Title hopes dashed, Cougars look to next year

Head football coach Jim Oddo quietly walked into the media room at Wake Forest University’s BB&T Field, sat down and took off his red Charlotte Catholic hat.

He looked down at the table, then around the room. Finally, he was prompted to give an opening statement.

He grabbed the microphone and moved it right in front of his mouth.

“We picked a bad day to have a bad day,” Oddo said.

It’s a line Oddo has said before, but it was particularly true for the Cougars that night.

Charlotte Catholic lost to Northern Guilford 64-26 in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3AA state championship game Dec. 1 in Winston-Salem.

The Cougar defense gave up more points in one game than they had in the other four playoff games combined (63).

Catholic allowed 510 rushing yards (an all-time NCHSAA record) and eight rushing touchdowns (a championship-game record) to Northern Guilford senior running back T.J. Logan. Logan, a North Carolina commit, had scoring runs of 46, 27, 80, 85, 19, 14, 82 and 73 yards.

“We knew that he was going to pop one or two. There’s no way you can hold him down for a whole ball game,” Oddo said. “I didn’t expect he’d get off that many, but, you know, that’s the way it is. He’s an outstanding athlete. Blinding speed. And if you don’t get him tied up at the line of scrimmage or close to it, half the time he’s going to take it to the house.”

Catholic’s offense also struggled.

Junior running back Elijah Hood, who came into the game averaging 225.5 yards per game, was held to just 152 yards on 34 carries and two touchdowns. The Cougars had only 274 yards rushing as a team. There were also uncharacteristic fumbles and mishandled punts.

“We turned it over too much early in the ball game,” Oddo said. “When things went south, they went south and then it snowballed.”

The rarely-used passing game was a bright spot. Sophomore quarterback Ryan Miller was 4-for-7 passing with 110 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

Catholic ran into a team that may go down as one of the best in state 3A football history, becoming just the second 3A (or 3AA) team to win three straight championships since 1972. Northern Guilford was undefeated this year and has won 29 games in a row going back to last season.

But one bad day shouldn’t overshadow a good season for the Cougars.

Charlotte Catholic lost only one regular season game by three points to Charlotte Country Day in the Cook Cup rivalry game. The Cougars won every other regular season game by at least 21 points.

After a close first-round game against Marvin Ridge (15-12), Charlotte Catholic won the next three playoffs games 41-14 (Weddington), 49-18 (Kannapolis Brown) and 55-19 (Statesville), making it to its first state championship game since 2007.

The offensive line cleared the way for Hood to have a county record 3,309 yards and 46 touchdowns this year. With one year left in high school, he likely will break county career records for yards and touchdowns.

After two straight years of losing in the 3AA West Regional final, Catholic made it to the championship game. And the Cougars scored more points against Northern Guilford than anyone else this season.

“I thought our kids played hard and we’re very happy to be here,” Oddo said. “I’m proud of our young men and what they’ve done.”

It was a tough end for the Charlotte Catholic players, especially the seniors. But the loss in the state championship appearance could be a turning point for the program in the same way Butler’s loss to Greensboro Page in the playoffs last year inspired this year’s undefeated 4AA state champion team.

Minutes after coming off the field, still wearing his full uniform, Hood seemed to understand that this was an experience that would motivate him next season.

“I’m going to keep growing as a football player,” he said. “There’s a lot for me to learn. … Football is a learning experience so I’m just going to keep learning, try to get better, that’s the way I see it.

“Because I’ve got another year. I’m going to go back at it, so I’m going to just go ahead and go for the state championship next year. Same heart, same passion, same drive.”