Charlotte Catholic dominates Sun Valley, star QB Sam Howell, with defense
Charlotte Catholic held Sun Valley 32 points below their season average and scored 28 unanswered points en route to a 28-7 victory at Jim Oddo Field Friday night.
Sun Valley scored first midway through the first as Florida State recruit Sam Howell hit Isiah Hall with a 25-yard scoring pass.
From there it was all Catholic, which answered with a 15-play drive that took up almost eight minutes, with Lamagea McDowell scoring on a 2-yard run to tie the score at seven.
Catholic then used up almost six minutes on their next drive, with McDowell carrying six times on the drive and finishing with an 18-yard score with 1:49 left in the first half.
After the Catholic defense then forced a Sun Valley punt, the Cougars took over at their 37 with 32 seconds left in the first half and and went 63 yards in 24 seconds.
Quarterback Chris Walton hit Adam Robbe on a 30-yard strike that would set up McDowell again, this time scoring from 4 yards out with eight seconds left and giving Catholic a 21-7 halftime lead. The Cougars were not threatened again.
Records: Charlotte Catholic improves to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the Southern Carolinas 3A Conference while Sun Valley drops to 5-2 and 1-2.
Three Who Mattered
Lamagea McDowell (Charlotte Catholic): Rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns on 23 rushes, 104 which came in the first half.
Chris Walton (Charlotte Catholic): While he threw for only 97 yards, Walton was 11-of-14 passing and 50 of those yards came on a 63-yard scoring drive at the end of the second quarter that took only 24 seconds and ended on a McDowell scoring run.
Charlotte Catholic defense: Held Sun Valley to seven points when the Spartans came into the game averaging nearly 40 and held Howell to 86 yards passing and the team as a whole to just 193 yards total.
What’s Next
Sun Valley will host Monroe next Friday. Charlotte Catholic travels to Piedmont.
Worth Mentioning
▪ After Sun Valley’s opening score, Catholic changed their defense, going to just a three-man rush, which seemed to confuse the Spartan offensive line and allowed Catholic to use the blitz more often and get hands in Howell’s face as he threw. Howell started the game 4-of-5 for 63 yards but went 5-of-13 for 23 yards and an interception the rest of the way.
▪ Even though he struggled throwing, Howell is a big, strong quarterback who is almost as dangerous out of the pocket, running for 78 yards on 16 carries.
▪ UNC coach Larry Fedora helicoptered in during the national anthem and stayed on the Sun Valley sideline the entire game, likely trying to get Howell to rethink his commitment to Florida State and look harder at the Tar Heels.
They said it
“This was just a good team hard-fought win,” Catholic head coach Mike Brodowicz said. “Sun Valley is a really quality team and I thought we did a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage and playing Catholic football.”