High school football week five - West Charlotte upsets Butler
September 17th, 2007 Posted in High School Football
West Charlotte at Butler video highlight
(more video highlights will be posted to the West Charlotte and Butler football web sites linked below)
The West Charlotte Lions football team had to look at the schedule before the season and put a mental red circle around the back-to-back early season games vs two of the top high school football teams in North Carolina, and two of the top 50 teams in the country in many rankings, the Independence High School football Patriots and the David W. Butler High School Bulldogs.
West Charlotte lost a shoot out last week to Independence 49-32. But the West Charlotte Lions came out with a roar on Friday, racing out to a 13-0 lead over Butler on a Mike Staton TD run and a Darius Thomas to Brandon Anthony TD pass. After the Anthony TD (before the PAT), lightning suspended the conclusion until tonight, and many assumed it would give Butler a much needed couple days to regroup. Instead, West Charlotte’s speed was again the dominant factor, as they held on to beat Butler 20-14 tonight.
West Charlotte set the tone early on Monday night as QB Darius Thomas somehow escaped a strong Butler pass rush to hit Quay Long on a 57-yard touchdown pass, extending the Lions lead to 20-0. Thomas passed for 175 yards and two touchdowns on the game,deftly eluding the Butler pass rush throughout the game. Butler rallied to close the score to 20-14 in the fourth quarter on a Jacob Charest to Jarrett Boykin 35-yard touchdown pass, and a Boykin rushing TD following a Butler interception. Butler had one final chance with less than a minute to play, getting the ball back on their own 35-yard line, but the West Charlotte defense rose to the occasion and stopped Butler on downs after a couple of Charest pass completions. Charest threw for over 200 yards, but was picked off three times by the opportunistic West Charlotte defense.
Perhaps it was to West Charlotte’s advantage to play an elite team like Independence before playing Butler. Butler meanwhile had steamrolled its first three opponents, scoring 150 points and never being challenged. Regardless, West Charlotte played better football and earned the victory. It makes you wonder just how good this year’s West Charlotte football would be if RB Rod Chisholm was still lining up in the backfield along side QB Darius Thomas. Thomas and Chisholm led West Charlotte to the 4A championship game last year, before Chisholm transferred to Independence this year (and scored three touchdowns vs his old teammates last week). Scary thought for high school football teams across the state, because West Charlotte has proven over the last couple weeks that they can play with anybody.
West Charlotte improves to 4-1 and Butler falls to 3-1. Both teams have interesting football games next week vs undefeated teams that have been playing better than expected - Butler vs Ardrey Kell and West Charlotte vs Hopewell.
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