Southern Durham's Jewalace Holmes shows off playmaking ability at East-West game
Posted July 14, 2022 7:05 p.m. EDT
Greensboro, N.C. — Not much was working for the East on Wednesday night in the NC Coaches Association East-West All-Star football game, but pretty much anything involving Southern Durham receiver Jewalace Holmes was working.
The West ran the ball with authority on the way to a 33-14 win, but the East's breakthroughs came through the air.
Both of the East's touchdowns came on touchdown receptions by Holmes.
The first of the two came on a 22-yard go route on a ball thrown by Washington quarterback Hayes Pippin that got the East on the board and made it a 20-7 game heading into the halftime break.
The East was never able to get closer than that in the second half, but Holmes caught his second touchdown, this time from Hoggard's Sam Jones to get back within 12 early in the third quarter.
"I just saw the opportunity and I had to go grab it," he said of the plays.
Holmes is no stranger to making plays.
Even on a fairly run-heavy Southern Durham team, he led the team with 24 receptions for 512 yards and 7 touchdowns.
He also handled kick returns for the Spartans, and showed that skill-set off as well on Wednesday night when he answered another West touchdown with a return deep into opposing territory.
Holmes and the offensive unit helped power the Spartans to a 6-5 season in 2021 that was highlighted by a 5-0 record in conference play and subsequent league championship and playoff appearance.
"It's a blessing," Holmes said of the opportunity to represent Southern. "If it wasn't for Southern Durham I wouldn't be here today where I'm at... thanks to my coaches."
The Spartans are a program rich with tradition and history, and though the 2021 team wasn't able to put together a deep playoff run, Holmes feels as though the senior class was able to pass some lessons down to this year's group.
"Keep working, grind and ball out," he said with a smile.
