As Clayton preps for Grimsley’s 5-star QB, this CB could play title-game spoiler

He looks slick dressed in his black, blue and white football uniform at home, or wearing blue and white on the road. He’s posting suffocating shutdown statistics. Opponents avoid throwing to his side of the field.

The picture fits Duke All-American cornerback Chandler Rivers, who last week helped the Blue Devils beat Virginia in the ACC Championship game.

But these details could also apply to Clayton High’s Akedran Crumel, another shutdown corner set to play in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 7A Division state title game. The East Region champion Comets (12-2) face West Region champ Greensboro Grimsley (14-0) at 8 p.m. Friday at North Carolina’s Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. “I look up to Rivers,” Crumel said. “I like his techniques.”

For the season, Crumel has allowed only five completed passes. When teams challenge him, he makes them pay. The 6-foot-1, 155-pound junior has four interceptions, with two returned for touchdowns.

“Cornerback is the most fun position to play,” Crumel said. “You get to take the ball away from the quarterback or the receiver. You’re the villain. Your teammates and the fans cheer for you. It’s frustrating when teams don’t throw your way and you’re not part of the play, but it’s a sign of respect.”

Akedran Crumel is a ‘classic cover corner’

Crumel didn’t know he loved the cornerback position until he got to Clayton as a freshman. He’d grown up playing running back or wide receiver. His future flipped to the other side of the ball when he arrived for offseason workouts prior to his freshman fall season. Clayton coach Scott Chadwick saw “cornerback” written across his body.

“He’s a classic cover corner,” Chadwick said. “He’s got length and great swivel hips. He’s got ball skills and great top end speed. He’s the total package. Once he puts on more weight, he’ll be the prototypical cover corner. About halfway through his first year, I forgot he was a freshman.”

The state title game will be Crumel’s 37th career start. He has played every game over the past three seasons, except for two in 2025, when he was sidelined with a finger injury.

He admits as a freshman, he was initially concerned about starting on the varsity team, but Clayton’s older players helped him overcome anxiety.

“I was nervous at first, but my teammates knew I could play,” he said. “The first summer I got here, they were pushing me to get better. It showed me I could work with them, and I could play with them.”

AK, as his friends call him, was OK from then on.

Soon enough, college coaches saw the talent Chadwick and his teammates spotted. Duke, N.C. State and North Carolina have offered scholarships, along with heavyweights Ohio State, Miami and Tennessee. His total of 27 offers is 4-star territory, although for now he’s rated a 3-star by recruiting websites.

“He is highly, highly underrated, but I think that will change,” Chadwick said. “You don’t see many kids from the East Coast get an offer from USC.”

‘The next play’

If it sounds like Crumel was born to play football, that’s a story he says his father, Adrian, tells him. But it’s not for a genealogical tree representing another generation of football stars. When AK cried as a baby, his father stumbled upon a way to calm him.

“My dad always told me if I was crying, he learned I would stop crying when a football game came on TV,” Crumel said. “If he turned off the game, I’d start crying again. That’s when I fell in love with football.”

As a high school player, Crumel absorbed the cornerback adage of “the next play” better than many kids. He remembers it for himself but more frequently for his teammates.

“I make sure they’re all good,” he said, “and to move on to the next play.”

Crumel yielded his fifth completion last week in the East Region win over Cardinal Gibbons against quarterback Gannon Jones, a 3-star prospect who has signed with Wake Forest.

Facing Grimsley QB Faison Brandon

This week, the Comets face Grimsley’s Faison Brandon, a 5-star quarterback who has signed with Tennessee. Brandon is reported to have already earned $1.2 million in NIL money in high school. His parents successfully sued the NCHSAA after the organization initially denied him an opportunity to earn NIL payments as a junior.

“Gannon was good preparation for us,” Crumel said. “Gannon is a dual-threat quarterback and Faison runs, too. We’ll have to put somebody on him to make sure he doesn’t get out of the pocket. It’s going to be a big stage. Brights lights bring out the best. Faison won’t be afraid.”

If the Grimsley game leaves the Comets crying, Crumel hopes it’s during a celebration bus ride returning home like last week. The Comets’ team bus returned from Cardinal Gibbons taking a detour with a police escort through downtown Clayton. It’s a scene fit for the move “Hoosiers.”

“Everybody was cheering us on, honking their horns,” said Crumel, his face lighting up at the memory. “It was a great experience.”