Neil Cornatzer is another outstanding Davie High Athletic Hall of Fame member who was inducted in 2004.  Neil is a commercial real estate developer and is part owner of the 123,000 square foot RISE Indoor Sports in Bermuda Run.

He is the father of 15-year-old twins, both of whom are involved in sports – the daughter in volleyball and the son in football.   He enjoys playing golf.

 

Neil began his athletic career when he joined the Shady Grove Bulldogs little league football program.   When he arrived at Davie High, he continued to play football as well as baseball and wrestled.   As a wrestler, Neil was a two-time state champion, and Davie won the state team championship twice.  And, if being a wrestling star wasn’t enough… read on.

 

To say that Neil did well on the football field would be an understatement; by the time he was a senior he had played several positions and distinguished himself at all of them, including quarterback and free safety.  He played “both ways” as a senior, racking up 135 tackles and earning All-Conference and All-Northwest Regional honors.

 

After graduation from Davie, Neil received scholarship offers from some Division 2 schools but decided to attend Appalachian State where his brother later followed. .  ASU’s coach – Jerry Moore – encouraged Neil to walk on at ASU without a scholarship, saying that he would have the opportunity to earn one.

 

Neil had played multiple positions on the high school gridiron, and his career at Appalachian wasn’t any different.  The Appalachian training program turned him into a force to be reckoned with and it didn’t take him long to earn a   partial scholarship and then a “full ride”.  When the dust cleared, Neil had become a three-year starter, moved to fullback and become a team captain.

 

Asked about memorable moments in his college days, Neil was quick to say that running onto the field at Clemson was unforgettable.   Seeing over 81,000 screaming, orange-clad Tiger fans was intimidating… until the game started.  Neil made the first tackle of the game and recalls thinking, “Okay… we can do this.”  ASU didn’t win, but they weren’t intimidated, either.

 

Another memorable moment in Neil’s career was the 1999 Auburn game where he scored a TD and graded at 96%.  Appalachian ran all over Auburn, leading 12-7 at halftime after shutting Auburn’s offense down.  ASU missed two field goals and an extra point that would have widened the lead, but with seconds remaining Auburn managed to pull out a win.  “We should have beaten them,” Neil said.