By Will Bryan
MaxPreps.com
In a battle of undefeated teams fighting for the Southwestern 4A championship, Independence’s Anthony Carrothers stepped up with a heroic performance.
Carrothers had not practiced for most of the week, nursing a hip pointer, yet he came out to lead his Patriots to an electrifying 42-31 victory over Butler. The win gave the Patriots a regular-season championship and a top seed in the playoffs.
After giving up an early field goal, Independence scored to take the lead for good. Carrothers ran three times for 38 yards before punching the ball into the end zone from one yard out.
Butler was able to drive deep into Patriot territory off a Nate Charest interception, but Independence’s Victor Hampton came up big by intercepting a Christian LeMay pass and racing 96 yards for the touchdown. The play gave Independence a 14-3 lead when the Patriots could very well have been down 10-7.
Carrothers would go on to score two more touchdowns, one through the air, to keep Independence ahead despite a fierce Butler rally in the second half. Carrothers ultimately accounted for 333 yards, including 265 in the passing game.
“Carrothers is a tremendous playmaker,” Independence coach Tom Knotts told the Charlotte Observer. “He made some bonehead plays, but came up with the big throws when he had to. There are some things he can do better. But he's a competitor, and brings the other guys along with him.”
Despite not practicing on Tuesday and Wednesday, the junior quarterback was confident that he would be able to play.
“I knew I was going to play all week,” said Carrothers told the Charlotte Observer. “I just wanted to stay off it and let it heal a little bit. Even though I sat out I still went through my mental reads. I practiced in my mind.”
Butler’s LeMay finished the game with 162 yards and two touchdowns, but his two interceptions led to momentum-changing Patriot scores.
The game was played in front of 12,000 fans at Memorial Stadium. Independence went home with the "King of the Hill" trophy, rewarded each year to the winner.
East Mecklenburg 34, Providence 14
East Mecklenburg (9-2, 5-2) won its ninth game of the season by breaking open a 7-7 halftime tie to beat Providence (6-5, 4-3) 34-14.
Eagles quarterback Olen Little threw three third quarter touchdowns and finished with 261 yards passing.
Providence spent most of its defensive effort trying to crowd the box and shut down East Meck running back Ronald Howard, the conference leader in rushing yards.
“We knew they were taking away our running back, who I think is the best in the conference,” Little told the Charlotte Observer. “What we had to do was we put it in my hands and everybody who's out there receiving and once we did that, we were able to open it up with the run game also to get us going.”
West Charlotte 28, Vance 21
West Charlotte used 172 yards rushing and three touchdowns from Scoot Simmons to secure a 28-21 win over Vance and the school’s first ME-CA 7 championship since 1999.
With his team up by one with just over a minute left in the third quarter, Simmons broke through the line on a fourth-and-five run and raced 23 yards for the touchdown.
After recovering a Vance fumble, West Charlotte coach Aaron Brand called Simmons’ number again and the tailback ran 52 yards for the touchdown and an insurmountable 28-13 lead.
West Charlotte’s defense also came up big, forcing six turnovers including four interceptions.
Vance quarterback Duane Brown threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns in the losing effort.
Will Bryan covers the Charlotte, N.C., area for MaxPreps.com. He may be reached at wbryan08@gmail.com.
