This season, Carolina Gridiron is launching a new media pick ‘em contest featuring some of the state’s top sports media. Each week, we will select a slate of ten games from across the state of North Carolina with a mix of high school and college games being thrown in.

Let’s meet this year’s inaugural pick ‘em All-Star squad.

Jones

Justin Jones is a co-founder and managing editor of Carolina Gridiron. When not covering games on a sideline, he's usually looking for free food somewhere in the press box. For Justin, there's nothing more satisfying than a game on a Friday night when both teams have accurate MaxPreps roster. Other interests include North Carolina barbecue history, random facts that have no purpose, and typing about himself in the third person.

Edwards

Chris Edwards is entering his 12th season calling high school football in North Carolina. Edwards was the voice of high school football on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel for four seasons, including the Thursday Night High School Game of the Week. Currently, you can find Chris every Friday (beginning Sept. 6) in the Triad on My48 for their Game of the Week. In addition to his work calling high school football, Edwards also serves as the radio broadcaster for Duke University Baseball and Women's Basketball.

Spiers

Cory Spiers is a prep sportswriter for the Mitchell News-Journal and considers himself an “average sports guy”. His presence on Twitter proves otherwise as his quick wit and outstanding eye for fallacies in his haters’ arguments have settled many a sports dispute. Cory is an unabashed Carolina Panthers fan and you can follow his blog, Carolina Panthers Musings, throughout the season for insight into how the Cats are making an impression.

Thompson

David Thompson is the Western North Carolina prep sports master. When prep sports fans want info on sports in the mountains, Thompson’s Asheville Citizen-Times and the High School Huddle are where they turn. Thompson won Beat Feature Reporting from the North Carolina Press Association for his 2018 story on an Avery County basketball player playing through the grief of losing her mother.

Shields

Malcolm Shields is the sports editor at The Daily Advance in Elizabeth City. Shields, a native of Florida, has found a home in the northeastern corner of the state and has provided coverage of some of the state’s most outstanding, under-the-radar, players. If you want to know more about #NENCSports, follow Malcolm’s blog at https://nencsports.wordpress.com/.

Fuller

Jackson Fuller has risen like a shooting star from his humble beginnings as a basketball referee at a local Boys and Girls Club. Fuller, a UNCW alum, is a sportswriter for the Wilmington Star-News and covers over twenty schools throughout a multi-county region in southeastern North Carolina. Jackson had a stint in Mount Airy before returning to the Port City to help with the awesome coverage of Star-News Varsity.

Spivey

Jay Spivey is a sports reporter and editor at the Winston-Salem Journal, at least when he’s not hustling baked goods over at Old Salem. Spivey’s reports are one of the reasons why the Triad relies on the Journal and it’s Prep Zone page. Jay’s stories aren’t just limited to high school sports, though, as Bowman Gray Stadium and its short track racing have held Spivey’s eye for a while.




Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and lawyer who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He is also on the penny which we’ll be flipping for each game as well. Heads favors the away team while tails favors the home team. At a neutral site game, heads favors the team listed first alphabetically.