High School Football: Lake Norman gets late score, stops North Mecklenburg
Lake Norman was struggling to get field position, much less do anything with it, in its season opener against North Mecklenburg.
Then Cam Neal stepped up for the Wildcats, coming up with a key reception midway through the fourth quarter Friday night in their 7-6 victory over the Vikings.
Neal hauled in a 27-yard pass from Lake Norman quarterback Haines Robitzer and nearly stuck it into the end zone.
While Neal came up short, his teammate Trae Sechrest followed through with a 2-yard scoring plunge on the next play to tie the score at 6-all with 6 minutes, 6 seconds remaining. Kicker Michael Buck then drilled the extra-point kick to put Lake Norman ahead.
“I knew I was going to come down with it,” Neal said. “I’ve been asking for them to throw that all game. The coaches trust me and did it, and the quarterback threw a great ball. I just went up for it.”
The touchdown made up for a lackluster offensive performance by Lake Norman, which returned 12 starters from last year’s 7-4 team. The Wildcats had just eight first downs and 130 yards of total offense.
A lot of that was caused by North Mecklenburg’s defense, which forced five turnovers — four interceptions and a fumble — and stopped a pair of red-zone opportunities by Lake Norman.
“That’s typical Week 1 — we made a lot more mistakes than we hoped,” Wildcats head coach Jonathan Oliphant said. “But like in life, you’ve got to ride the roller coaster; you only get hurt when you jump off.
“The kids believed in each other. I know we didn’t play well on both sides of the ball, and our defense had to carry us a little bit, but those are things we’ve got to get better on.”
The Vikings also had their problems on both sides of the ball,but were actually moving the ball better on offense in the first half in taking a 6-0 halftime lead.
A 41-yard pass from Zyon Hailey to Ricky Myers Jr. set up North Meck’s first and only red-zone chance. Helped by a pair of Lake Norman penalties, the Vikings then capitalized with Isaiah McKee’s 1-yard touchdown with 4:23 left.
“I saw a lot of ‘want to,’ ” North Meck head coach Damon McKee said. “We played a hell of a game and came up a little short. We played 48 minutes of football, but we saw a lot of our inexperience in this game.
“We’ve got a lot of penalties to clean up. We’ve got to get smarter, get things cleaned up, work our behinds off next week and we’ll be a better football team.”
Three who made a difference
Cam Neal, Lake Norman: The 6-foot-2 senior receiver caught five passes for a game-high 78 yards for the Wildcats — none bigger than the 27-yarder that set up their game-winning touchdown.
Haines Robitzer, Lake Norman: The 6-1 sophomore got the starting nod at quarterback for the Wildcats, going 7 of 16 for 82 yards. Although he also threw four interceptions, he also set up the game-winning score with his pass to Neal.
John Snipes, North Mecklenburg: The Vikings’ safety led a defense that stymied Lake Norman’s offense most of the evening.
Worth mentioning
▪ North Mecklenburg’s defense stopped three Lake Norman scoring drives with interceptions in the first half, with two picks by Snipes and a red-zone pick by Ryan Hailey with 18 seconds left in the half. The Vikings added a pick by Josh Dickason and a fumble recovery by Kynis Tinnin in the second half.
▪ The Vikings offense managed 10 first downs and 209 yards total offense, led by Hailey, who completed 12-of-19 passes for 149 yards, with one interception. Sadot Grant caught two passes for 62 yards
What’s next?
North Mecklenburg plays its home opener Aug. 25 against Olympic, while Lake Norman goes on the road to county rival Statesville.
Scoring summary
North Mecklenburg 0 6 0 0 — 6
Lake Norman 0 0 0 7 – 7
NM: Isaiah McKee 1 run (pass failed)
LN: Trae Sechrest 2 run (Michael Buck kick).
Note: The Iredell County game of the week is sponsored by Deer Park Water.