Wake Forest High football athlete’s shift from QB pays off on offense — and defense

Kavon Simmons pulled off a feat this season few quarterbacks have managed in high school football history. The Wake Forest High sophomore unseated his coach’s son for the starting job.

That sounds like a dramatic tale, worthy of a Morgan Freeman voiceover accompanied by dramatic background music.

But this is not one of those all-too-common dramas of a father losing his objectivity while coaching his son or daughter (see youth sports: any sport, any year). When Wake Forest offensive coordinator Glendon Dillard suggested playing Simmons at quarterback over returning starter Nigel Lucas, head coach Reggie Lucas didn’t balk.

“I listen to my offensive coaches,” said Reggie, who is in his 14th year as his alma mater’s head coach. “Most of what I do is on the defensive side of the ball.”

The staff also recognized a double bonus: 1) Moving Nigel from quarterback to wide receiver added a playmaker; 2) Freeing Nigel of a QB’s full-time emphasis allowed more energy focused on defense.

Defensive back as sophomore was Nigel’s first varsity role, so the axiom quarterbacks don’t like to give up their position didn’t apply

“I never thought of myself as just a quarterback,” Nigel said. “I knew Kavon would be good for us from watching him play on the JV team.”

Fast forward to the 2022 postseason, and Wake Forest is positioned to advance past last year’s second-round loss in the N.C. High School Athletic Association Playoffs. The Cougars (9-2) play host to Leesville Road (9-2) in a game moved up a day to a 7 p.m. Thursday kickoff at Trentini Stadium due to an approaching tropical storm.

The game is a rematch of a game Wake Forest won handily, 49-7, on September 16 at home. The Cougars are seeded No. 3 in the bracket and ranked No. 5 in the News & Observer Sweet 16. The Pride are seeded No. 14 and ranked No. 7.

Nigel’s confidence in Simmons’ was bolstered from their time as teammates playing varsity basketball last year; Simmons was a freshman and Lucas a junior.

“I knew he could be a leader,” Nigel said. “I told him, ‘Go out there and do your thing and hopefully it will work out for you.’”

Simmons, a 6-foot-1, 155-pounder, has completed 68 of 136 passes for 1,240 yards and 12 touchdowns with six interceptions. He’s spread the ball to five receivers with at least 100 yards.

Lucas (6-1, 175) leads the team in receiving with 23 catches for 490 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s also thrown one option pass he completed for 21 yards. On special teams, he handles kickoff and punt returns.

Nigel has drawn recruiting offers from Army, Navy, Air Force and Football Championship Subdivision members Gardner Webb and Mercer. Nigel and his father recently took a trip to Navy, where Wake Forest alumnus Maquel Haywood is the Midshipmen’s second-leading rusher with 63 carries for 406 yards (6.4 yards per carry).

Nigel also has preferred walk-on invitations from NC State and East Carolina, and has visited NC Central and NC A&T. He said he prefers a scholarship opportunity to spare his parents the cost of a college education.

For Reggie, Wake Forest football was a family affair long before Nigel joined him on the varsity.

Reggie played his senior season in 1988 for Wake Forest when News & Observer sportswriter Tim Stevens, a member of the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, wrote a feature story on Reggie and his cousin, Ramos.

Now, 34 years later, Reggie said of his son in an N&O interview, “Nigel loves to compete. He’s more intense than I was.”

Reggie’s career record as head coach is 158-36 record with three state titles (2016, 2017 and 2018). He’s also proud of his players saying they felt a family atmosphere playing for the Cougars.

To have Dillard, a former Wake Forest player, feel comfortable telling his boss he wants to replace his son at quarterback, that provides a window into program teamwork.

“I never felt pressure playing for my dad,” Nigel said. “I just felt, that’s who I am, so why not be that person?

“When I first played for him, I asked guys who played for their dad in Pop Warner, middle school or whatever about it. Some of them said they loved it, and some said they hated it. It was a mixture my first two years, but this year I’m taking every moment and treasuring it.”