CHARLOTTE CHRISTIAN WINS A TOUGH ONE AT HOME AGAINST SOUTH POINT
Turnovers Spell Doom For South Point Red Raiders
By: Anthony Perkins
Charlotte – The Charlotte Christian Knights hosted the South Point Red Raiders from Belmont on Friday evening and outlasted the visitors with a 41-36 win in a penalty plagued contest.
The Red Raiders did not do themselves any favors in the first half with three costly fumbles that eventually led to 10 points for the Knights. The Knights opening drive netted three points on a Tripp Woody 35-yard field goal before South Point coughed up their first fumble after advancing the ball to mid-field. Woody added a 45-yard field goal less than a minute later after the Red Raider defense stopped the Knights high powered offense at the South Point 24.
The South Point offense took to the field again and used most of the remaining time in the first quarter to complete a 9 play, 80-yard drive with fullback Chaynce Ford scoring on a 1-yard fullback dive play. A two-point run conversion gave the Red Raiders their first and only lead of the night at 8-6.
Charlotte Christian recaptured the lead they would never relinquish on their next drive that spilled over into the second quarter when quarterback Owen Farrell connected with wide out Micah Gilbert on a four-yard pass play to complete an 80-yard drive. To make matters worse for the visiting Red Raiders, they fumbled the ball away on the first play of their next possession and gave Charlotte Christian excellent field position at the South Point 17. The Knights needed only one play, a 17-yard pass from Farrell to Gilbert, to push the Knights out to a 20-8 lead.
The Red Raiders answered on their next possession using 15 plays to cover 84 yards with fullback Ford once more scoring, this time from five yards out. Score: Knights: 20, Red Raiders 15.
The Knights gave the Red Raiders a glimmer of hope on their next possession when they fumbled the ball away at their own 24 giving South Point an opportunity to surge back into the lead. However, South Point fumbled the ball away again on their first play from scrimmage and a nifty return set the Knights up at mid-field. The knights used only two plays: a 37-yard pass from Farrell to Gilbert, and an 11-yard touchdown run by Christian Vann to push the lead out to 27-15 in favor of the Knights. South Point reeled the Knights back into striking distance with a 19-yard scoring pass from quarterback Patrick Blee to Garrett Tidd just before the first half ended but the Knights still held a slim 27-22 lead.
Neither team was able to put any more points on the board until less than nine minutes remained in the fourth quarter. Charlotte Christian stretched their lead to 34-22 when fullback Ryan Henley scored on a four-yard run. Once again, South Point answered, this time with a 42-yard quarterback keeper down the right side of the field to make the score 34-29. Both teams scored on their next two possessions respectively. The Knights pushed the lead to 41-29 with a 5-yard run by Vann and South Point added the final points of the contest on a five-yard run by Ford to make the final 41-36 in favor of Charlotte Christian. With the outcome still hanging in the balance it was settled when the Knights recovered the ensuing on-side kick by the Red Raiders in what was a very entertaining contest that showcased some excellent high school athletes.
The tale of the tape revealed that Charlotte Christian totaled 406 yards with 176 yards rushing and 230 yards passing compared to South Points 387 total yards with 298 yards rushing in 89 yards passing. South Point amassed 20 first downs compared to 12 for the Knights. Charlotte Christian was penalized 13 times for 110 yards while South Point was flagged 7 times for 75 yards. The big difference between the two teams was South Point lost three fumbles compared to only one by Charlotte Christian.
Charlotte Christian quarterback Owen Farrell went 15-24-0 in the passing department and his favorite target was Micah Gilbert who caught ten of Farrell’s tosses for 181 yards. Ryan Henley did most of the groundwork for the Knights with 13 carries for 101 yards.
South Point quarterback Patrick Blee went 3-7-0 in the passing department and his favorite target was Peyton McCarn with two receptions for 70 yards. Blee also had 16 carries for 104 yards but fullback Chaynce Ford did most of the work with 29 carries for 145 yards.
Next week the Red Raiders will be on the road again as they travel to Lenoir to face Hibriten and the Knights will travel to Savannah Georgia to take on Calvary Day.
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