebacker seeks his spot

UNC has gone from a shortage of football scholarships to a surplus.

Kicker Jay Wooten has decided to transfer and three recruits will enroll in prep school. What was once a 17-scholarship discrepancy is now a three-scholarship surplus for Tar Heels coach Butch Davis.

Butch Davis promised it would work out.

With Angelo Hadley's exit from the UNC football program before he got there, the Tar Heels coach was right. His over-recruiting strategy balanced out in the end.

What was once a 17-scholarship discrepancy is likely to work out to an even 24 signees to 24 available scholarships.

FOUR OAKS — In Smithfield-Selma’s 20-6 victory over chief rival South Johnston, Justin Dixon ran the ball, and ran the ball some more.

Nevermind that Dixon, a UNC recruit, is rated as one of the top inside linebackers in the nation among high school seniors by both major recruiting Web sites.

ERWIN — Smithfield-Selma’s defense dominated, especially in second half, in the season opener for both schools.

SSS 0 7 14 6 — 27

TRI 0 0 0 0 — 0

SCORING SUMMARY

SSS—D.Bunn 1 run (H.Johnson kick); SSS—J.Snead 16 run; SSS—J.Snead 3 blocked punt return (A.Rouse run); SSS—J.Dixon 5 run.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: SSS—D.Bunn 4-14, J.Dixon 19-106, J.Jones 3-18, T.Reddick 3-2, A.Rouse 2-2, J.Snead 11-60, D.Terry 1-1, D.Williams 3-(-13); TRI—S.Bell 5-(-23), B.Hicks 7-(-2), E.Nichols 14-46, J.Pressley 1-(-2), K.Warren 7-71.

Passing: SSS—A.Rouse 2-9-71-0, D.Terry 0-1-0-0; TRI—S.Bell 0-5-0-1, J.Leggett 1-3-6-1.

Receiving: SSS—D.Bunn 1-25, A.Green 1-46; TRI—Z.Hicks 1-6.

Things that caught my eye at the Spartanfest 08 scrimmage tonight at Smithfield-Selma High School. Host SSS welcomed West Johnston, Fuquay-Varina, Middle Creek, Durham Hillside, Southern Durham and Northern Durham for the event. ...

The host Spartans under the direction of Anthony Barbour forced several turnovers on defense. The secondary notched four interceptions that I saw and had a solid hit to force a fumble as well. North Carolina recruits Justin Dixon and D.J. Bunn spent most of their time on the field on the defensive side of the ball. Dixon, looked more physically imposing than ever at the middle linebacker spot, and Bunn's play at safety highlighted an improved group effort by the SSS DBs.

Dixon, who plays fullback on offense, and Bunn, a wing back, both showed flashes on offense with a pair of solid runs but didn't see much time on that side of the ball. 

West Johnston, which debuts under new head coach Bennett Jones next week against Athens Drive, showed some flash on offense. Mallie Umphrey had a nice TD run against Northern Durham. 

Durham Hillside looked solid on offense. Duke recruit Desmond Scott lined up both at running back and receiver.

I didn't see enough of Middle Creek, Fuquay-Varina or Northern Durham to make any grand judgements. No slight against them, the scrimmages I was watching just didn't line up where I saw much of those teams.

The team that left the biggest impression on me was a 2007 state semifinalist — the Spartans of Southern Durham. Southern, which fell to eventual state champion Wilmington Hoggard in the eastern 4-A championship last December, just seemed to be playing in a different gear, especially on defensive side. Now Southern's offense looked solid too but the Spartans had great defensive pursuit on nearly every play.