North Carolina's opening weekend: five verified top performers

Recruit Intel scored every recorded box score from North Carolina's opening weekend and ranked the field by RPM. Here are the five highest, classes of 2027 and later, each verified against our canonical database.

North Carolina's opening weekend, by the numbers

North Carolina high school football opened the 2026 season on the weekend of August 21. Recruit Intel scored every recorded box score from that weekend and ranked the top performers by RPM, our Recruit Performance Metric. What follows are the five highest scores in the state among the class of 2027 and later. Every stat line below comes from our canonical database, drawn from recorded box scores for games of August 21 and 22, and each player is verified by record against a current roster.

The top five performers

RPM is a percentile score within the weekend's recorded box scores, so 100 sits at the top of the field. Each performance carries a sample of one game, and all five landed on Friday, August 21.

Khy'Lieb Rodriguez, WR, Ardrey Kell (Charlotte), class of 2027. 4 catches for 165 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns against Cuthbertson, with a long of 50 and a carry added. RPM 99.2, the top score in the state.
Beau Carson, S, North Surry (Mount Airy), class of 2027. The safety lined up as a receiver and caught 7 passes for 183 yards and 3 touchdowns against Alleghany. RPM 98.9.
Demetrius (RJ) Brooks, North Stanly (New London), class of 2029. 24 carries for 219 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns against Community School of Davidson, with a long of 49. RPM 98.8.
Jalaythan Mayfield, LB, Lincolnton, class of 2027. 13 tackles, 9 solo, with a tackle for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery against Maiden. RPM 98.4.
Ennis Stiles, RB, Jay M. Robinson (Concord), class of 2028. 22 carries for 155 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns against Charlotte Country Day School. RPM 97.0.

How the board is built

RPM ranks a single game's production as a percentile against every other recorded box score in the same position family and window, rewarding volume, efficiency, scoring and strength of opponent in one number. This board covers each player's opening game from the weekend of August 21 and 22, 2026, and is limited to players in the class of 2027 or later. It is the top five by RPM for the weekend. The full state boards live at recruit-intel.io.