This Shelby, Crest, Mallard Creek argument seems a little silly to me at times but who am I to judge. I guess I will put in my two cents. I am impressed with what all three programs are doing. Each program has some things that it does really well. I believe at this moment that Mallard Creek is easily the most talented team in the state and on paper should be the best team in the state. Mallard Creek's advantage over every other team in the state is their overall depth of talent. I also believe that if you are a one dimensional team against any of these three teams but especially MC in particular than your chances of beating them are slim to none. MC wears you down with size and talent over four quarters. It just a fact. You basically have to hope that you catch MC off guard or distracted. When MC is focused it's almost like watching a pride of lions fight over a carcass. Not pretty..
Crest High's top end talent is very good and should not be dismissed by Charlotte high school football fans who have not seen it up close. Many years and there are years where if these two matched up, MC would be more talented 1-22 than Crest but Crest would have 5-6 players just as talented or more talented than what MC has on the field. For example if Crest and MC played this year, MC would have the more talented starting 22 but Crest would have the most talented player and probably best player on the field with Justin Foster. Crest is producing NFL players every few years and a couple of current world class sprinters who were football players at Crest. It's extremely possible that we will get to see a Crest alum(d-line) vs a MC alum(o-line) in NFL battles in the very near future.
Although there is one Shelby poster who annoys the heck out of me, what Shelby has done and is doing is quite impressive. MC would beat Shelby 9 times out of ten but MC would have to come to play and not take them lightly. MC's overall size on their o-line would eventually take over the game and Shelby would not be able to do a lot about it. In saying that, Shelby's skill guys on offense would be just as good as MC's skill talent. Shelby's skill talent is usually just too much for many schools to handle. Think about it, Shelby is a 2A school who started two FBS receivers, had back to back college qb's, and other offensive skill guys signing with schools or receiving college attention already. Shelby would easily handle the majority of NC'S 4A teams. It would definitely take one of the elite 4A's to beat them on a regular basis. Also while Shelby's schedule is not quite as tough as MC's schedule, AC Reynolds, South Point, Freedom, Crest, and Kings Mountain aren't exactly chopped liver and is tougher than many 4A schedules. While Dillon is outstanding and many pump them up because they play MC, Shelby beats Dillon 6-7 times out of ten in my opinion.
All three teams are kings of their respective classes right now and I will not slight or throw shade at what any of these three have accomplished on the field. MC's goal seems to be national relevance, Shelby's goal is state titles, and Crest's goal seems to be that it wants to be biggest/baddest bully on their block lol. That is also the way that each seems to schedule games. MC is the heavyweight champ currently, Crest is the light heavy champ, and Shelby is the middleweight champ. There you go.