Charlotte Christian caps unbeaten season with state title
By Matt Kline
Charlotte Christian repeated as NCISAA Division I state champion and completed an undefeated season with a convincing 43-14 home victory over Arden Christ School on Friday night.
Star quarterback Garrett Shrader, a Mississippi State recruit, took advantage of two busted plays on fumbled snaps and turned them both into 45-yard touchdowns in the first half to give Christian a 16-7 lead.
Christ School answered when Keyvaun Cobb caught a 59-yard scoring pass from Navy Shuler to close to within 16-14 midway through the second.
Josh Eboboko capped a nine-play drive for Christian on its next possession with a 17-yard run to push the lead to 23-14 at halftime.
The third quarter was the difference. On the second play from scrimmage, Shrader kept the ball and went up the middle nearly untouched for a 51-touchdown run. After Ben Williams picked off Shuler on Christ School’s next drive, Shrader threw a 49-yard bomb to Henry Rutledge on the next play for a touchdown and a seemingly close game was now a comfortable 36-14 lead for Christian.
Shrader capped the scoring with a 59-yard scoring throw to Ricky Kofoed late in the third and was able to come out of the game midway through the fourth to celebrate with his teammates.
Records: Christian improves to 11-0; Christ School ends at 10-2
Three Who Mattered
Garrett Shrader (Charlotte Christian): Mississippi State recruit rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 213 yards and two more scores in the victory.
Keyvaun Cobb (Christ School): Had 114 yards rushing with a touchdown and also put up 118 yards receiving with another score
Josh Eboboko (Charlotte Christian): Accounted for 114 total yards and had a key 17-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Worth Mentioning
▪ Over the last three seasons, this Charlotte Christian program has gone 30-3 with two state titles. Its only losses were to Charlotte Catholic last season and twice to Charlotte Latin in 2016 with the second coming on the final play of the state title game.
▪ While they were tested over their final three games, rhe Knights’ dominance over the season cannot be ignored. Their average margin of victory was 44-6, they failed to score 30 or more points just once, and they gave up more than 20 points just once.
▪ Charlotte Christian star defensive back Jeremiah Gray, a Wake Forest commit and son of former Carolina Panther Derwin Gray, injured his right leg early in the first quarter and did not return. His father tweeted after the injury that the fear was he broke his fibula.
They said it
“This has just been a huge blessing all around. I’ve been really lucky to have been able to play with these guys and for our coaches. We had to work our way up from when we were freshmen but I loved every minute playing with them.” -- Shrader.
By Matt Kline
Charlotte Christian repeated as NCISAA Division I state champion and completed an undefeated season with a convincing 43-14 home victory over Arden Christ School on Friday night.
Star quarterback Garrett Shrader, a Mississippi State recruit, took advantage of two busted plays on fumbled snaps and turned them both into 45-yard touchdowns in the first half to give Christian a 16-7 lead.
Christ School answered when Keyvaun Cobb caught a 59-yard scoring pass from Navy Shuler to close to within 16-14 midway through the second.
Josh Eboboko capped a nine-play drive for Christian on its next possession with a 17-yard run to push the lead to 23-14 at halftime.
The third quarter was the difference. On the second play from scrimmage, Shrader kept the ball and went up the middle nearly untouched for a 51-touchdown run. After Ben Williams picked off Shuler on Christ School’s next drive, Shrader threw a 49-yard bomb to Henry Rutledge on the next play for a touchdown and a seemingly close game was now a comfortable 36-14 lead for Christian.
Shrader capped the scoring with a 59-yard scoring throw to Ricky Kofoed late in the third and was able to come out of the game midway through the fourth to celebrate with his teammates.
Records: Christian improves to 11-0; Christ School ends at 10-2
Three Who Mattered
Garrett Shrader (Charlotte Christian): Mississippi State recruit rushed for 179 yards and three touchdowns and threw for 213 yards and two more scores in the victory.
Keyvaun Cobb (Christ School): Had 114 yards rushing with a touchdown and also put up 118 yards receiving with another score
Josh Eboboko (Charlotte Christian): Accounted for 114 total yards and had a key 17-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Worth Mentioning
▪ Over the last three seasons, this Charlotte Christian program has gone 30-3 with two state titles. Its only losses were to Charlotte Catholic last season and twice to Charlotte Latin in 2016 with the second coming on the final play of the state title game.
▪ While they were tested over their final three games, rhe Knights’ dominance over the season cannot be ignored. Their average margin of victory was 44-6, they failed to score 30 or more points just once, and they gave up more than 20 points just once.
▪ Charlotte Christian star defensive back Jeremiah Gray, a Wake Forest commit and son of former Carolina Panther Derwin Gray, injured his right leg early in the first quarter and did not return. His father tweeted after the injury that the fear was he broke his fibula.
They said it
“This has just been a huge blessing all around. I’ve been really lucky to have been able to play with these guys and for our coaches. We had to work our way up from when we were freshmen but I loved every minute playing with them.” -- Shrader.
