No. 8 Weddington holds off No. 12 Chambers in Union County game of the week
Weddington High head coach Andy Capone was happy with the outcome of Friday’s NCHSAA playoff game — even if he wasn’t so happy with how his team achieved it.
The Warriors, the top seed in the 4A West bracket, avoided a big upset in the second round of the playoffs Friday night by holding off a second-half rally by Chambers in a 14-10 victory in the Deer Park Water Union County game of the week.
Weddington (10-2) scored all of its points in the second quarter, then relied on its defense — and enough plays by the offense to run down the clock — to make stops when it counted against the 16th-seeded Cougars (8-4).
“I thought offensively, we played well early,” Capone said. “We had too many drives (with) too many missed assignments. So as an offensive coach, I’m not going to be too happy Monday (when the team holds its first practice), but I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it right now.”
Warriors quarterback Tyler Budge didn’t have one of his better games, but still had 182 yards total offense and one of Weddington’s two touchdowns.
The senior threw for 125 yards and one score — a three-yarder to Brooks Mauk with 8:34 left in the second quarter — and ran for 57 yards on a team-best 16 carries.
The Warriors then added a second touchdown after stopping the Cougars on downs, leading to Nick Diamond’s eight-yard touchdown run (followed by Everett Scott’s second extra-point kick) with 4:10 remaining en route to a 14-0 halftime lead.
“It’s never the game plan we wanted; we had to make some adjustments,” Budge said.
So did Chambers — and the Cougars made them in a big way in the second half.
After being held to 135 total yards in the first half, with a missed 41-yard field goal by Saul Carvona and a turnover (an interception by Weddington’s Michael Luisa at the start of the second quarter), Chambers turned things around.
The Cougars broke the shutout on Carvona’s 26-yard field goal with 44 seconds left in the third quarter.
Chambers then drove 92 yards — aided by passes from Tre Robinson to Armon Wright — to set up a one-yard TD run by Wright with 6:19 remaining, with Carvona’s extra-point kick making it 14-10.
The Cougars had one last chance at a game-altering score, getting the ball back with 3:24 left. But Weddington’s defense came up with a key stop on fourth-and-14 near midfield, stopping Wright three yards shy of a first down.
“The first half, we made too many mistakes,” Chambers head coach Brandon Wiggins said. “Just boneheaded calls by me mostly. They had the momentum in the first half, and we had to do everything we could to stop that momentum.
“The guys fought hard. We live and we learn, but we’ve never satisfied with losing.”
Three who made a difference
Tyler Budge, Weddington: The Warriors’ senior quarterback didn’t have one of his better games, but he did enough to send his team onto the next round of the playoffs. He completed 13 of 28 passes for 125 yards and one touchdown.
Keenan Jackson, Weddington: The Warriors’ senior wideout was a big part of the offense, making eight receptions for 96 yards.
The Robinson-to-Wright connection, Chambers: The two seniors drove the Cougars’ second-half comeback on offense. Robinson finished with 187 passing yards, completing 21 of 31 attempts. Wright caught 12 of those passes for a game-high 137 yards.
What’s next?
Weddington hosts another Charlotte-area rival — Charlotte Catholic — in a third-round 4A playoff game Friday, Nov. 17. The 24th-seeded Cougars (9-3) advanced by upsetting eighth-seeded T.C. Roberson 24-21 on Friday night in Asheville.
SCORING SUMMARY
CHAMBERS 0 0 3 7 — 10
WEDDINGTON 0 14 0 0 — 14
Second Quarter
WED — Brooks Mauk 3 pass from Tyler Budge (Everett Scott kick), 8:34.
WED — Nick Diamond 8 run (Scott kick), 4:10.
Third Quarter
CMB — Saul Carvona 26 FG, 0:44.
Fourth Quarter
CMB — Armon Wright 1 run (Carvona kick), 6:19.
PHOTOS: Chambers at Weddington
This story was originally published November 10, 2023 at 10:38 PM.
