Olympic rallies for a conference win on the road at Central Cabarrus

For three quarters, Olympic looked like it was going to suffer its first Greater Metro 6A-7A conference loss on Friday night at the hands of Central Cabarrus.

Then fate — and Chance Cato — stepped up to help the Trojans pull off their most-exciting (and a little nerve-wracking) win under head coach Brandon Thompson.

Cato threw a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes —- the last coming with under a minute to play — and Olympic’s defense came up with two big plays down the stretch to rally past the Vikings 17-13.

“Coming into this game, I just told the guys that if we’re locked and we do what we’re supposed to do, we’ll get a win,” Cato said of the final quarter. “I told the defense, ‘You get us off the field and we’re going to come back with a win.’

“That’s what they did, that’s what happened. The guys and the coaches never gave up on each other, and we came back with a win.”

The win puts Olympic into a tie with West Cabarrus in the conference standings at 2-0 (3-2 overall), just ahead of Kannapolis’s A.L. Brown, which had its game postponed by Friday’s thunderstorms and showers.

“I think we just started a rivalry there,” Thompson said of Central Cabarrus (2-3, 1-1). “Those were two really good teams that played to the end of the game. But we were able to put it away.

“It was stressful, but this was a game these guys are never gonna forget.”

The Trojans had taken the lead midway through the first quarter, capping their opening possession with Fernando Zelaya’s 29-yard field goal with 7 minutesm, 27 seconds left.

But penalties — nine for 90 yards in the first half, 14 for 150 for the game — kept Olympic’s offense from getting any sort of traction.

Central Cabarrus took advantage behind Damonte James. Near the end of the first quarter, James put the Vikings ahead 6-3 on a 9-yard touchdown run with 41.4 seconds left.

Then, early in the fourth quarter, James jumped on Zelaya’s blocked 29-yard field goal attempt with 9:42 left in the game, plucking the loose ball out of the air and racing 85 yards for a touchdown and a 13-3 Central Cabarrus lead.

That play looked to have been the death knell for the Trojans. Cato, however, had other plans.

The 6-foot-4 senior quarterback hit Bryce Nixon on a pass that Nixon took 50 yards for a score that cut Central Cabarrus’ lead to 13-10.

Then, with 53.3 seconds remaining, Cato found Kenyan White on a 28-yard catch (with a Vikings defender all over him, leading to a flag) to give the Trojans their first — and final — lead since the first quarter.

“There was a lot of adversity,” Cato said. “There was a point where we were dropping our heads, and not believing in each other. Then, there came a point in time late in the game where we started to believe we could do this.”

That came after Central Cabarrus’ Khalil Parks came up with an interception near midfield with 1:20 remaining in what looked like the game-sealing play for the Vikings.

But the Trojans’ defense came up with their biggest plays of the game, stripping James of the ball, with Olympic’s Conner Lewis recovering at the Central 28 with 1:03 left. Then, after Olympic regained the lead, Jalen Bernard came up with an interception that sealed it for the Trojans.

“To take it to the wire like that, it’s just a shame,” Central Cabarrus head coach Donnie Keifer said. “To end the game with the ball in your best ball carrier’s hands (James), who never fumbles, and that happens. I feel so bad for him. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have been in this position to begin with. That just makes me feel bad for him, and for the whole team.”

Three who made a difference

Chance Cato, Olympic – The 6-foot-4 senior finished with 248 yards passing, completing 13 of 23 attempts with the two touchdowns, and an interception.

Damonte James, Central Cabarrus – The Vikings’ senior finished with 110 yards rushing on 18 carries, as well as the bocked FG return for a touchdown.

Olympic’s second-half defense – The Trojans came up with three sacks – two of those coming from Kenyan White – and essentially held Central Cabarrus’ offense in check.

Observations

— The start of Friday’s game was delayed by 30 minutes after lightning was detected in the area approximately 40 minutes before game time. Kickoff was pushed back to 7:30 p.m.

— While both Olympic and Central Cabarrus have been open since 1966, the two schools’ football teams had never met until Friday’s game.

— Olympic posted its first three-game winning streak since last season, when the Trojans did it twice — opening the season with three straight victories, then taking three straight at the end of the season before losing in the second round of the NCHSAA 4A playoffs to Northwest Guilford.

— Central Cabarrus was going for its first back-to-back wins since the 2022 season, when the Vikings beat both South Rowan and East Rowan on Sept. 29/Oct. 7, 2022.

Up next

Olympic returns to its home field to play its next conference game on Friday, this one against Kannapolis’ A.L. Brown. Meanwhile, Central Cabarrus makes a short trip (roughly 13 miles) for its next conference opponent: at rival Cox Mill.

SCORING SUMMARY

OLYMPIC 3 0 0 14 – 17

CENT. CABARRUS 6 0 0 7 – 13

First Quarter

O—Fernando Zelaya 29 FG, 7:27.

CC—Damonte James 9 run (kick missed), 0:41.4.

Fourth Quarter

CC—James 85 blocked kick return (Cris Vasquez kick), 9:42.

O—Bryce Nixon 50 pass from Chance Cato (Zelaya kick), 9:02.

O—Kenyan White 28 pass from Cato (Zeleya kick),k 0:53.3.

This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 12:02 AM.