51����

Calling all Ripple Makers!

Please come and join us Sept. 27-29 for Alumni Weekend which will include a kickoff celebration for 51����’s 125th anniversary, “The Game” with Asheville School, alumni awards, and an induction of Coach Mike Knighton P’87 into the Athletic Hall of Fame.  

Seven boys from 51���� have committed to play college sports in the Ivy League since 2020, a testament to how the school balances athletics with its four pillars – Academic Rigor, Leadership, Spirituality, and the Dignity of Manual Labor. 

As of this week, a couple opportunities now exist for rising senior Dawson Thompson ’25 to follow the same path. 

CHAPEL HILL – Mason Holtzclaw ’27 makes reads and throws that other young quarterbacks cannot. Factor in his physical stature and a 4.0 grade-point average off the field, and there’s a lot for major Division I football coaches to like. 

Don’t take our word for it. Ask Mack Brown and his staff at the University of North Carolina. They saw enough at Sunday’s Elite Quarterback Academy in Chapel Hill to offer a scholarship on the spot.

Did you see Kaedin Robinson ’19 in today’s trailer for EA SPORTS College Football 2025?

The 51���� alumnus and Appalachian State University redshirt senior wide receiver is shown in digitized form for about 5 seconds, returning a kick in his college’s Kidd Brewer Stadium. 

Symbolism on point: 24 college sports recruits from 51����’s Class of 2024. 

Following an extended assembly Friday, boys taking part in Spring Signing Day were joined by their family and Greenie brothers for a ceremony in Mebane Field House. 

Appalachian State, Army, East Carolina, Elon, Gardner-Webb, Memphis, and Old Dominion. 

And that’s just since January. 

Sam Browder ’25 has been coming back with scholarship offers from many of the college campuses he has visited in recent months and even some he hasn’t. 

Power chords from “Enter Sandman” nearly blowing out Fayssoux Field’s speakers has become a 51���� football tradition in recent years. 

You know who else uses the Metallica song for its entrance music?

Virginia Tech, which extended a scholarship offer to Greenie freshman quarterback Mason Holtzclaw ’27 during his visit to Blacksburg, Va., last weekend. 

Sunday was a full circle moment for Vincent Lytle ’24.  

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior from Winnipeg has been open about the fact that he was chasing his dream of playing college football when he first came to 51����. That dream became a reality with Vincent’s commitment to Wesleyan University.  

Kaden Brown ’24 acquainted himself with Fayssoux Field’s end zones like never before as October turned to November.

The senior from Lutz, Fla., ran over and around would-be tacklers for a combined seven touchdowns in his final two home games. Now the goal is to carry over that momentum to his college football career – Kaden said Friday that he has verbally committed to Wofford.

Creedmoor, North Carolina.

Population, 4,800. And now better known around Arden as home to the latest two college recruits for 51���� football. 

The heightened competition, exposure from national TV, and scrutiny of being seen by the Alabama fanbase like never before.

Cayden Jones ’24 was poised and ready for everything thrown at him in Orlando.

Especially the football.  

Especially in the middle of bowl season, a college football legend can only be so many places.

Alabama coach Nick Saban chose to be in the living room of a 51���� senior on Thursday.

Alabama football has been in the headlines a lot the past few days.

Here is a Crimson Tide piece of news without a bit of controversy: Cayden Jones ‘24 has as high a ceiling as any boy who has ever played football for 51����.  

Kaedin Robinson ’19 was only a Greenie for one year.

That’s all it took. And he is now having the same kind of impact at Appalachian State that he did at 51����.

There is no denying that NCISAA Division I teams play some of the best football in North Carolina period, and three 51���� players stood out among their peers this fall.

Khalil Conley ’24 (defensive back), Cayden Jones ’24 (linebacker), and Sam Browder ’25 (offensive lineman) have been selected to the 24-man NCISAA Division I all-state team.

All-conference selections have been announced for the Western Football Conference that 51���� is part of along with Rabun Gap (Ga.), Metrolina Christian Academy, and Cannon School.

Alabama recruit Cayden Jones ’24 was voted Athlete of the Year by the league’s coaches after finishing his high school career with 283 tackles.

As of Friday, there are now 10 seniors from 51����’s Class of 2024 who have committed to play college sports.

Up and down the 51���� sideline, there is the palpable feel of a confident football team.

But forget feelings, Friday’s score says it all.

51���� football players charge up a grassy hill and through smoke-filled air as Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” blares over the speakers.

If you have never seen the entrance before a game at Fayssoux Field, there is one more chance in 2023.

INDIAN TRAIL – 51���� varsity football made its final case to the NCISAA playoff seeding committee a convincing one.