St. David's rallies past Cary Christian to avoid upset
By J. Mike Blake, HighSchoolOT Contributor
CARY, N.C. — Cary Christian almost upended the entire state when it comes to 8-man football.
Almost.
The winless Knights led old rival St. David's, undefeated and ranked ninth in the HighSchoolOT statewide football rankings, for most of Friday's contest until two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions a little less than 3 minutes apart catapulted the Warriors to victory, 30-27.
Cary Christian (0-3) had a breakthrough season last year, improving to 6-3 after going 0-14 the previous two years. The Knights have become even more competitive this year (they also sport a final-seconds loss to Fayetteville Christian) despite having only 13 players — eight of them with no previous varsity experience — and it showed early in the first and second halves.
Erik Hernandez had three first-half touchdowns — two rushing, one a short reception from Luke Harvey — and the Knights led by as much as 13, a 19-6 lead with 2:34 until halftime.
St. David's (4-0) cut the lead to a 24-yard pass from Paxton Williams to Cole Diehl with 30 seconds left in halftime to make it 19-14 at the break.
Cary Christian opened up the third quarter with an incredible start. The Knights recovered a muffed squib kick at the 26 and only needed a few seconds for Chide Ogan to break four tackles and run in a 26-yard touchdown. A fake extra-point attempt was completed successfully for two, and it was 27-14 in the blink of an eye.
But St. David's had an answer.
A 29-yard Paxton Williams pass to Meik Goode and a 2-yard Cole Diehl run on back-to-back drives, each punctuated with 2-point conversions, put the Warriors in the lead for good, 30-27.
The Warriors rode a steady ground game behind fullback Ford Everett, who had one rushing touchdown, to eat up clock and move the chains and hold on for victory.
By J. Mike Blake, HighSchoolOT Contributor
CARY, N.C. — Cary Christian almost upended the entire state when it comes to 8-man football.
Almost.
The winless Knights led old rival St. David's, undefeated and ranked ninth in the HighSchoolOT statewide football rankings, for most of Friday's contest until two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions a little less than 3 minutes apart catapulted the Warriors to victory, 30-27.
Cary Christian (0-3) had a breakthrough season last year, improving to 6-3 after going 0-14 the previous two years. The Knights have become even more competitive this year (they also sport a final-seconds loss to Fayetteville Christian) despite having only 13 players — eight of them with no previous varsity experience — and it showed early in the first and second halves.
Erik Hernandez had three first-half touchdowns — two rushing, one a short reception from Luke Harvey — and the Knights led by as much as 13, a 19-6 lead with 2:34 until halftime.
St. David's (4-0) cut the lead to a 24-yard pass from Paxton Williams to Cole Diehl with 30 seconds left in halftime to make it 19-14 at the break.
Cary Christian opened up the third quarter with an incredible start. The Knights recovered a muffed squib kick at the 26 and only needed a few seconds for Chide Ogan to break four tackles and run in a 26-yard touchdown. A fake extra-point attempt was completed successfully for two, and it was 27-14 in the blink of an eye.
But St. David's had an answer.
A 29-yard Paxton Williams pass to Meik Goode and a 2-yard Cole Diehl run on back-to-back drives, each punctuated with 2-point conversions, put the Warriors in the lead for good, 30-27.
The Warriors rode a steady ground game behind fullback Ford Everett, who had one rushing touchdown, to eat up clock and move the chains and hold on for victory.
