Butler High wins second straight game, dominating North Mecklenburg at home

After losing three straight games to Irmo, Providence Day and Providence earlier this season, the Butler Bulldogs have found their footing.

Friday, Butler debuted its new turf field and celebrated the school’s actual homecoming festivities by dominating North Mecklenburg in a convincing 28-0 victory.

It was Butler’s first home game this season — and first since Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools had been working to redo a field that debuted in 1997.

The Bulldogs put this one away early.

Butler got a first-quarter scoring run from Donovan Pollard in the first quarter and two second- quarter touchdowns from Da’mourian Thomas-Wright, all while the Bulldogs’ defense — coming off last week’s 23-12 win over Chambers — simply wouldn’t let North Mecklenburg do much.

Even when the Vikings (3-4, 0-2) had first-and-goal at the Bulldogs’ 6 late in the third quarter, Butler kept them out of the end zone by eventually forcing a fourth-down incompletion to preserve the shutout.

Bulldogs head coach Brian Hales has returned to the sidelines this season and is looking to build on a resume of 10 conference titles and one state championship.

“The kids did such a good job of changing personnel,” said Hales, whose team improved to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in the Meck Power 6 7A/8A. “We ran a lot of sets and played a lot of people. We’re young as we only have 10 seniors, so we’re still learning who we are.”

Three who made a difference

Da’mourian Thomas-Wright, Butler: Junior running back rushed 17 times for 137 yards and two touchdowns and caught two passes for 30 yards to account for 167 of the Bulldogs’ 334-130 total offensive advantage under the direction of quarterbacks Tyler Druzbik and Niko Henderson.

Miles Lacroix, Butler: Sophomore linebacker had a fumble recovery, a pass interception, and his pass breakup ended North Mecklenburg’s best scoring drive in the third quarter.

Antonio Jenkins, North Mecklenburg: He started at quarterback, played wide receiver and returned kicks for the Vikings. He had 17 yards rushing on five carries, completed 4 of 9 passes for 28 yards and caught one pass from Sidnee Westbrook for 6 yards.

Notable

While the field was brand new, the scoreboard at Butler was inoperable Friday. Time was kept on the field by game officials.

Hales guided the Bulldogs to a 131-34 overall record from 2011 to 2023 before retiring. The field at the school was named in his honor last year.

Butler and North Mecklenburg were meeting for the first time as league rivals. Butler now leads a series that began in 2001 by a 9-1 margin,

They said it

“We just have to make sure we take care of what we can take of. I’m sure those three will be favorites against us but that doesn’t mean we won’t work hard and see what happens.”

— Butler coach Brian Hales on his challenging three-game end of the regular season that starts next Friday at home against West Charlotte (No. 3 Observer Sweet 16) and continues at No. 4 Mallard Creek on Oct. 24 and at home against No. 10 Independence on Oct. 30

Game Summary

North Mecklenburg 0 0 0 0 — 0

Butler 7 14 7 0 — 28

First quarter

B: Donovan Pollard 11 run (James Vastis kick)

Second quarter

B: Da’mourian Thomas-Wright 6 run (Vastis kick)

B: Thomas-Wright 11 run (Vastis kick)

Third quarter

B: Niko Henderson 11 pass to Donovan Pollard (Vastis kick)

This story was originally published October 10, 2025 at 9:13 PM.