‘You almost lose words.’ Panthers host HS football players ahead of fall doubleheader

Standing on the playing surface at Bank of America Stadium Tuesday afternoon, with light blue skies and the Charlotte skyline behind him, Weddington High School football player Nick Diamond was in awe.

“It’s my first time actually being on this field,” Diamond said. “We played in the state championship game at N.C. State (in December), but this is a whole different level. Man, just coming out here.

“You almost lose words.”

This fall, the Carolina Panthers will host a high school football doubleheader in uptown Charlotte. To get ready for those games, the NFL team invited high school players from Independence, Myers Park, Providence Day and Weddington to come to the stadium to shoot photos and videos that will mainly be used on the team’s large scoreboards during the games.

The high school student-athletes got to use the players’ entrance, zooming right by rows of expensive cars on the way to the rear of the stadium, and they did their media work right after some of the NFL players had completed their workouts, readying for the upcoming pro season.

For a day, the young players got the full NFL experience.

“Coming in,” Diamond said, “I saw a Mercedes, a nice blue one. I’m like, ‘Dang, that’s really the life, man.’ I’ll one thousand percent remember this. Not a lot of people get the opportunity to play on this field. It’s something you’ll never forget in your life.”

Myers Park coach Chris James said his players were shocked when he told them a few months ago they would playing at the Panthers’ stadium, and again when they pulled up for the media day Tuesday.

“That’s a different feeling,” he said. “I told them, ‘This is where all your favorite players come.’ The whole experience itself, man, the Panthers have done an awesome job putting this together and I hope they can do this for years to come.”

A prep football return

This is the second straight year the Panthers have hosted high school football uptown.

Last season, Providence Day beat Rock Hill’s Northwestern High 42-35 in front of more than 10,000 fans. Tickets for that game were $5, and it was the first time a high school football game had been played at the stadium.

This season, the Panthers added a second game.

On Thursday, Aug. 22, North Carolina 4A regional finalist Independence will play regional power Myers Park at 4 p.m. At 8 p.m., N.C. Independent Schools state champion Providence Day will face N.C. 4A public schools champion Weddington.

In The Observer’s spring Sweet 16 ranking of the best football teams in the region, Weddington was No. 1, Providence Day was No. 2, Independence No. 3 and Myers Park No. 7.

Tickets for this year’s games are $8 and are available via Ticketmaster.

Inside the games

The last time Independence played, it was on a big stage — at Weddington in an NCHSAA 4A state semifinal, or regional championship game.

Now, the Patriots get to play another N.C. powerhouse on a big stage. Myers Park will feature three of the state’s top 20 rising juniors — defensive end Rodney Dunham, cornerback Camden Portis and wide receiver Brody Keefe.

“Man, this is a great opportunity the Panthers gave us,” Independence coach D.J. McFadden said. “They’re pulling out all the stops and giving the kids a real NFL gameday type experience. It just really makes you want to play the game.”

Providence Day coach Chad Grier said he was surprised to be invited back.

“It’s a little surreal,” he said. “We thought it was a one-and-done kind of thing. We got a call late in the scheduling process and we were looking for a game, and they said, ‘Would you be interested in playing Weddington?’ I said, ‘Heck yeah, that would be an awesome experience.’”

After losing nine seniors from a state championship team, including two-time Mr. N.C. Football winner Jadyn Davis — a quarterback now at Michigan — Grier believes he potentially could have the best team he’s coached.

Weddington’s Andy Capone, likewise, expects his team to be strong. The Warriors have picked up Panther Creek transfer Trajen Odom, a 4-star defensive lineman and a top 10 in-state recruit in the rising senior class. Weddington also returns linebacker Thomas Davis Jr. and defensive lineman Aiden Harris, both top 15 in-state recruits in the rising junior class.

As the reigning state champion in the state’s largest and most difficult classification, NCHSAA 4A, Capone knows his team will be a target for everyone, including Providence Day.

“We tell our kids to embrace it,” he said. “We tell our kids that you’d rather be the one they’re chasing, but we still feel like we’re chasing people, too. We’ll keep that mentality and make sure we’re still hunting. We’re going to get everyone’s best effort, but they’re going to get ours, too.”