Young Lions, big win highlight week 4
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Hardin Valley’s Jeremiah Brown (1) celebrates after returning a fumble for a touchdown against West Ridge. - Jake Nichols
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Concord Christian’s Amare McKenzie (0) helped lead the Lions to a historic victory last Friday, Sept. 11, against Halls. - Jake Nichols
Relatively speaking, the Concord Christian School football program is still in its infancy.
You wouldn’t know that looking at the results, though.
Last Friday, Sept. 12, the Lions (3-1) pulled off a historic win at Halls, winning 30-23 to highlight this week’s “How the West was Won” results.
And before the score went final, CCS even started fast with a 27-9 lead at halftime.
“We got off to a quick start in the first half,” head coach Steve Matthews said. “Had a great two weeks of practice, picking up the intensity with more blocking and tackling and fundamentals. I feel like that really helped us.”
In the process, CCS took down a Red Devils program that features a whopping 994 more students in total enrollment.
Freshman quarterback Dylan Brown went 19-for-30 through the air for 297 yards and three touchdowns, as he continues to showcase the talent that Matthews first noticed in the preseason.
“For a freshman to come in and do what he’s doing, he’s doing an outstanding job,” Matthews said. “It starts with the pass protection and a great offensive line. He still makes freshman mistakes sometimes, but the sky is the limit for his future. Accurate with the ball, makes great decisions.”
“We started throwing in the summer and you saw the talent with his release, but you don’t really know until you go 11-on-11,” he added. “He got in some scrimmages but wasn’t the starter at
the time, but it really wasn’t until CAK that I saw the composure and the decision-making ability.”
Alistair Middlebrook totaled 24 rushing attempts for 112 yards and a touchdown, filling in nicely for Maurice Smith since he was dealing with an ankle issue. Out wide, all three of the top CCS receivers hauled in touchdowns: Amare McKenzie with seven catches for 95 yards and a touchdown, Dasani Moulden with six receptions for 124 yards and a score and Todd Lundy with five grabs for 68 yards and a third score.
“Offensively a couple penalties stopped us,” Matthews said. “But otherwise we were hitting on all cylinders. With such a young team, you have to temper those emotions at halftime, too.
“We knew Halls would fight back, and we took our foot off the gas a little in the second half but held on at the end.
“Just a great win for our team and community,” he added. “Usually startup programs don’t have high expectations, but I’ve told everybody we don’t want to be patient. We want to be good right now. So this gives us confidence we can schedule big teams and go hold our own.”
CAK (4-0) had a similar effect against Oneida, beating the Indians 49-0 for a 4-0 start. Isaac Kannah and Hunter Bennett delivered two touchdowns apiece, while Marvin Wyrosdick finished with nine tackles and Masyn Apalategui totaled 119 return yards on the night.
Over at Hardin Valley, the Hawks won 45-14 over West Ridge to move to 3-1 under Tyler Wynn. For more on that game, see corresponding article by Jake Nichols.
And at Catholic, the Irish (4-0) gritted out another tough finish for a 28-22 victory over Cardinal Ritter (MO).
For the third time in four games, the Irish won the game with a clutch drive in the final two minutes.
“Our kids showed a lot of heart and a lot of grit, and it’s shown in the four games we played,” head coach Philip Shadowens said. “We don’t always play well but we always play hard.”
QB Mack Bartholomew ran in a 23-yard touchdown for the win with 20 seconds left, as he led the Irish to two scores in their last two possessions to overcome a 16-7 deficit.
“It’s awesome being 4-0,” Shadowens said. “But we know there’s so many more steps our football team has to make.”
George Quarles might offer a similar sentiment for his Webb squad, which jumped out to a 7-0 lead over Lakeway Christian last week. But the Lions responded with 41 unanswered points, routing the Spartans (0-4) in Knoxville.
Farragut suffered a similar fate against Bradley Central, falling 42-0, while Bearden lost 35-0 at Science Hill. For more on the FHS matchup, see corresponding story by Jake Nichols.
