Orange crushed. Vance High’s defense smothers Leesville Road in 4AA final.
Vance High School finally got the football state championship it coveted.
The Cougars’ defense dominated a Leesville Road team that was averaging nearly 35 points per game in the N.C. 4AA state final Saturday at Kenan Stadium.
After losing 9-7 to Wake Forest in the 2018 state final, Vance won emphatically 24-3 to win the first state championship in school history.
Leesville Road (13-1) had 80 yards total offense, and Vance forced five turnovers.
“It feels outstanding,” Vance junior linebacker Power Echols said. “It’s a testament to all our hard work. It’s a emotional win for us, for all the things we’ve been through, especially for my three years here. It’s an amazing way to finish the season. I can’t describe it words. It’s just ... it’s just an outstanding win.”
Echols and the Vance defense were constantly in the Leesville Road backfield, blowing up Pride first-year coach Ben Kolstad’s game plan.
Kolstad had seen Vance’s speed on film and knew long drives would be hard to manufacture. He thought his team could score on quick strikes. But it just didn’t happen.
“They’re good,” Kolstad said. “They definitely good. They’ve got real good personnel and they use their personnel well. They bring the house every single play. They play press man and they don’t get beat a whole lot. And when they did get beat, we had a couple when we caught a pass, and they tackled him right away. Their speed and their physical play are tough to go against.”
Vance (13-2) won its fifth straight playoff game on the road. The Cougars beat three-time state champion Butler 21-0 and followed that up by beating the top three seeds in the western half of the playoff draw — allowing just 21 points total to Mallard Creek, West Forsyth and Richmond Senior.
In five playoff games, against some of the state’s best teams, Vance allowed 24 points.
That’s why the Cougars became the first Mecklenburg County team since Mallard Creek in 2015 to win the 4AA championship.
“This feels great,” Vance senior linebacker Stefon Thompson said. “We lost one last year and to came back and got this one this year.”
Three Who Mattered
▪Echols, Vance: The junior — named state defensive player of the year as a sophomore — scored a touchdown, but dominated on defense. He finished with 6.5 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a half sack.
▪ Austin Grier, Vance: The senior QB was under constant pressure, but completed 9-of-11 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. He ran 14 times for 46 yards.
▪ BJ Adamchik, Leesville Road: The senior linebacker had a game-high nine tackles, including 1.5 for a loss. Leesville Road held Vance to 227 total yards of offense.
Worth Mentioning
▪ Leesville Road, which ended Wake Forest’s run of three straight state championships last week in the semifinals, was in the final for the first time.
▪ Vance’s Echols was named championship MVP. QB Austin Grier was his team’s offensive player of the game. Senior corner Dylan Tucker (three tackles, interception) was his team’s defensive player of the game.
▪ Leesville Road WR Noah Burnette (three catches, 35 yards) was his team’s offensive player of the game. Senior DB Treyvon Coleman was the Pride’s defensive MVP.
▪ Defenses from both teams dominated the first half Saturday. Take away an 83-yard scoring pass from Austin Grier to Jordan Payne — when Payne made a beautiful one-handed adjustment to an under-thrown ball — Vance got 73 total yards on 24 plays.
Leesville managed 60 total yards on 18 plays.
▪ Vance made an interesting play call decision late in the first half. After Grier hit freshman Kevin Concepcion on a slant with 12 seconds left, Vance had the ball at the 1. Concepcion was injured on the play and the clock stopped.
Instead of running a play when officials resumed running the clock, with both teams lined up, the Cougars spiked the ball and kicked an 18-yard field goal. There were still five seconds left in the half. Vance led at halftime 10-3.
Scoring summary
Leesville Road 0 3 0 0 -- 3
Vance 7 3 0 14 -- 24
First Quarter
V: Jordan Payne 84 yard pass from Austin Grier (Melvin Benitez kick)
Second Quarter
LR: FG Noah Burnette 31
V: FG Benitez 18
Fourth Quarter
V: Daylan Smothers 5 run (Benitez kick)
V: Power Echols 14 run (Benitez kick)
This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 5:38 PM.
