PHOTO: Millbrook running back Xavier Pugh.

By TOM SHANAHAN

Millbrook High’s running game needed something extra last week.

The Wildcats, known for their explosive passing attack, faced top-seeded Hillside’s balanced offense in an East Region semifinal of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A playoffs.

Xavier Pugh, Millbrook’s overshadowed running back, delivered — three times. The senior’s third rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter was the game-winner in a 19-14 victory.

“Every game he got better and better for us this year,” said Millbrook coach Jimmy Vereen.

Click here for the remainder of my N&O story.

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MORE 2022 stories

November 25: My N&O story: Williams’ specialty is the season he’s playing – Tom Shanahan Report

November 18: My N&O story: An old high school splits into a new rivalry – Tom Shanahan Report

November 11: My N&O story: Wake Forest football a family affair – Tom Shanahan Report

November 4: Rolesville’s Cooley plays up to his surname – Tom Shanahan Report

October 28: What’s in a name? Plenty at Cardinal Gibbons – Tom Shanahan Report

October 14: Cleveland builds new community around successful program – Tom Shanahan Report

October 7: Tyler Thompson finds his sport and his future – Tom Shanahan Report

September 29: Two Triangle showdown games are a family affair – Tom Shanahan Report

September 22: Prolific quarterback play shapes Fortune’s path – Tom Shanahan Report

September 17: Tar Heels, Wolfpack and Blue Devils ramp up efforts to keep talent home – Tom Shanahan Report

September 10: Tar Heels, Wolfpack and Blue Devils ramp up efforts to keep talent home – Tom Shanahan Report

September 3: Nathan Leacock’s football future rooted in family’s track history – Tom Shanahan Report

August 26: The Quiet Man stirs attention on way to Ohio State – Tom Shanahan Report

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 I invite you to follow me on Twitter @shanny4055.

— Tom Shanahan earned first place from the Football Writers Association of America for Enterprise Story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and segregation. He is the author of Raye of Light, a book on Michigan State’s leading role in college football integration under Duffy Daugherty in the 1960s.

— I tell untold stories of college football integration. Click here to read why.

Now that @MSU_WGolf freshmen Brooke Biermann and Katie Lu have finished their first season, they did some #NIL work for me before returning home. They discussed their summer reading list. @MSU_Football #True1960sPioneers pic.twitter.com/mNd9bZwRGb— Tom Shanahan (@Shanny4055) May 12, 2022

RAYE of LIGHT story of Duffy Daugherty and southern Black high school coaches, most prominently Bubba Smith’s father Willie Ray Smith, laying tracks to college football’s first fully integrated rosters. This was tipping point — don’t believe Bear Bryant/USC revisionist history. pic.twitter.com/3D8RqjMixO— Tom Shanahan (@Shanny4055) June 8, 2021