Tough competition and good coaching lead to Southern Carolinas 3A football dominance

Two Southern Carolina 3A Conference football teams are aiming for their second-straight sweep of 3A and 3AA state championships.

That is the result of tough competition, good coaching and strong athletic programs, the teams’ head coaches said.

On Saturday, Southern Carolina 3A runner-up Charlotte Catholic (11-3) faces Southern Nash (15-0) at 3 p.m. as the Cougars aim for their third straight 3A football title. Weddington, the conference 3A champ (15-0), meets Lee County (15-0) at 7 p.m. as the Warriors play for their second straigh 3AA state championship and third in four years. Both games will be at N.C. State’s Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh.

“There are good players, good coaches and good programs in this conference,” Charlotte Catholic coach Mike Brodowicz said last Friday, shortly after his team edged Kings Mountain 56-49 in a seven-overtime semifinal game. “It’s a tough grind.”

And this isn’t a recent development:

▪ In 2018, Sun Valley reached the second round of the 3AA playoffs. Monroe got to the second round in 3A, losing to Charlotte Catholic.

▪ In 2017, Sun Valley advanced to the 3AA semifinals, and Cuthbertson got to the second round. In 3A, Charlotte Catholic won the title and beat Weddington in the quarterfinals.

▪ Weddington took the 3AA state championship, and Marvin Ridge reached the quarterfinals. In its last season as a 4A school, Charlotte Catholic got all the way to the 4A semifinals.

“I think from top to bottom, it is good football,” Weddington head coach Andy Capone said. “There are a lot of skilled football players that we face week to week. I think the kids are tough, and they play the whole time.”

Capone also pointed out the coaching: “The coaches are good coaches and put together good game plans, week in and week out, and it makes it difficult.”

Brodowicz says his team’s low point of the season, a 45-0 drubbing at Weddington, helped the Cougars get where they are now.

“It made us look in the mirror and examine what we were doing,” he said. “We got beat in all phases of the game, so we all had to look at how we were going about things.

“I think that changed us.”

That lopsided Weddington victory left no hard feelings. Brodowicz and Capone said they are rooting for each others’ teams.

“He’s a great guy and coach, and they have a first-class program,” Capone says. “I’ll absolutely be watching Catholic play and be rooting for them.”

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle