Add Watauga’s Jordan Pineda as a junior to watch

I just got off the phone with Watauga High coach Tim Pruitt, whose undermanned but scrappy team made it to the playoffs before falling in the first round, and he mentioned a name worth tracking—Jordan Pineda.

We’re hunting down juniors for our first-ever Carolinas juniors Top 50 (feel free to help), and Pineda has added his name to the watchlist for that. Others have been impressed as well; he’s been invited to the Army All-American game underclassmen’s combine in San Antonio in January.

Pruitt is 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, and after a fine junior season, is already drawing attention, with letters coming from as far away as UCLA. He finished with 75 tackles, including 23 TFL and 11 sacks.

Because of depth problems, Pineda also played TE.

One of the team’s stronger players, he also finished sixth in the state in the discus as a sophomore.

“He’s a tremendous athlete, but he also has a great motor,” Pruitt said. “He plays hard on every snap.”

Pineda was an all-conference choice for the second straight year.

--Stan Olson

I'm also adding Watauga's prospects to our Football Recuiting Database. If your school isn't in there yet (and many aren't) email me a contact number for your coach and I'll see what I can do. It's solson@charlotteobserver.com