Thursday, May 17, 2007

Gryphon gridiron alum tidbits

Brandon Arrington, who led Rocky Mount High in receiving two seasons ago, has left N.C. Wesleyan's football program and will be playing at UNC-Pembroke next season.

He leaves a program that was three years old to join one that hasn't even played a game. The Braves, who will play at the NCAA Div. II level, will hit the field this fall for the first time.

Arrington played in eight games for the Battling Bishops, who posted their first-ever winning season (6-4). A freshman reserve wide receiver, Arrington caught eight passes for 90 yards last season.

Arrington says he's just ready to get away from the area and get out on his own. Good luck Brandon! ....

Former Gryphon wide receiver Mike Mason, who spent his last season of college ball at Tennessee State, has signed a free agent contract with the Cleveland Browns. After a solid performance in the NFL Combines, Mason was hoping to be drafted. But that didn't happen.

Check out Mike right here on the Browns' website ...

Associated Press second-team All-America Terrell Hudgins, who is coming off a super redshirt freshman season at wide receiver for Elon, won't have his record-setting quarterback tossing the ball to him this fall.

Rising senior Wes Pope has been suspended from school for the 2007 fall semester due to an academic honor code violation. Pope was a redshirt junior last season when he passed for over 2,500 yards and 16 touchdowns.

Hudgins, who caught 69 passes for 1,027 yards and eight scores, says that he expects either redshirt junior Shayne Milligan or incoming freshman Scott Riddle out of Eastern Randolph to take Pope's spot.

Ironically, both Milligan and Riddle have a connection to Nash County football. Both QBs had a part in knocking a Nash County football team out of the playoffs.

Milligan did his thing to Rocky Mount in a game the Gryphon faithful will never forget - their 4-A first-round collapse to Wakefield in 2002. Riddle, as a junior, knocked Northern Nash out of the 2005 3-A first round.

Hudgins, a 2005 Gryphon alum who holds virtually every Rocky Mount passing record, also said recently that he's not interested in trying to compete for the signal calling duties.

He likes what he's doing now just fine!