Palisades finally beats Mecklenburg County rival Ardrey Kell
After four years of trying, Palisades High finally got the best of Ardrey Kell on the football field.
The Pumas overcame their own mistakes to get a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and pull out a 14-11 victory over the Knights in their Southwestern 7A-8A conference opener Friday.
Palisades (4-2, 1-0) — which opened in 2022 and fielded its first varsity football team the following year — had lost its previous three games to Ardrey Kell (3-3, 0-1) by margins of 48, 25 and four points.
Friday’s game turned out to be a lot closer — but this time going in the Pumas’ favor.
“We had that conversation,” with the players, said fourth-year Palisades head coach Jonathan Simmons, still dripping wet from a postgame dousing by his team.
“We went back and watched last year’s film a bunch — we watched it pretty much every day. Again, it was just our time to break through. … Our conversation wasn’t whether we could compete with these teams, but could we finish against these teams. That’s what we did tonight.”
After going down 9-0 to Ardrey Kell heading into the fourth quarter, the Pumas showed that they could compete with the Knights — and finish as well.
Cole Hough, who had thrown for 917 yards and four touchdowns over his first five games this season, tacked on a pair of fourth-quarter TDs — a 21-yarder to Christian Collymore in the opening seconds of the period, and the game-winning 60-yarder from Nick Rankin Jr. with 7:03 remaining for a 14-9 Palisades lead.
“This team was just different, but I love these guys,” Hough said. “We just pushed through. We had some adversity and had some points that should have been made, but we pushed through and we came out on top.”
Ardrey Kell had taken the lead on quarterback Jared Curtis’ one-yard keeper midway through the first quarter en route to a 6-0 halftime lead, and added a 23-yard field goal by Drew Ludwick early in the third quarter.
The Knights had a shot at regaining the lead late in the fourth quarter when Curtis hit Chase Johnson in the corner of the end zone for a 17-yard TD with 1:07 left. However, the touchdown was nullified by a pair of penalties — first an ineligible receiver call, then an unsportsmanlike conduct flag for Johnson tossing the ball in celebration of his soon-to-be-quashed score.
Pushed back 20 yards because of the penalties, the Pumas’ drive ended with an interception by K.J. Bynes with 36 seconds remaining.
Palisades then ran down the clock — and forced Ardrey Kell to use its remaining timeouts — before Rankin ran out of the end zone for a safety.
Three who made a difference
Cole Hough, Palisades – The Pumas’ quarterback threw for 160 yards and two touchdowns, completing 12 of 21 attempts with an interception. He also had a 75-yard TD pass to Khy’lieb Rodriguez in the second quarter called back on a penalty
Jared Curtis, Ardrey Kell – The Knights’ senior QB completed his first seven pass attempts in the first half, but finished the game making 16 of 30 attempts for 125 yards, with an interception.
Jamari Glover and Lincoln Wise, Palisades – The Pumas’ 1-2 backfield duo combined for 107 rushing yards. Glover had seven carries for 53 yards, and Wise 11 for a game-best 54 yards
Up next
Both teams have home conference games next week. Palisades hosts Ballantyne Ridge, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ newest high school, on Friday. Ardrey Kell hosts Rocky River.
SCORING SUMMARY
PALISADES 0 0 0 14 – 14
ARDREY KELL 0 6 3 2 – 11
Second Quarter
AK—Jared Curtis 1 run (kick blocked), 5:40.
Third Quarter
AK—Drew Ludwick 23 FG, 8:06.
Fourth Quarter
P—Christian Collymore 21 pass from Cole Hough (Ben Vergara kick), 11:53.
P—Nick Rankin Jr. 60 pass from Hough (Vergara kick), 7:03.
AK—Rankin ran out of end zone, 17.4.