Top 5 quarterbacks
Rodd Baxley The Fayetteville Observer USA TODAY NETWORK
Five of the top six quarterbacks in Cumberland County during the 2019 season are gone, opening the door for other signal-callers to showcase their skills this year.
However, we do return the county's top passer and a pair of state champions in 2020.
If the high school football season started as originally scheduled, we’d be previewing the first week of competition, which had been set to kick off Friday. The season is on hold until February 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns.
On what would have been the opening week of the season, The Fayetteville Observer will continue rolling out rankings of the players we believe are primed to be the best in Cumberland County when teams hit the field.
The rankings are based on stats, returning Best of 910Preps honorees and allconference performers from the 2019 campaign, and conversations with coaches.
Here’s a look at our picks for the top five quarterbacks in Cumberland County.
Dashawn McCullough, E.E. Smith, junior
After a sensational sophomore season that saw McCullough lead the Golden Bulls to the state playoffs, the rising junior is the top returner at the quarterback position ahead of this season. He led the county with 2,336 passing yards in 2019 and threw 25 touchdown passes. He also had five games with three or more touchdowns. McCullough will need to improve on the 12 interceptions he had in 2019, but the skill is there for another big year.
Raymond Campos, Trinity Christian, senior
Campos split time at the position with Cedavion Wimbley in 2019 as the Crusaders ended a 10-year drought by winning the NCISAA Division III state title. With Wimbley in Hope Mills, Campos is expected to be Chuck Webster’s primary quarterback this year. According to MaxPreps, the 5-foot-10 senior finished with eight passing touchdowns and just two interceptions last season.
Cedavion Wimbley, South View, senior
Wimbley shined in his last game at Trinity, finishing with a pair of touchdowns in the Crusaders’ state-title win against SouthLake Christian. Once he made the move to South View earlier this year, he had a stellar basketball season as the Tigers’ top scorer. He’ll look to have a similar impact for Rodney Brewington’s bunch on Randy Ledford Field.
Ki’mani Britton, Cape Fear, junior
After starting in each of his first two seasons for the Colts, Britton is expected to make a bigger impact in his junior campaign. He totaled 10 touchdowns and six interceptions last season with the luxury of leaning on a strong rushing attack. With two of those top three running backs gone, Britton will be asked to do more in the passing and running game this year.
Josh Jones, Westover, sophomore
Thrown into the fire as a freshman quarterback for the Wolverines, Jones finished his rookie year with 10 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. But his best game of the year came in November against Overhills. On that night, Jones completed 10-of-16 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns. If Westover gets that guy for most of the season, Ernest King will be one happy coach.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com.
Rodd Baxley The Fayetteville Observer USA TODAY NETWORK
Five of the top six quarterbacks in Cumberland County during the 2019 season are gone, opening the door for other signal-callers to showcase their skills this year.
However, we do return the county's top passer and a pair of state champions in 2020.
If the high school football season started as originally scheduled, we’d be previewing the first week of competition, which had been set to kick off Friday. The season is on hold until February 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns.
On what would have been the opening week of the season, The Fayetteville Observer will continue rolling out rankings of the players we believe are primed to be the best in Cumberland County when teams hit the field.
The rankings are based on stats, returning Best of 910Preps honorees and allconference performers from the 2019 campaign, and conversations with coaches.
Here’s a look at our picks for the top five quarterbacks in Cumberland County.
Dashawn McCullough, E.E. Smith, junior
After a sensational sophomore season that saw McCullough lead the Golden Bulls to the state playoffs, the rising junior is the top returner at the quarterback position ahead of this season. He led the county with 2,336 passing yards in 2019 and threw 25 touchdown passes. He also had five games with three or more touchdowns. McCullough will need to improve on the 12 interceptions he had in 2019, but the skill is there for another big year.
Raymond Campos, Trinity Christian, senior
Campos split time at the position with Cedavion Wimbley in 2019 as the Crusaders ended a 10-year drought by winning the NCISAA Division III state title. With Wimbley in Hope Mills, Campos is expected to be Chuck Webster’s primary quarterback this year. According to MaxPreps, the 5-foot-10 senior finished with eight passing touchdowns and just two interceptions last season.
Cedavion Wimbley, South View, senior
Wimbley shined in his last game at Trinity, finishing with a pair of touchdowns in the Crusaders’ state-title win against SouthLake Christian. Once he made the move to South View earlier this year, he had a stellar basketball season as the Tigers’ top scorer. He’ll look to have a similar impact for Rodney Brewington’s bunch on Randy Ledford Field.
Ki’mani Britton, Cape Fear, junior
After starting in each of his first two seasons for the Colts, Britton is expected to make a bigger impact in his junior campaign. He totaled 10 touchdowns and six interceptions last season with the luxury of leaning on a strong rushing attack. With two of those top three running backs gone, Britton will be asked to do more in the passing and running game this year.
Josh Jones, Westover, sophomore
Thrown into the fire as a freshman quarterback for the Wolverines, Jones finished his rookie year with 10 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. But his best game of the year came in November against Overhills. On that night, Jones completed 10-of-16 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns. If Westover gets that guy for most of the season, Ernest King will be one happy coach.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com.
