By Will Bryan
MaxPreps.com
The story of the 2008 Mallard Creek Mavericks has become one of the most unlikely and amazing examples of a program’s instant rise to prominence. Eerily similar to a certain professional football team just a few miles south in Uptown Charlotte that produced the feat 12 years ago, the Mavericks gone from a 1-10 record during their inaugural season to an 8-0 start to the 2008 campaign.
Throughout the run, the Mavericks have experienced all of the trappings of high school football success: popularity in their community, features run on local news stations, and high rankings in the Charlotte Observer’s Sweet 16 poll of the best high school teams in the county (the Mavericks came in at No. 4 this week).
Friday night, Mallard Creek got to experience yet another aspect of high school football success that has become so familiar to traditional powers like Independence and Butler: a rivalry game.
Located just five and a half miles away, the Vance High School Cougars make a very convenient rival for Mallard Creek. The two schools established a bell trophy to be kept by the winner of each year’s game.
Prior to the game, several Vance supporters decided to show Mallard Creek who the bell belonged to, by littering the Mallard Creek field with Vance gear.
By nightfall, however, it was Mallard Creek who decided to send a message.
The Mavericks responded to an early Vance touchdown when quarterback Marquise Walker tossed touchdown passes to Rodney Pettus and Courtland Patterson. Walker finished with 197 yards through the air on 11-of-21 passing.
Vance, however, immediately responded to Walker’s second touchdown by taking the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for the tying touchdown.
Mallard Creek quickly retook the lead in the third quarter after Walker’s offense moved within range of kicker Dominique Harrison. Harrison booted a 25-yard field goal to put the Mavericks up for good. Walker scored his third touchdown of the night on the ground, diving in from one yard out, to give Mallard Creek some fourth quarter insurance and the final margin of 24-14.
The Maverick defense caused problems all night, forcing four turnovers. Vance added to its own demise with 105 yards worth of penalties.
With the win, Mallard Creek moves to a perfect 8-0, while Vance falls to 3-4.
Independence 42, Ardrey Kell 14
Independence survived the trauma of playing three games in eight days when it ran its record to 6-0, 3-0 in the conference, by defeating Ardrey Kell 42-14 on Friday.
Ardrey Kell was playing without six of its starters, and yet they were able to intercept Independence quarterback Anthony Carrothers on the third play of the game. The Knights scored on a 45-yard touchdown run three plays later to take an early 7-0 lead.
From there, however, it was all Independence. Carrothers threw for 389 yards and four touchdowns, and also ran for a touchdown. Independence finished the game with 512 total yards, yet several penalties and dropped passes marred the impressive performance.
“We just weren't ready to play,” head coach Tom Knotts told the Charlotte Observer. “I have to take the blame. We were undisciplined. We jumped off-sides. We missed tackles. We missed assignments. We took sacks.
“They have six starters out and they're basically a JV team. We should've done a whole lot better than that.”
Butler 31, Myers Park 0
Butler put on a defensive clinic as it moved to a perfect 7-0 by rolling over Myers Park 31-0.
Butler kept Myers Park from getting past its own 41-yard line, holding them to 61 total yards and forcing five turnovers. The Bulldogs allowed only six first downs.
Christian LeMay, Butler’s sophomore quarterback, threw for 167 yards and three touchdowns on 8-of-17 passing, while Markel Moore rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown.
Butler did not get on the scoreboard during the first quarter, but 24 points in the second quarter, including 10 in the final few minutes, put the game out of reach.
Providence 28, South Mecklenburg 0
With a game against Independence looming large on Oct. 17, Providence stayed focused against South Mecklenburg and moved its overall record to 4-3 with a 28-0 shutout.
Up by just one touchdown late in the first half, Providence went deep in the playbook to pull out the wide receiver pass and it worked to perfection. Quarterback Chauncey Concepcion pitched to receiver Damon Magazu who sprinted right before pulling up and launching the ball toward his teammate downfield. Matt Hickson caught it in the corner of the end zone to give Providence a 14-0 advantage heading into halftime.
South Meck apparently didn’t learn from the trickery as it was fooled again on the opening kickoff when Providence recovered a quick onside kick and turned it into points when Concepcion hit Brandon Braxton for an 18-yard touchdown pass to make the lead 21-0.
Concepcion finished the night with 163 yards passing and three touchdowns on 17-of-23 passing.
Will Bryan covers the Charlotte, N.C., area for MaxPreps. He may be reached at wbryan08@gmail.com.
