Turner's Take: The Charlotte Connection

September 2, 2015 | Football, Featured Writers, Turner Walston

By: UNC Athletic Communications

By Turner Walston

Carolina football has deep ties to the site of Thursday night's matchup with South Carolina. Charlotte has hosted the Tar Heels 23 times (Carolina is 16-5-2 in the Queen City), including four times in bowl games (the Tar Heels are 1-3). The home of the Carolina Panthers, Bank of America Stadium provides a fitting setting for the Belk College Kickoff and the start of the Tar Heel football season.

Twenty-two current Tar Heels hail from Charlotte or the surrounding area. It wouldn't be all that surprising to see full plays involving nearly all Charlotte players on Thursday night. For example, Marquise Williams (Mallard Creek) could take the snap, fake a hand-off to Elijah Hood (Charlotte Catholic), get a block from left tackle Bentley Spain (Providence) and whip a pass to Austin Proehl (Providence). If Proehl is not open, Williams could find Damien Washington, from nearby Kannapolis.

On the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Robert Dinkins (Olympic) could provide the pressure that leads to an interception by defensive backs Des Lawrence (Charlotte Christian) or Brian Walker (Mallard Creek), or even linebacker Cayson Collins (Berry Academy).

And even on special teams, it's likely that Kyle Murphy will snap the ball to punter (and Ardrey Kell High School teammate) Corbin Daly.

Pos	Student-Athlete	Hometown	High School
CB	Corey Bell Jr.	Charlotte	Hough
LB	Cayson Collins	Charlotte	Berry Academy
DB	Ben Craig	Huntersville	Hough
P	Corbin Daly	Charlotte	Ardrey Kell
CB	Kedrick Davis	Charlotte	Berry Academy
DT	Ian Dibble	Charlotte	Ardrey Kell
DT	Robert Dinkins	Charlotte	Olympic
WR	Zach Goins	Matthews	Weddington
TB	Elijah Hood	Charlotte	Charlotte Catholic
WR	Thomas Jackson	Charlotte	Charlotte Country Day
CB	Des Lawrence	Charlotte	Charlotte Christian
DS	Kyle Murphy	Charlotte	Ardrey Kell
LB	Kemmi Pettway	Charlotte	Garinger
WR	Austin Proehl	Charlotte	Providence
QB	Anthony Ratliff-Williams	Matthews	Butler
OT	Bentley Spain	Charlotte	Providence
OG	Jonathan Trull	Charlotte	Charlotte Christian
TE	Carl Tucker	Cornelius	Hough
OG	Mark Uptegraff	Charlotte	Fork Union MA
OG	Mason Veal	Charlotte	Ardrey Kell
CB	Brian Walker	Charlotte	Mallard Creek
QB	Marquise Williams	Charlotte	Mallard Creek

So Thursday's game provides not just a showcase for Tar Heel football in Charlotte, but for Charlotte Tar Heels as well. In recent years, Larry Fedora has taken his team west for spring scrimmages. It's important not only to get in front of area Carolina fans, but to give local prospects a taste of what Tar Heel football is all about. Thursday, the stakes are a lot higher.

“Obviously, there's great high school talent in the Charlotte area,” Fedora said. “There's great high school coaching in that area. We're going to recruit that area. It's been very fertile, and so it's nice to be able to play there every once in a while in front of all those people.”

As the state's largest city, and one of the largest metropolitan areas in the southeast, Charlotte naturally has a high concentration of talented football players. Carolina has traditionally recruited the area well, and Fedora and area recruiter Gunter Brewer have made Charlotte a priority. One Tar Heel in particular takes pride in staying in his home state.

“You want to stay home because a lot of guys like Florida, they want to go to Florida State or Miami,” Marquise Williams said. “If you just keep those guys in state to come here and play football, this would be a tremendous university.” And though Fedora does have those 22 Charlottonians, he'd love to put a fence around the area.

“I think there's still guys out there,” he said. “You'd love to get every single one of them, but I don't know if it ever happens. But I know Gunter Brewer recruits that area very well for us and does a great job and has made a lot of connections, and it's a very, very important area for us.”

For Williams, Thursday's game offers the chance to kick off his senior season in the place where his football career began. Though the quarterback deflects attention onto his teammates, he admits that he's looking forward to representing his school in his hometown. “It's special to run out (of the tunnel), but it's special to be with my guys on Thursday night,” he said. “I'm preaching that it's about my guys this year. It's not about Marquise trying to be the hero of anything anymore. I'm just more focused about coming out with a win to help our guys start the season off right, and I'm excited to be in Charlotte.”

Thursday night's game already offers plenty of intrigue: Carolina vs. South Carolina in an NFL stadium, ACC vs. SEC, Spurrier vs. Fedora. And a good number of Charlotte-area Tar Heels are savoring the opportunity to play in front of their families and friends. “I think the guys are excited about playing in Charlotte, in Bank of America Stadium,” Fedora said. “It should be a lot of fun. It ought to be a great, great game.”