Raleigh At 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds, Murphy senior offensive lineman Yousef Mugharbil is hard to miss.
Mugharbil has been the anchor for the Bulldogs’ offensive line all year, creating holes for running backs in the Wing-T offense on the road to a 10th state championship for Murphy. Division I college teams took notice of him, too, as he’s signed to play at the University of Florida.
Mugharbil was originally planning to enroll early, but stuck with Murphy after the high school season in North Carolina was pushed to the spring. That decision paid off for Mugharbil last weekend, when the Bulldogs beat Northside-Pinetown 14-7 to win the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A state championship, ending his high school career on a high note.
“Wanting to win the state championship was my main reason for staying,” Mugharbil said. “Being here and having a state title, it really makes everything seem worth it.”
In a non-COVID-19 year, Mugharbil would have finished up his high school season in the fall, graduated from Murphy in December, then enroll at Florida for the spring semester. College coaches like to have their players enroll early for a variety of reasons.
On the football side, it gets them acquainted with the strength and conditioning program, learning the playbook and expectations on and off the field. The strength and conditioning program is big for offensive linemen, many who need to refine their bodies by putting on muscle and getting stronger to prepare for college play.
Mugharbil looks like he carries his weight well, so he won’t need to refine his body too much, but it’s always beneficial to get extra time in a college weight room. Academically, enrolling early helps players get a jump on classes so they can balance out their future course load.
Even after the state announced in September the plans for a spring season, there wasn’t a guarantee it would happen. A second wave of COVID cases peaked in January, but Mugharbil stood firm.
“(Florida) wanted him to come,” Murphy head football coach David Gentry said. “At the time we were talking, and every time I asked him he said, ‘No coach I’m going to play.’ ”
The number of COVID cases eventually declined to more manageable levels, and the Bulldogs started their season with a 33-6 win over Andrews on Feb. 25. Murphy went 6-1 in the regular season, with their only loss coming to Robbinsville 17-7 on April 9.
That made the 24-14 win over the Black Knights in the 1A Western Regional on April 30 that much sweeter. The celebration was more emotional and raw than the one after Murphy’s state championship win a week later, with players, staff and parents alike giddy that the Bulldogs had knocked off their Smoky Mountain Conference rivals after three straight losses.
The 24-13 loss to Robbinsville that ended Murphy’s 2019 season was the reason Mugharbil came back in the first place.
“This is the exact moment right here,” Mugharbil said after the Robbinsville win. “I could’ve went (to Florida) in early January, but I told myself I wanted to stay because I didn’t want to end my high school career in the way it was last year. This is the best way I could’ve ended it.”
A week later, he and Murphy got the perfect cherry on top with another state championship.
“I just couldn’t be happier,” Mugharbil said following the win. “It’s something I’ll take with me when I move on.”