QB Justin Little comes home, and the Butler-Independence rivalry is back on
Life sometimes is a collection of “what-if’s” – of seemingly random choices people make, and how they affect later events and the people involved.
Today’s case study: Sophomore quarterback Justin Little.
Little easily could have been running the offense Friday night for Pine Lake Prep, as the Pride attempted to complete a 10-0 regular season against neighborhood rival Community School of Davidson.
Instead, Little was part of another big rivalry game, quarterbacking Independence in its 27-21 come-from-behind victory over Butler.
“I was attending Pine Lake Prep, but I wanted to come home,” Little says, recalling why he transferred from the Mooresville charter school to Independence before ninth grade. “I wanted to go to my home school.”
Once he arrived at Independence, Little says, he knew he was in the right place.
“We are close on this team,” says Little, 5-11 and 160 pounds. “This is like a brotherhood.”
A rivalry rediscovered
Independence-Butler is the local rivalry that southeast Mecklenburg County wanted to see revived again.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, under head coach Tommy Knotts, the Big I won seven straight state titles between 2000 and 2006 and were a national high school football powerhouse.
Butler High opened in 1997 and became the local rival. It took a while for the Bulldogs to find their footing, but within seven or eight years, they were holding their own with the Patriots. In 2009, Butler beat Independence in the 4A playoff semifinals. Before the next season arrived, Knotts had left for Dutch Fork High near Columbia.
And for the last decade or so, the Bulldogs dominated. They won 18 of the last 19 meetings with Independence, before Friday night. Mike Newsome coached the Bulldogs to state titles in 2008 and 2009. Brian Hales took over in 2010 and kept the Butler machine rolling. The Bulldogs won the King of the Hill Trophy, awarded to the Butler-Independence winner, every year since 2014.
“A rivalry is even better when both teams are playing well,” Hales said earlier this season.
That’s what happened this year.
Shortly before the 2021 season began, D.J. McFadden, a quarterback on two of those Knotts-coached state championship teams, took over as head coach at Independence.
Both the Patriots and Bulldogs entered Friday’s game with 8-1 records.
The stands were packed Friday night at Independence. Former mayors Lee Myers and James Taylor of Matthews and Ted Biggers of Mint Hill were among sidelines spectators.
It was like old times again.
2 special quarterbacks
Part of the plot Friday surrounded the quarterbacks.
Justin Little and Butler’s Zach Lawrence are sophomores and are among the region’s best. Lawrence has been pursued by ACC and other Power 5 schools.
Surprisingly, Little hasn’t gotten quite that much attention.
He has passed for 2,132 yards and 21 touchdowns and has rushed for nearly 500 yards.
Friday’s game, at its essence, was a defensive struggle. Combined, the teams totaled about 450 yards of total offense.
But both of the sophomore quarterbacks made big plays.
After Independence vaulted to a 17-0 lead, Butler surged back, scoring 21 points in the final six minutes of the first half. Lawrence put the Bulldogs ahead with a 35-yard touchdown toss just 12 seconds before halftime.
At halftime, Little says, the Patriots followed the same script they followed after a heartbreaking 36-35 loss earlier this season to Charlotte Catholic.
“We knew we were on the right path,” Little says. “We just went back to the basics. We worked hard.”
He guided the Patriots on a drive that ended with a 42-yard field goal by Charlie Gottlieb in the third quarter and cut the deficit to 21-20. Independence took the lead early in the fourth quarter on a touchdown that followed a botched Butler snap on a punt.
Then, after Patriots’ defensive back Quentin Reddish picked off a Lawrence pass for the second time, Little helped restore the Independence-Butler rivalry.
He guided the Patriots on a drive that consumed the game’s final six minutes. Twice, he ran for first downs. With running back Emmanuel Teah grinding out the yardage, the Patriots never gave the ball back.
“We always knew this would be a special team,” Little says. “We knew it when summer drills started. You could feel something special about this team.”
And 2 more things
Two more things should be noted about Friday’s game:
▪ Both quarterbacks played well. Little was the hero and made the big plays, completing 10-of-15 passes. But Lawrence also fared well. He completed 9-of-16 passes, and both interceptions came on passes that tipped off the hands of Bulldog receivers.
▪ Charlie Gottlieb is quite the story. Until Friday night, he was the leading scorer on Independence’s playoff-bound soccer team, with 12 goals and three assists. But when the Patriots’ regular kicker suffered a concussion, McFadden asked him to kick for the football team. He responded with two field goals that made the difference in the outcome.
Little says the Patriots’ celebration over the renewal of the rivalry will be short-lived.
“We’re 0-0 now,” he says. “It’s a new season. This team is capable of some big things.”
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 8:24 PM.