Athlete: Darius “DJ” Deal

School: Spring Creek

Sport: Football

Position: Quarterback

Year: Junior

Hometown: Goldsboro

Parents: Remarco and Roxanne Atkinson

A multi-threat quarterback, Deal had back-to-back weeks where he accounted for 11 touchdowns. Against Union, he set two single-game records – most TD passes (six) and total TDs responsibility (eight). He broke the single-game touchdown passing mark set by Landon Smothers in 2016.

Gators’ head coach Ron Wise said, “DJ has been with me since I first coached him in the eighth grade. He has a strong desire to always learn the game of football and is constantly asking questions on how he can get better as a player and a leader. DJ is actively trying to be the best student-athlete he can be on and off the field. He is constantly working on what I call players’ AAC (Academics, Athletics, Character) in order to be recruited. I feel that DJ will have quite a few looks from several colleges and I thoroughly believe they will not be disappointed.”