Buc-ing history, Charlotte Country Day whips Latin, looks to return to prominence
Charlotte Country Day used to be one of the most feared small-school teams in North Carolina.
In their heydey, the Bucs regularly won games against large-class Carolinas’ public powerhouses, and they won state championships at a rapid rate. From 1993-2004, the Bucs won seven rings.
But after their most recent high-level state championship win, nearly 10 years ago, Country Day hasn’t been the same.
The 2012 team was 9-2, but the Bucs hit a tough stretch after that, including three straight losing seasons from 2014-16. Country Day fans watched as Charlotte Christian replaced the Bucs as THE de-facto private-school power.
Friday, Country Day may have announced a return to prominence with a dominant 36-17 win over Charlotte Latin. The victory puts the Bucs on the big playoff stage for the first time in awhile, and give Country Day home field advantage throughout.
“It might have been that the rails fell off a little bit,” Country Day coach Drew Witman said. “But we’ve been plugging away, and it took a little time to get the right pieces. Everyone gets the credit, but this group of seniors is awful special.”
This is Witman’s fifth season since he took over for his father, Bob, the greatest coach — in any sport — in school history. Drew Witman is working on his third straight winning season and hopes to reach a third straight state championship game.
The Bucs lost in the Division II final in 2017 and won the Division II title in 2018. Of course, Country Day doesn’t really want the D2 crown. That’s like UNC or Duke winning the NIT in hoops.
Country Day wants the big rings.
Now, they’ll finally get a chance to grab one.
“Oh it feels really good,” Witman said. “We put a lot of heart and soul in this thing. I believed it. They believed it. This is a confident group, and they’re just go-getters. This thing is being built and a lot of the credit goes to the kids in the past.”
Witman’s father, Bob, joined the staff earlier this year and that’s helped, too. You can hear the joy in Drew Witman’s voice when talks about “the 17 times a day” he talks to his father about this football team, or how much fun it is to have dad in the meetings.
And Witman doesn’t lie about it. Football’s been a little tough at Country Day, always dealing with high expectations, fighting the ghosts of the past.
But, from where I sit, Country Day looks like its back and ready to be Country Day again.
The Bucs are 9-1, the most wins in seven years. Now, Country Day is two wins away from a Division I state title.
Winning Division II “was part of the process,” Witman said. “That group of seniors deserved every bit of it and they should’ve felt good about it and that was part of the process to get back. That wasn’t overlooked, but we wanted more. I don’t want to downplay it.
“This is where we wanted to be, 100 percent.”
3 Quick Thoughts
1. Ardrey Kell beat Berry 63-14 Friday. I think it’s time for the Knights to make big jumps up in all of the polls. They are borderline elite. Ardrey Kell won a school-record eighth straight game Friday and, at 8-1, has its most wins in a season since 2014.
The Knights can tie the school record for wins in its final two games, which it should do, and then Kell is going to an awfully tough out in the N.C. 4AA playoffs.
2. If Mallard Creek has an Achilles’ heel, it’s their chronic slow starts. It happened when they got down early to Rocky RIver and cropped up again Friday when they didn’t score in the first quarter and were tied at 7 with North Meck in the second. Of course, Mallard Creek won 63-21 at Rocky River and won 65-14 Friday, but a sputtering start against an elite team in November could be problematic.
3. Not sure too many coaches in the Carolinas are doing a better job than North Lincoln’s Nick Bazzle. The second-year coach took over a team that had nine straight losing seasons. Bazzle’s first team was 10-4 and reached the third round of the playoffs. His current team is 8-1 after Friday’s 43-7 win over Newton-Conover.
North Lincoln has shut out three of its past six opponents and is averaging more than 44 points per game.
Looking for a 2A playoff darkhorse? Here it is.
Elevator
↑Harding: Rams beat Providence 14-10 on homecoming. Popular R&B singer Anthony Hamilton sang the national anthem. Harding (5-4, 2-2 SoMECK) won its second straight game.
↑Northwest Cabarrus: Beat Kannapolis Brown for the second straight year Friday. Last season’s 58-27 victory was Northwest Cabarrus’ first win over Brown in 42 years.
↑Myers Park: Mustangs got their fourth shutout of the year in Friday’s 41-0 win over East Mecklenburg. Myers Park has outscored opponents 465-58 and is averaging more than 51 points per game. QB Drake Maye (17-26, 204 yards, four TDs) and RB Tim Newman (8 carries, 83 yards, 1 TDs; 17 yard TD catch) had big games Friday.
↑Vance: Cougars rallied from a 21-10 fourth quarter deficit to beat Lake Norman 24-21, converting an onside kick en route to a game-winning score in the final 90 seconds.
↑Tristan McCullum, Independence: Special needs student who serves as team manager got to score a touchdown for the Patriots against Garinger. Both teams and coaching staffs chipped in to make it happen. Hat tip: Phil Orban, WSOC, WCNC.
Quick Links
Friday’s NC/SC scores, how Sweet 16 fared, next week’s schedule
Stung by early TD, Weddington storms Marvin Ridge
No. 1 Mallard Creek overcomes slow start, blitzes North Meck
No. 13 Butler overcomes slow start, stops Hickory Ridge
Charlotte Christian holds off Providence Day, grabs league title share
Charlotte Country Day gets home field through playoffs with Latin win
Friday’s #BIG5 Top Performers
Keshaun Black, Mooresville: had two runs for 70 yards, two catches for 68 yards and a 97-yard kickoff return in a 49-7 win over Hopewell. He scored four times. Teammate Malik Birchett had two interceptions, one of which he returned for a score.
Queshawn Blakeney, Marshville Forest Hills: 7.5 total tackles and seven solos in a 23-20 win over Mount Pleasant. Mount Pleasant’s Dalton Miller ran 29 times for 241 yards and three scores.
Quentin Cooper, Charlotte Country Day: ran 21 times for 153 yards and a touchdown in the Bucs’ emphatic 36-17 win over Charlotte Latin that secured a Big South 4A conference title and home field throughout the Division I playoffs.
Myles Jones, Joe Bakhole, Myers Park: Duo helped spark Friday’s 41-0 win over East Meck. Both players had two sacks, plus three tackles for loss.
Will Shipley, Weddington: 12 carries for 158 yards and two touchdowns, including an 80-yard run in a 52-7 win over Marvin Ridge that likely clinched the league title. Shipley also had a 23-yard pass reception.
This story was originally published October 26, 2019 at 1:34 AM.
