Friday Night Thriller! No. 1 Providence Day escapes upset bid at No. 4 Charlotte Catholic
Charlotte Catholic coach Mike Brodowicz didn’t hide what his game plan would be against Sweet 16 No. 1 Providence Day on Friday.
Earlier in the week, he told the world on The Charlotte Observer’s streaming show, “Talking Preps,” that his team would mostly abandon the newfangled passing attack it had shown in the first two weeks and get back to old-school Catholic football, which meant the Cougars would run the ball. A lot.
The idea was to chew up the clock and keep the ball away from Providence Day’s offense and Providence Day’s All-America quarterback Jadyn Davis.
It almost worked.
Providence Day scored with 11.8 seconds left to beat Catholic 21-20 in a game many will talk about for a long time.
“That was a great high school football game,” Providence Day coach Chad Grier said. “I’m sure we’ll go look at the film and see some things we could’ve done to not make it so dramatic, but great teams win games like that, and we had some kids make some amazing plays. Winning feels good, man. It sure beats the alternative.”
Facing limited possessions, Providence Day had three turnovers for the game, including two in a disastrous third quarter where the Chargers had the ball for barely a minute. Plus, the Chargers could never really stop Catholic.
That’s why Grier tried an onside kick with 6:27 left after this team tied the score at 14.
But Providence Day didn’t recover the attempt and Catholic got the ball near midfield. Sure enough, the Cougars drove — slowly — and scored again. But they missed the extra point, and they left Davis a little too much time.
“We work on that every week,” Grier said. “We were very poised. That’s a part of how we play offense. We practice going the length of field with one minute and no timeouts, and here we were with one and a half minutes with one timeout. We felt good.”
Actually, Providence Day got the ball with 1:44 to play, and Davis led the Chargers on what felt like a season-defining march over a team that has multiple NCHSAA state championships.
Finally, from the Catholic 10, Davis threw high into double coverage, trusting receiver Jayden Hollar to out-jump two Catholic defenders.
Hollar did, and Jake Porter nailed the extra point.
And just like that, Providence Day — somehow — had made itself a memory.
“Jadyn did a nice job on that play,” Grier said. “He threw the ball to the only place you can throw it, and Jayden Hollar, man, he dropped a few early, and for him to make that play is something else. But we had a lot of guys making plays. Jordan Shipp, Channing Goodwin, and he played defense, too. I mean all the guys you talk about showed up tonight and made plays.”
Second-Half Highlights
▪ To start the second half, Catholic took a long drive that used more than half the quarter. Sean Boyle’s 3-yard QB keeper converted a fourth-and-2 at the Chargers’ 8. On the next play, Ethan Ellis scored to give his team a 7-6 lead.
▪ Providence Day didn’t get its first second-half possession until 4:37 left in the third quarter. And the Chargers appeared to be driving for a score under they suffered a fumble at Catholic’s 15 with 3:39 left in the period.
But after a defense stop and a good punt return from Brody Barnhardt, Providence Day got its second possession of the second half at the Catholic 45 — with 66 seconds left in the third quarter. What did the Chargers do? They fumbled again. Catholic returned this one to the Chargers’ 34.
▪ What did Catholic do? Go on another long, run-heavy drive, converting a fourth-and-2 inside the 10. Griffin Sovine scored shortly after that from 2 yards out. Catholic led 14-6 with 8:04 to play.
▪ Providence Day’s Chris Peale returned the kickoff 45 yards to midfield. This time the Chargers scored with Davis finding Channing Goodwin with a pretty 19-yard touchdown pass and then throwing a high jump ball to Jordan Shipp for a two-point conversion with 6:27 to play. That tied the score at 14.
Providence Day, unable to slow the Cougars’ run game, tried that onside kick that failed. Catholic got the ball at the 49. The Cougars drove, slowly, and scored with 1:48 to play. Griffin Sovine from 6 yards out. Catholic led 20-14.
▪ With 1:44 left, the Chargers offense began at its 35. Providence Day got to the Catholic 10 with 18.7 seconds left. Davis threw high into double coverage and found Jayden Hollar with 11.8 seconds left for the tying points. Jake Porter’s PAT won it.
First-half highlights
▪ Catholic allowed Providence Day to convert one fourth down on the Chargers opening drive, but turned Providence Day over on downs at the 4 with 6:18 left in the first quarter. Davis missed on a short pass to Jordan Shipp.
▪ Charlotte Catholic got the ball at its 4 and used up the rest of the first quarter, running the ball effectively and keeping the ball away from Davis and the Chargers. The Cougars got inside the Providence Day 10 but its drive stalled and the field goal was blocked by Providence Day’s David Sanders. Martin Hare returned it to the Catholic 20. But officials ultimately ruled that the ball couldn’t be advanced, and the Chargers took over at their 20 with 9:30 left in the second quarter.
▪ Next Providence Day drove and appeared to hit a long scoring pass, but it was called back by penalty. On the next play, Davis, appearing to be hit as he threw, and he was intercepted by Evan Chromy.
▪ Catholic drove and appeared to score on third-and-goal from the 10, but the officials ruled a completed catch was made out of bounds. With 5:02 left in the first half, Catholic went for it instead of trying a field goal. Catholic QB Sean Boyle scrambled but was stopped at the 1 with 4:53 left.
▪ On its third possession, the Chargers finally scored on a 3-yard Chris Peal run for a 6-0 lead at the half.
Three Who Made a Difference
Charlotte Catholic’s offensive line: Jackson Gagnon, Clinton Barlow, John Macuga and Micahel Eagan dominated Providence Day’s defense, chock full of major college recruits. Catholic had two 100-yard rushers — Griffin Sovine (18 carries, 107 yards, 2 TDs) and Mikey Giroux (13 carries, 100 yards). In all Catholic ran 47 times for 304 yards.
Providence Day’s Jadyn Davis: Pressed for the first time this season, Davis delivered the goods when it mattered. He finished 26-of-35, in limited possessions, for 322 yards and two touchdowns. Providence Day ran 43 offensive plays.
Providence Day’s Jordan Shipp: If they were scoring catches for degree of difficulty, Shipp would’ve gotten a medal. He finished with eight catches for 122 yards.
Game Summary
Providence Day 0 6 0 15 — 21
Charlotte Catholic 0 0 7 13 — 20
Second Quarter
PD: Chris Peal 3 run (kick failed)
Third Quarter
CC: Ethan Ellis 6 run (Grant Coughlin kick)
Fourth Quarter
CC: Griffin Sovine 2 run (Coughlin kick)
PD: Channing Goodwin 19 pass from Jadyn Davis (Jordan Shipp pass from Davis)
CC: Sovine 6 run (kick failed)
PD: Jayden Hollar 10 pass from Davis (Jake Porter kick)
PHOTOS: Providence Day at Charlotte Catholic
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 9:33 PM.
