A gamble that failed and what it says about the Independence High football team

D.J. McFadden had one message he wanted fans to know after Independence’s upset bid against fourth-ranked Charlotte Catholic fell one point short.

“Tell them the head coach messed it up,” McFadden said. “He made a dumb call.”

The head coach? That would be D.J. McFadden, who called for a long pass with about 1:30 left in the game and his team ahead 35-28.

The pass was picked off, and the Cougars scored on a long pass of their own, two plays later. Then they went for two points and escaped with a 36-35 victory.

But McFadden’s call says a lot about his philosophy and the state of the Independence High football program. In fact, the gamble that backfired says a lot about the growth of the program.

Anyone who has lived in the Charlotte area for more than 15 years knows that the Patriots were North Carolina’s premier program for nearly a decade. But for the past 10-12 years, they’ve been trying to recover the domination they lost.

McFadden, a quarterback during several years of the Patriots’ golden years, arrived as head coach last year with a new philosophy – quit trying to recapture the past.

“They’ve spent too much time in recent years, trying to be that program again,” he said. “This is a new day. We’re building something new here. We’re not living in the past any more.”

Independence took a 4-0 record into last Friday’s game and never trailed until the final 43.8 seconds.

It was second-and-15 at the Charlotte Catholic 33 with 1:20 remaining. Traditional football coaching calls for a team to run the ball a few times, eating up the clock, and forcing the opposition to exhaust its supply of time outs.

Not McFadden.

“I hate that it turned out the way it did, but I want us to be a team that isn’t afraid,” he said.

Charlotte Catholic coach Mike Brodowicz said he half-expected McFadden to call such a play.

“I think a lot of Coach McFadden,” Brodowicz said. “He’s really building this program, and he is the kind of guy who isn’t willing to sit back. I wasn’t surprised he tried that play.”

But sophomore Justin Little’s pass was picked off by the Cougars’ Landon Herzberg at the Charlotte Catholic 3, and Herzberg returned it 40 yards.

McFadden said he is excited about the way Independence’s program is developing.

“I have faith in my players,” he said. “We’re not going to be a team that doesn’t take chances.”

He said that his team is close to making another big step forward.

“We’ve got to learn how to win the close ones like this,” McFadden said.

The Patriots, who face winless Garinger at 7 p.m. Thursday and appear to be in good position for a return to the state playoffs this season, are developing some standouts.

McFadden says Little is among a group of excellent quarterbacks playing this season in the Southwestern 4A Conference – a group that also includes Cougars’ senior Sean Boyle and Butler sophomore Zack Lawrence.

Little showed a steady hand Friday, completing 15-of-23 passes for 198 yards. He spread out the receptions among six receivers, and the Patriots also have three or four running backs capable of 100-yard games.

Independence’s defense has been stout. The Patriots held their first four opponents to an average of 12.5 points a game and put a lid on Charlotte Catholic’s explosive attack for much of Friday’s game. Once again, some younger players are contributing in big ways. Sophomore Coriawn Griffin and juniors Quentin Reddish and Kaden Thomas had big plays against the Cougars.

“We come into every game expecting to win,” McFadden said. “That’s how we prepare. I thought we were the better team tonight.”

“They were the better team,” Brodowicz concurred of the Patriots.

McFadden smiled and shook his head.

“It’s that head coach,” he said. “He made a bad call. I don’t know about that guy.”