Mason Hefner was headed for a career at quarterback when a twist of fate prompted a position change that turned him into a Football Bowl Subdivision prospect.

Hefner is a senior at Lake Norman High School in Mooresville, NC, where the 6-foot, 205-pounder has established himself as one of the state’s top safety-linebacker performers over the last three seasons. East Carolina was fortunate to secure a verbal commitment from Hefner back on June 21, beating out Army, Charleston Southern, Charlotte, East Tennessee State, Gardner-Webb, Hampton, Maine, Mercer, N.C. A&T, N.C. Central, Richmond, Temple, West Georgia and Wofford for his services.

Even as a middle school player, it wasn’t hard to imagine Hefner developing into a college prospect. He comes from a distinguished football family that features grandfather Larry Hefner, who was an All-Atlantic Coast Conference linebacker at Clemson (1967-71) before being drafted into the NFL by the Green Bay Packers.

But it was at quarterback Hefner was exceling when he moved from The Brawley School middle program to Lake Norman High. Those plans changed when it became apparent Lake Norman’s future at quarterback would be in the hands of another stellar athlete. Kaden Craft, now a junior at Lake Norman, is rated the nation’s No. 5 quarterback prospect by 247Sports.com and has already made a verbal commitment to Tennessee.

“Mason had been a quarterback in middle school, but we had another quarterback coming from another middle school that is pretty special,” Lake Norman coach Jonathan Oliphant said. “So, we made the change (with Hefner) to safety. My dad is our safety coach. He and I have coached together the last 17 years either here or at Mooresville High, where I played and he started coaching. It was pretty quick. After we made the change for Mason to go to safety my dad told me, ‘Hey, I think we’ve got a pretty good one right here.”’

Hefner joined Lake Norman’s starting lineup as a safety during his sophomore season. He racked up 75 tackles, made two interceptions and had three pass breakups in 11 games for a 7-4 squad. The Wildcats improved to 8-4 last season and made it to the second round of the state Class 7A playoffs. Playing “spur” or outside linebacker as a junior, Hefner recorded 79 tackles, made 12 tackles for loss and broke up five passes to earn All-North Piedmont 6A/7A Conference honors.

Playing great defense for Lake Norman last season, however, wasn’t enough for Hefner.

“Kids come up to you all the time saying, ‘Coach, I can do this or that,”’ Oliphant said. “They are basically telling you they want the ball. Mason had been giving me and his position coach at the time some flak for not putting him back deep on kickoffs. I’m like, ‘Mason, you’re not going back deep on kickoffs. You wouldn’t do anything with it if you did.’

“He gave us a hard time until finally in our third-round playoff game against East Forsyth we put him back there. They kick it to him and 91 yards later he’s standing in the end zone. Me and my position coach look at each other and go, ‘I guess we’re not as smart as we think.’ But that’s why he’s a special talent.”

The 2026 season has seen the Wildcats roll to a 4-0 start while holding opponents to just 14 points. Hefner has moved back to safety where he again played a major role in Lake Norman’s success. He made 17 tackles in the first four games, including six in a 35-7 win against Mount Tabor. But it was Hefner’s pass defense that drew raves from Oliphant.

“In our first game he had two pick sixes,” Oliphant said. “Then in our second game he’s three yards away from having a third pick six. He finds the ball and the ball finds him. Then he’s got the speed to run away from you.”

Three weeks later against Independence High, Hefner stripped a ball carrier and ran the ball in for another touchdown.

In addition to his ball hawking skills, Hefner is one of Lake Norman’s most efficient tacklers, according to Oliphant.

“He’s probably still and has been for a couple of years the best tackler in our program,” Oliphant said. “He’s a former wrestler. He doesn’t miss a lot of tackles, and when he makes contact with you, you go backwards. He’s also one of the fastest kids in our program. I’ve been helping him with his highlights. Watching him get downhill and run around with bad intentions is impressive. That’s the thing colleges look for. When a kid makes contact one on one, who goes backwards and who doesn’t? He rarely ever goes backward, and most of the time the guy he’s hitting goes flying backwards.”

ECU’s new defensive coordinator Jordan Hankins first made contact with Hefner last spring. During a stop at Lake Norman, he viewed Hefner’s junior game film and came away impressed. Hefner was immediately interested in the Pirates and attended camps in Greenville in late May and early June. It was during the June camp visit that Hefner received a scholarship offer from ECU.

The offer resulted in an official visit by Hefner on June 18 and his verbal commitment on June 21.

“They (ECU) came around in the spring, and it was a school Mason was high on, not just for football, but for the school,” Oliphant said. “Once they offered it was really an easy decision for him. He said he felt comfortable and it felt like home. He really liked the coaching staff and he really liked Greenville. I think he just felt it was right. When you know, you know.”

Hefner is on track to graduate from Lake Norman in December and plans to enroll at ECU in January. But first Oliphant hopes he’ll help the Wildcats make a deep run into the state playoffs.

“This group includes Mason and about seven or eight others I’ve had since they were freshmen,” Oliphant said. “If we stay healthy and with a little luck we’ll be practicing on Thanksgiving this year.”