Charlotte Catholic earns shutout of Charlotte Christian
By Tim Donelli CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
By Tim Donelli CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
- No it was not a baseball game, although the score would make you wonder.
Before an overflow, standing-room only crowd at Charlotte Christian, the Charlotte Catholic Cougars shut out the Knights 5-0 Friday night in the opening game for both teams.
Tied at 0-0 at the end of three quarters, Catholic finally went ahead on a 26-yard field goal by Jack Fonda early in the final quarter. The Cougars got a late safety and then their defense held off Christian’s last gasp as the Knights got to Catholic’s 40-yard line on the game’s final play.
Both team’s defenses were spectacular. The Knights and Cougars are used to putting up big numbers and lots of points, but not on this night.
“To get a win on the road against a quality opponent, I’m happy,” said Cougars head coach Mike Brodowicz. “We told our kids that we had to win two out of three, special teams, defense and offense. I thought special teams and defense we won, and then the offense did what it needed to do.”
Catholic’s offense rode the back of running back Jaret Anderson who finished with 27 carries and 172 yards.
Christian’s defense sparkled in keeping Catholic out of the end zone twice with the Cougars inside the Knight’s ten-yard line.
The Cougars (1-0) are the defending So Meck 8 Conference champions, and the Knights (0-1) are the three-time defending NCISAA champs.
The game featured two of the top running backs in Mecklenburg county in Christian’s Elijah Deveaux and Catholic’s Anderson. Deveaux, behind many new faces on the Knights offensive line, was held to only 36 yards on eight carries.
Deveaux (Duke commit) also played both ways for the first time in his career. “I told coach (head coach Jason Estep) I want to help out any way possible to win ball games,” said Deveaux. “So I came out tonight and played the defensive side of the ball and the offensive side of the ball which was new to me.”
WORTH MENTIONING: Christian had only 14 yards of offense and just one pass completion in the first half. The Knights finished the game with just 92 yards. The Cougars snapped Christian’s 24-game win streak against private schools. The two teams last met in 2002 with Catholic winning 21-7.
WHAT’S NEXT: Christian will travel to South Carolina on Saturday, August 29 to play Myrtle Beach HS at 8:15 p.m. Catholic plays at Northwood HS (Pittsboro, NC) next Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/high-school/article31879077.html#storylink=cpy
