West Charlotte stops Dudley, moves within one win of first state final in 18 years
West Charlotte is for real, and has one more game left in front of it to reach the NCHSAA 3A state football final.
One week after dominating No. 1 seed Erwin on the road, the eighth-seeded Lions traveled to No. 5 Dudley of Greensboro on Friday, and did it again, using dominant defense and timely offense to run away with a 39-13 fourth-round win.
West Charlotte will face No. 3 Hickory in next week’s N.C. 3A Western Regional championship game — again on the road. A win there would give the Lions their first NCHSAA 3A state finals appearance, and its first state championship appearance in any classification since 2006.
The Lions won their only state title in 1995.
“This is a great team we just played tonight,” West Charlotte head coach Sam Greiner said. “They’ve got a lot of great tradition just like we do, so I told our guys it’s like playing ourselves in the mirror. The only difference is we went through a lot of adversity early so we knew we had to adjust. I think they were just so dominant that they maybe they didn’t find their true identity. It was just that toughness and the grittiness that came through, was really the difference tonight.”
Friday, West Charlotte’s defense mostly bottled up a Dudley team that was averaging 47 points per game, and midway through the third quarter — after sophomore QB Jamouri Nichols threw a touchdown pass down the right side — West Charlotte led, 33-7.
Dudley had only allowed 22 points all season, and had recorded nine shutouts.
Leading 21-7 at halftime, the Lions put it away with two third-quarter scores, one from star utility man KD Cotton, a Power 4 recruit.
“It’s just the hard work I put in,” Cotton said. “It’s paying off, and God has blessed me to keep it up so I’m proud to come through for my guys.”
West Charlotte’s task next week will be tall: Hickory owns a 30-game win streak. The Lions have won seven in a row.
“Yeah, this is the time you want to peak,” Grenier said. “When it gets cold that’s when it matters. We still got some work to do, but it’s always good to improve on a win.”
Three who made a difference
KD Cotton, West Charlotte – The senior captain of the Lions had a monster game, picking up three touchdowns and a two-point conversion in the win.
Jamouri Nichols, West Charlotte – The sophomore QB looked phenomenal both passing and running as he led his team to a dominant win.
Sam Johnson, West Charlotte – The big man up front for the Lions defense had multiple sacks, and a huge fumble recovery to stall a promising Dudley drive.
What’s next?
West Charlotte will travel to Hickory next Friday for with a spot in the NCHSAA 3A state final on the line.
Scoring Summary
West Charlotte – 0 21 12 6 – 39
Dudley – 0 7 0 6 – 13
Second Quarter
(WS) – Sincere Gray blocked punt recovered and ran back for a touchdown (Jose Gonzalez kick after good)
(WS) - KD Cotton 1 yard run (two-point conversion failed)
(WS) - Davion Jones 30-yard pass from Jamouri Nichols (Cotton two-point conversion good)
(D) - CJ Neely 9-yard pass from Jaquez Crawford (Andre Cummings kick after good)
Third Quarter
(WC) - Cotton 7-yard run (kick after no good)
(WC) - Cotton 37-yard pass from Nichols (two point try no good)
Fourth Quarter
(WC) – Jair Epps 25-yard run (two-point attempt no good)
(D) – Rayshawn Wilson 29-yard run (two-point attempt no good)
This story was originally published December 6, 2024 at 9:37 PM.
