Winless Charlotte area football teams will play in their own kind of ‘Super Bowl’
There are lots of really big games to choose from in the greater Charlotte area Friday night.
The top two teams in the state, Chambers and Hough, play at Memorial Stadium. The best team in the eastern part of the state, Cardinal Gibbons, will come to Charlotte to face a top-tier western team at Myers Park. Private powers Charlotte Latin and Charlotte Christian hook up in a conference rivalry game.
These are just a few.
But there’s another game that many people won’t talk about this week that is important, too.
East Mecklenburg plays at Garinger, and it’s a different kind of Super Bowl.
Neither team has won a game all year. Garinger has been outscored 169-0 in three games. East Meck has been outscored 228-7 in five.
For once this season, though, these two teams go into a week of practice Monday knowing that the chance to win is real.
“We’re still going to set our goals like we always do,” rookie East Meck coach Lennie Sanders said. “We’ll look at goals that are specific and realistic. Then we’ll have a tough week of practice and follow the game plan.”
Garinger coach Shon Galloway was not available for comment, but Sanders said he knew what he was up against when he took the job.
Galloway’s team has lost 14 straight since beating East Meck 18-14 on Oct. 11, 2019.
East Meck has lost nine straight games since it beat Garinger in March. During that streak, East Meck has scored 10 points. Its opponents have 438.
Sanders was hired in May, chosen from a pool of 59 applicants, to turn things around.
He writes his goals down, and he envisions “a tough, hard-nosed team” at East Meck that is very physical. He says he has “incredible support” from his administration, athletic director, and parents.
And, he’s patient.
Friday, East Mecklenburg lost 48-0 to Rocky River, but Sanders made sure to celebrate in the locker room with his defense. The Eagles hit a goal they’d made to get two turnovers.
“I knew year one would be hard, trying to lay a foundation,” Sanders said. “I’m not going to lie, it’s been very tough. Every day, it gets tougher, but I’m going to make sure I do what’s right for these kids and I can’t take shortcuts. If you watch our games, I could play small ball and slow the game down, but they’re not learning. So even though the scoreboard doesn’t say what we want it to say, it’s about us hitting our goals. We celebrate those things.
“Let the kids have all the victories they can have regardless of what the scoreboard says.”
Sanders said those small goals help keep the team motivated — and he’s determined to not let any of them slip. He really can’t afford to.
Friday night, East Mecklenburg dressed 27 players. Only eight are seniors.
“You love them no matter what the scoreboard says,” Sanders said. “If I show I care about them more than press clippings or myself or dancing in the end zone, that’s what keeps them showing up every day. I tell my seniors it’s going to be tough. I tell them, ‘Y’all are playing with a lot of freshmen,’ but it’s their time to put the mark on this program, so that two years from now they can come back and that freshman has turned into an all-conference player and they’ll know they had a part in that.”
This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
