Hillside quarterback Vad Lee named North Carolina Player of the Year

After guiding Hillside (Durham) to an undefeated 16-0 season and its first state championship in 66 years, senior quarterback Vad Lee was named the Associated Press prep football player of the year in North Carolina.

The Georgia Tech-bound Lee was selected by 11 of 15 sportswriters from across the state. UNC-bound quarterback Marquise Williams of Mallard Creek (Charlotte) was the runner-up with three votes.

Lee threw for 3,223 yards and 30 touchdowns and ran for 1,300 yards and 22 scores. He was the MVP of the Class 4-A final after throwing for 264 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-0 win against Davie (Mocksville). Hillside was the first Durham school in 17 years to win the state title, and Lee is the first player of the year from the state's fifth-largest city in 27 years.

"He just went to work," Hillside coach Antonio King told the AP. "I can't give him enough information. If I'm watching film, he's going to call and find out. And if he finds out, he's going to be there."

The AP Coach of the Year award was much closer. West Rowan's Scott Young — whose team currently has the state's longest active winning streak — received four votes to take the honor, one more than Mike Newsome of Butler (Matthews) and Doug Iling of Davie (Mocksville).

West Rowan (Mt. Ulla) won its third straight state championship and 46th game in a row with a 34-7 victory over Eastern Alamance (Mebane) in the 3-A title game.

The Falcons entered the season without Kevin Parks, the leading rusher in state history, and three other all-state players, but won their first 14 games all by at least 19 points. They then used a fourth-quarter comeback in the state semifinals against Hibriten (Lenoir) to set up a rematch of last year's final against Eastern Alamance.

West Rowan lost quarterback B.J. Sherill to a concussion in the second quarter, but the Falcons' defense held Eastern Alamance to minus-1 yard in the second half and outscored the Eagles 20-0 to break open a close game.

"We're about hard work, effort, character and trying to win every game we go out and play," Young said after the final. "I think we're blessed to have great players, and as long as we're blessed to have great players we'll continue to win."

Coincidentally, West Rowan's last loss was to Davie in Week 2 of the 2008 season. This year Davie pulled off the state's most surprising postseason run before finally losing to Hillside in the final. The War Eagles entered the playoffs 5-6 and then trailed in their first three playoff games before coming back. They had lost to Mount Tabor (Winston-Salem) 34-0 and North Davidson (Lexington) 51-28 in the regular season before knocking those teams out in the playoffs.

Newsome guided Butler to a second straight 4AA title and a No. 17 national ranking in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 despite a series of setbacks. Quarterback Christian LeMay, the MaxPreps National Junior of the Year, and RB Ron Howard, who was coming off a 1,500-yard season, missed the entire year, and star running back Deion Walker (23 touchdowns) missed the postseason after he was involved in an accident off the field.

FIRST-TEAM AWARDS
The state sportswriters weren't done yet — they also selected the AP all-state football team. Four players received 11 of 15 votes — Lee, West Rowan OL Charles Holloway, Anson linebacker Stephone Anthony and Newton-Conover kick returner Octavius Harden. Mallard Creek (Charlotte) lineman Devin Flowers and Myers Park punter Miller Snyder earned 10 votes.

Snyder committed to UNC and Harden is headed to Wofford. The other players are undecided.

Harold Gutmann covers the state of North Carolina for MaxPreps.com. He lives in Durham and can be reached at haroldgutmann@gmail.com.