A state championship-winning coach, a state championship quarterback and a 5-star defensive lineman headline the Charlotte Observer high school football team for the 2022 season.
The team is annually released on Christmas Day.
Players must be nominated by their coaches, or opposing coaches, to be considered for induction, and the team was selected by The Observer’s sports staff as well as members of its streaming “Talking Preps” TV show.
More than 400 players were nominated.
Meet the all-star teams
CLICK HERE FOR THE OFFENSIVE TEAM
CLICK HERE FOR THE DEFENSIVE TEAM
Players, coach of the year
▪ Providence Day’s Jadyn Davis adds to an impressive haul of player of the year awards, earning All-Observer offensive player of the year. Davis is a junior ranked among the nation’s top 15 overall players in his class, and he has already won the state’s biggest high school football honor, being named Mr. Football earlier this month. He also was named the N.C. Sportswriters’ all-state offensive player of the year as well as state player of the year by MaxPreps and High School Football America.
Davis led Providence Day to a 12-1 record and a 55-13 win against Charlotte Christian in the N.C. Independent Schools state championship game. He finished the year completing 221-of-305 passes for 3,425 yards and 43 touchdowns, while throwing just six interceptions.
247 Sports ranks Davis as a 5-star recruit and the No. 2 quarterback prospect nationally in his class. He has not committed to a college.
▪ JM Robinson High’s Daevin Hobbs is the defensive player of the year. A senior just signed to Tennessee, Hobbs was named the Charlotte Touchdown Club’s defensive player of the year and was a first-team all-state pick on the N.C. Sportswriters team. This season, Hobbs had 30 tackles, 17.5 tackles for a loss, 7.5 sacks and 25 QB hurries, despite constant double teams. The 6-foot-5, 270-pound lineman also had a fumble recovery and four pass breakups.
On offense, Hobbs played tight end and caught 18 passes for 412 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also ran the ball 11 times for 78 yards and six touchdowns. 247 Sports ranks Hobbs as a five-star recruit and the No. 3 defensive lineman recruit in America. It ranks him No. 20 among all senior high school football players nationally.
Hobbs will play in the All-American Bowl, the nation’s No. 1 post-season all-star game, in San Antonio. The bowl will be nationally televised Jan. 7, live on NBC and Peacock streaming, and will feature the nation’s top 100 high school football seniors.
▪ East Lincoln’s David Lubowicz is the coach of the year. He led East Lincoln to a 16-0 record and a N.C. 3A state championship, the school’s first state title since 2014. Lubowicz was defensive coordinator of East Lincoln’s 2012 and 2014 state championship teams.
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