In a career that featured record-breaking performances and playoff runs, Wednesday will be a day to remember according to Noah Arnett.
The Cloudland High School senior football standout made it official in front of friends, family and school officials by signing to continue his gridiron career at Wingate University in North Carolina inside the school’s library during National Signing Day.
“Top five best days of my life,” Arnett said with a smile after watching a video with friends and family congratulating him on the accomplishment. “It’s exciting. Not only to continue my football career but being able to go to a school with excellent academics. I can’t wait for this opportunity.”
Seizing an opportunity comes naturally for the bruising 5-foot, 9-inch running back. The Highlander wrapped up a standout senior campaign rushing for 2,317 yards and setting a high school and Carter County recorded with 405 yards on the ground in the TSSAA Class A first round playoff game against Harriman at Orr Field.
Highlander head coach Mike Lunsford sung the praises of Arnett, praising his work ethic and attitude for the game.
“I’m very proud of him,” Lunsford said. “He deserves it. He had a game where he didn’t play really well and came up to me and said ‘coach, that won’t happen again. I’ll be better than that next week, ’ and he got better every week. That’s just a testament to his worth ethic and the kind of person he is. We’re just extremely proud of him, and I’m proud to be his coach.”
The NCAA Division II university announced a signing class that features 53 students with Arnett being the lone signee from Tennessee. When the recruiting process took shape, the senior knew it would be an easy choice when stepping foot on the North Carolina campus.
“Honestly everything,” Arnett replied when asked about choosing Wingate. “Everything down there was great. It was just like a big family. If I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t have thought I left home.”

The theme of family was prevalent during Wednesday’s signing with the running back sharing stories and laughs with his teammates while watching the video to congratulate him.
“I’m speechless,” he said with a laugh. “If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now. God deserves all the credit, but they definitely come in second.”
Passing along the praise is something that Arnett does all the time and shows his modest character, Lunsford said.
“Noah will tell you he didn’t do it on his own,” he said. “He had a lot of help. You don’t run for over 2,000 yards without some other people doing some stuff for you. But he was the kind of kid you liked to block for. He was the kind of kid you like to see have success. I’ve coached some kids along the way the didn’t know how to handle the success, but I think the best thing about Noah was that he knew how to manage the success and failure both. That’ll help him a lot more in life than anything else.”
As the next stage of his career awaits after graduation, Arnett provided some words of encouragement for underclassmen looking to take their game to the next level.
“Stay in the weight room,” Arnett said. “Don’t get your feelings hurt by coach Lunsford if he yells. Continue to work hard. Whenever you have they days when you feel like you can’t do anything, keep pushing. Have no off days.”