West Charlotte football is The Observer’s 2025 boys’ team of the year
West Charlotte High School made a little history last season, winning its first state football championship in 29 years.
Today, those Lions are named as The Charlotte Observer’s boys’ team of the 2024-25 school year.
In the previous two seasons, West Charlotte had fallen in the state quarterfinals, each time losing a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter.
In 2024, the Lions were determined to get all the way to the championship round.
“The environment is different,” junior tight end and receiver Rakim Finch said in preseason. “This is a player-led team. We have more leaders this year. We have the talent. We have the coaching to go all the way.”
While not many rankings or pollsters had the Lions as a serious state title contender, at least not at first, West Charlotte — a 3A team that returned 14 starters — started the season 2-0 and lost to 4A state power Mallard Creek 13-12.
People started paying attention.
After that, the Lions lost just one more time, and really got rolling when they got to the 3A playoffs, a run that included a 36-20 win at 3A state title favorite Hickory. Hickory was the 2023 3A state champion, was playing at home, and had a 30-game win streak.
None of that mattered.
“It’s all God, honestly,” junior KD Cotton said. “We worked together as a team and we did that. We just make plays. Some of us really come from nothing, man, and we’re used to making plays. Our motto all year was just finish.”
A week later, West Charlotte played unbeaten 71st High School out of Fayetteville for the state championship. 71st was averaging more than 45 points per game.
West Charlotte won, 14-7, getting a defensive stop in its territory to secure the school’s second NCHSAA championship.
“We came through in the end,” West Charlotte QB Jamouri Nichols said. “At first, I started looking around, thinking, ‘Is this real?’ I thought it was a dream, but out of nowhere, everybody started celebrating. I felt it in my spirit and then I started getting happy.”
