West Charlotte defense gets goal-line stand to stop Mallard Creek, Lions improve to 4-0
Mallard Creek was less than one yard away from beating West Charlotte on Thursday.
But West Charlotte’s young football team stopped the Mavericks on fourth and goal and then ran out the clock, staying unbeaten with a 17-15 win.
West Charlotte, No. 2 in The Observer’s Sweet 16, is 4-0 for the first time in 16 years.
Lions head coach Sam Greiner, who watched his team stop Mallard Creek on four tries from inside the 5, was proud of his team for making the stop.
“It isn’t just about the training,” Greiner said. “These kids are starving for this. They have wanted this for a long time. Some of these guys have been with the program for so long and have never beaten that team. To beat them on their home field with their backs up to literally the millimeter line. Like, we’ve got a picture to where they couldn’t move it any closer.”
After an offside call, Greiner settled his team down for one last stop on 4th down. The ball was inches away from the goal line.
“The kids were getting upset,” Greiner said. “I was just like, ‘Guys they can’t move it any closer. Just bow up, go get it, and be hungry.’ For them to go out there and make that stand just shows the greatness living inside them.”
The game was far from over. The Lions needed to make sure they advanced the ball out from in front of their end zone. Greiner knew against the Mavericks’ defense, it was not going to be an easy task.
And then quarterback KD Smith asked Greiner to change his play call.
“(Smith) was like, ‘Coach I know we don’t work under center a lot, but I am going under center,’” Greiner said. “I was like, ‘I love it, go get it.’ I was skeptical because I didn’t want to have a fumbled snap right there. But for (Smith) and the offensive line to go dig it out and take a knee in a victory formation feels amazing.”
The game was extra special for linebacker Jaden Smith, who was unable to play in this matchup a season ago.
“This feels kinda good,” Smith said. “Last year I had a concussion and last year in this matchup we got whooped. So, at the beginning of tonight, I just told everybody, let’s take this dub. It kinda hurt from last year, but everybody bossed up and got the dub.”
The Lions are now 1-0 in the Queen City Athletic Conference. Coach Greiner said coming into the season that he wanted to win the conference, and this is a step in the right direction.
“We are in the best conference in the state,” Greiner said. “We believe that. If we win our conference, I feel like we are the best team in the state. We have a long way to go until then, but this is the start of the conference and we got a win on their home turf. Now, we’ve got to go back and protect our home. That is how it’s going to go down.”
Three who made a difference
KD Smith, West Charlotte: Smith, a sophomore, showed great composure under pressure. Mallard Creek was sending blitzes at Smith that he was able to evade and gain yards both on the ground and through the air. He had a rushing score in the first half that made the game a two-score game going into halftime.
Jaden Smith, West Charlotte: The Michigan commit and leader of the Lions’ defense stood tall on his own goal line, a crucial part of the fourth-and-goal stand. Smith feels that the defense is rounding into shape and he wants to continue to be a leader on that side of the ball.
Benjamin Black, Mallard Creek: Black caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Evan Rambert in the second quarter to take the lead 8-6. Black’s speed had the Lions making sure they had extra eyes on him all game, which helped open up some things in the running game in the second half.
What’s next?
West Charlotte (4-0) will face the other 3A team in their conference, West Mecklenburg, on Friday, Sep. 22 at 7 p.m. Mallard Creek (1-3) will travel to Hopewell, also on Sep. 22 at 7 p.m.
Score Summary
West Charlotte 6 11 0 0 — 17
Mallard Creek 0 8 7 0 — 15
PHOTOS: West Charlotte at Mallard Creek
