N.C. powers Mallard Creek, Butler to collide in yet another playoff showdown

In five of the past six seasons, either Butler or Mallard Creek has won the N.C. 4AA football championship game.

Friday night at Providence High, the rivals will meet in a second round playoff game that will leave one of them alive to sustain that streak of dominance. It will be the fourth consecutive year the teams have met in the playoffs. The winner of the past three postseason meetings won a state title.

Each coach said he is pleased with how his team is playing.

“We’re as healthy as anybody,” Butler coach Brian Hales said. “Our kids are excited. Shoot, that’s been the hardest thing this week is to keep that excitement contained. I love where we are. We’re playing well, and hopefully we can keep it going.”

Hales, whose Bulldogs are No. 6 in the Observer’s Sweet 16 poll, said No. 5 Mallard Creek will see a much different Butler team than it faced Aug. 28, when the Mavericks beat visiting Butler 24-10.

“We were still trying to figure out who we were going to be,” Hales said.

Hales said back then Butler was working in new starters and schemes for the first meeting. Then, midway through the season, Butler suspended several starters for violating a team rule. Hales, who would not reveal how many were punished, said he and school officials decided they would miss four games. During their absence, Butler struggled and was upset 10-7 by East Mecklenburg.

“Anytime you’re without players for whatever reason, it forces other guys to step up,” Hales said. “As coaches, it makes you look for other answers, too – not just in terms of players but in terms of schemes. ‘How do we cover up this?’ And ‘How do you pick up that?’ On offense, it forced me to find other things and added to our playbook, so to speak.”

Since the suspended players returned to the lineup in late October, the Bulldogs have outscored three teams by a combined 159-10. And during the team’s five-game win streak, Hales’ defense has allowed but 31 points.

“After 12 weeks,” he said, “we have such a better grip on what we want to do offensively and what our strengths are. Defensively, they’ve been lights out all year.”

At Mallard Creek, the Mavericks entered the season with 18 starters back from a two-time state champion. They were ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation, but narrow losses to Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes and Hough spoiled what many thought would be an unbeaten march to a third state title.

In Mecklenburg County, Independence is the only 4A team to have won three straight state championships. Mallard Creek coach Mike Palmieri said his team is ready to begin the drive to history.

“When you win back-to-back state titles, I’m not going to lie, it’s hard to get up for every game, but when you’re trying to build a championship program, you should be up for every game. We tried to instill that in our kids, but the media and parents fill their heads up with how good they should be.

“But listen, we’ve done a good job. We lost two, but they were really close. Of course, we’re excited for the playoffs. We’ve got a chance to do something great here.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 7:15 PM with the headline "N.C. powers Mallard Creek, Butler to collide in yet another playoff showdown."