Arendell Parrott Academy wins NCISAA 2A championship
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GREENVILLE — Consider the business finished.
Arendell Parrott Academy defeated John Paul II 40-13 Saturday in the NCISAA 2A championship game, winning its first state title since 2016 after being runner-ups in 2017 and 2019. The Patriots started slow, but ended the game with 40 unanswered to blow it open and win their second game against John Paul II this season. APA defeated the Saints 43-32 Oct. 30 and did better away from Hodges Field.
The Patriots went 5-0 on the road this season and won another title as the last seed — in 2016, APA knocked off No. 1 Southampton Academy before defeating St. David’s on the road for the title.
“I think everybody knew when the seeds came out we weren’t your typical 4-seed,” Beaman said. “We relished the underdog role and our guys believed — (we) told them we had to beat everybody anyway — we were road warriors this year.”
APA had a strong opening drive, but Morgan McPhaul’s 30-yard touchdown run was called back due to a holding penalty. The Patriots later stalled at the John Paul 21, and five plays later Rion Roseborough broke a couple of tackles on the way to a 55-yard touchdown. The Patriots went three-and-out on their next possession and the Saints responded with a 15-play, 62-yard drive, ending in Josiah Thompson’s 7-yard touchdown run to go up 13-0 early in the second.
It appeared to look worse for APA after John Paul II recovered a fumble on the Patriots’ next play, but the defense stiffened and forced a turnover on downs. From there, APA drove down the field, getting on the board after a Cole Dawson quarterback sneak. The Saints went three-and-out on the ensuing possession and the Patriots went on a seven-play, 95-yard drive. Dawson went 3 for 3 for 66 yards — all on passes to Nick Harrison — and McPhaul scored from 6 yards out to bring the Patriots within one going into halftime.
Arendell Parrott’s Morgan McPhaul had 174 yards offensively, including 137 rushing, in the Patriots’ win over John Paul II Saturday. Photo by Heidi Adams / Special to ENC Moments
The momentum shifted after John Paul II went three-and-out on its opening drive in the third quarter. Four plays later, Dawson found Harrison for a 42-yard touchdown before a trick play on the two-point conversion had Dawson pitch the ball to Harrison, who found Michael Outlaw in the end zone to put APA ahead 20-13. The Saints turned the ball over on downs on their next possession and Dawson would later find McPhaul for a 20-yard connection.
“We all felt more confident going in,” McPhaul said. “We’ve been here before, we had a good gameplan coming in and we were pretty much fully healthy. We were down on ourselves a little bit (trailing 13-0), but Coach got us together, the defense got some stops (and) we got some quick scores.”
Dawson, who went 15 of 16 for 223 yards through the air, scored on a 27-yard run in the waning seconds of the third quarter to put the Patriots ahead 33-13.
“I knew I’m built to play in situations like these,” Dawson said. “To come back and win a state championship with my friends, there’s no better feeling.”
John Paul II had no answers in the fourth quarter, as Walter Shannon forced a fumble on the first play of the frame with Noah Miller recovering it. Five plays later, Cole Howard’s touchdown run sealed the game.
“I could feel it,” Shannon said as time started ticking toward a victory. “I don’t know how to put it into words — it’s just something you can only experience.”
Noah Miller (66) recovered a fourth-quarter fumble, but gave teammate Walter Shannon the turnover chain because he forced the ball from the ballcarrier.
APA shut out John Paul II in the second half, and Dallas Hill said the defense simply made the necessary plays to stop the Saints.
“We didn’t really make adjustments — we just lit a fire under our defense,” Hill said. “This is the state championship, so you can’t just roll over and die here.”
The Patriots fell 34-33 against Grace Christian in the title game on Nov. 9, 2019 and Harrison said it was certainly motivation throughout.
“We came up one point short last year and it hurt,” Harrison said. “That’s what we’ve been working (toward) for over a year now — it feels great to finally get a ring.”
