Corvian Community prepares for its big home game against a football giant

There was a time — and it wasn’t that long ago — when Corvian Community was an unfamiliar name showing up on the schedules of a few teams in the Charlotte area.

Now, not so much.

On Friday night, Corvian’s football team will face one of the region’s biggest traditional powerhouses, Butler High.

And the game will be on Corvian’s home turf.

“We look at it as another opportunity to let people know exactly who we are,” said Cooper Peterson, a senior who does the kicking for Corvian Community and is expected to be doing the kicking for a major college football program in the near future.

Thanks to some open dates in the schedule, Corvian has managed to land Butler for a home game at 7 p.m. Friday.

“If we have an open date and someone is willing to play us, we’ll do it,” Corvian Community coach Chris Amill said.

A Corvian primer

OK, let’s assume you still aren’t familiar with the school where Amill teaches and Peterson kicks.

Corvian Community is a charter school in north Charlotte, practically next door to Mallard Creek High. The Cardinals have about 450 students — one-fourth the size of Butler.

The school put basketball teams on the floor for the first time in the 2019-20 season. Amill arrived a few years later from Youngstown, Ohio, and put a football team on the field for the first time in 2022.

Corvian Community got good in a hurry. The boys’ basketball team surprised a lot of people in 2024 by reaching the 1A state championship, where they lost to perennial power Wilson Prep. They rectified that shortcoming last March by winning the 1A state title.

Meanwhile, Amill’s football team won its first 15 games last fall before losing in the 1A finals to Tarboro.

“Last year let people in the Charlotte area know who we are,” Amill said. “They saw some of our people sign (with colleges). They saw that you can be at a smaller school and still make it big.”

They’re winning again

Many of the players who earned the headlines on last year’s football team were seniors, and Amill has done some rebuilding this fall.

The Cardinals are a 2A school in the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s new eight-class structure. That’s the second-smallest classification.

But Corvian Community was at it again in its opener last Friday, knocking off Harding, a 6A school, 31-18. Butler is 7A, as is West Mecklenburg, another Corvian opponent this season.

Amill knows his team faces a tough task Friday night.

He and Butler High head coach Brian Hales were teammates a few decades ago on the Kent State football team. Amill said he knows Hales is an outstanding coach and has built a strong program at Butler.

“But I have faith in our players,” he said. “We know we’re not a secret any more. I think everyone knows they’re in for a game when they play us. So we have to keep our heads down and work hard.”

The Cardinals were known last year for their offense and special teams, which scored touchdowns like it was a video game. But senior linebacker Jayden Summers said opponents should not sleep on Corvian’s defense.

“We have three returning starters on the defensive line, and I think our linebacker corps is strong too,” Summer said.

Last year’s success has helped make Corvian’s roster a popular attraction for student-athletes, Amill said. He said the roster has climbed from 32 players a few years ago to 52 this season.

“We have some great seniors, and senior leadership is an important part of success,” Amill said. “But we also have some very talented younger players who’ve come into our program. We’re working on getting the right mix.”