NC high school football title games offer chance for players to ‘seize the opportunity’
West Charlotte coach Sam Greiner has an opportunity to earn a unique distinction in Saturday’s N.C. 3A state final when the Lions play Fayetteville’s Seventy-First High School at NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium.
A Lions win would give Greiner state titles at two Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools member institutions.
Greiner led Harding to an improbable 2017 4A state title when each of four classifications was subdivided into “A” and “AA” divisions. Harding had not won a state championship in more than 50 years, and in 2016, the year before it won a title, Harding was 1-10.
“The memories that it will create for these young people will go beyond what I can ever imagine,” Greiner said. “The kids that were at Harding, still, talk about it today.”
Tom Knotts also won championships at two CMS schools. Knotts led West Charlotte its only NCHSAA state championship, in 1995, and built a dynasty at Independence, where the Patriots won seven in row, beginning in the 2000 season.
Notably, Knotts came within one win of a state championship at a third CMS school when his 1987 Harding team was felled by Garner in the 4A state final.
Sowell to lead his alma mater in the finals, again
Five of the eight head coaches of state finalists this weekend are Black, one of the highest totals since the NCHSAA began realizing integration in the late 1960s. Monroe coach Johnny Sowell, one of those Black head coaches, will lead his alma mater, the Redhawks, in Saturday’s 2A state final against Northeastern (Elizabeth City) at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.
Sowell has won state titles as Monroe’s head coach in football, boys’ basketball, and boys’ track & field.
Northeastern coach Antonio Moore has led the Eagles to multiple state finals, but is seeking his first title. Sowell made clear how the championship week emphasis on sportsmanship, which he and his coaches will emphasize transcends time and space, particularly when both teams enter a game undefeated.
“We’re coming up here to win,” Sowell said. “But we’ve also got to know how to lose, too. That’s the tough part.
“Our goal is to win this game. If it doesn’t go our way, then we’re still going to be okay.”
NIL no problem at Grimsley
Grimsley coach Darryl Brown was adamant about the role he has played in managing intra-team dynamics following this season’s victorious lawsuit to acquire N.C. public school students’ access to NIL opportunities. That lawsuit was filed in August by Rolanda Brandon, mother of Whirlies junior quarterback Faizon Brandon, a Tennessee commit, and resolved by the beginning of October.
“I haven’t had to do anything,” Brown said. “The culture of our locker room was already in place before this.”
Brown praised Brandon and his family for their humility and understanding that Brandon, within education-based athletics, is a Grimsley student, and has the same responsibilities as any other team member in good standing. Brown admitted it is advantageous the Whirlies have a bevy of high-level student athletes with prospective college football opportunities, and thus, have unique understanding of NIL realities.
“It helps in any profession or any field — like-minded people,” Brown said. “It’s really done nothing but bring our team closer together.”
▪ Grimsley will meet Rolesville in Friday’s 4A state final at Kenan Stadium. The Whirlies won this fall’s regular-season meeting, 35-20, at Rolesville. That was the Rams’ lone loss, with both teams playing 15 games.
Corvian No. 1?
Corvian, headed to Saturday’s N.C. 1A state final at NC State, will make its first title game appearance against perennial power Tarboro. The nine-time state champion Vikings are making a record eighth consecutive state final appearance. Both teams are undefeated through 15 games.
Since the NCHSAA went to a four-class system in 1959, no 1A football team from Mecklenburg County has won a state championship.
“This team, this is their first time being here just like it is ours,” Corvian coach Chris Amill, Sr. said. “We just have to come out and enjoy the moment, seize the opportunity, and play some football.
Amill coached in seven state championship games in Ohio, and hopes his leadership experience will be beneficial. “There is a possibility that we don’t make it back for a while,” Amill continued. There is also that possibility that we’ll be back next year. We don’t know. The only thing we can control is Saturday, and just enjoy it.”
