Dynasty! Charlotte Christian wins 4th straight NCISAA state title.
Henry Rutledge battled back, after a big fourth-quarter mistake. Chip Kasay came back, after suffering what seemed like a serious injury late in the game.
And Charlotte Christian rallied, after seemingly losing the momentum Friday night in its state championship game, turning back visiting Rabun Gap, 27-21.
It was the Knights’ fourth straight N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association Division I football title. Since 2008, Christian has won eight state titles, including seven out of the past nine.
“I didn’t have to say anything to them,” said Knights’ head coach Jason Estep, who captured his eighth state championship in 13 years at the helm. “I didn’t have to tell Henry anything. I knew this group would come back.”
The Knights (6-1) led 21-7 entering the fourth quarter, thanks in part to a 92-yard touchdown run by Rutledge late in the second.
But on the first play of the final period, Rutledge, who doubles as the team’s punter and distance kicker, shanked a punt off the side of his right foot. Rabun Gap took over at the Charlotte Christian 19, and the Eagles (7-2) scored seven plays later.
On the next-to-last play before the touchdown, Kasay, a standout defensive back, was injured making a tackle.
“It was actually a bit scary,” Kasay, son of former Carolina Panthers’ kicking great John Kasay, said of the injury. “I lost feeling in my left arm, from the elbow down.”
It turned out to be a “stinger,” and Kasay returned to the game after a few minutes. It was a good thing he did, but more on that later.
In the meantime, special teams problems cost the Knights again when they punted on their next possession. Rabun Gap senior Coleman Bryson, who had a remarkable game on offense and defense, returned the punt 60 yards to the Charlotte Christian 18.
Four plays later, Bryson scored a touchdown. The conversion kick left the game tied at 21, with 4:14 remaining.
“These players did what they always do,” Estep said. “They didn’t quit. They regained the momentum.”
Charlotte Christian then drove 80 yards in five plays for the winning touchdown with 2:27 left. A key play was Matthew Tuomala’s 33-yard pass to Hudson Collins. Rutledge capped the drive and erased the impact of his shanked punt by dashing 36 yards for the touchdown.
Rabun Gap wasn’t finished, though. Charlotte Christian’s conversion kick after Rutledge’s touchdown was blocked — by Coleman, naturally.
That left the Knights with a precarious 6-point lead.
But the Eagles’ hopes were dashed when Kasay, back in the lineup, picked off a Aidan Semo pass at the Charlotte Christian 33 with 1:25 left. The ball was tipped by the Knights’ Will Farrell, who also helped set up a first-quarter interception by Kasay.
The Knights salted away the latest of their state championships when Rutledge broke through a hole for a 12-yard run and a clinching first down with 1:05 to play. That gave Rutledge a 251-yard rushing performance.
“That was a big and powerful team we were playing,” Estep said of the Eagles. “But our defense made the key stops when we needed them.”
Estep was asked if winning the state championship ever gets old.
“No, never,” he said. “It’s a great feeling, and to win four straight like this is a tribute to our players and coaches.”
Three who mattered
Henry Rutledge, Charlotte Christian: Rutledge rushed 28 times for 251 yards, scoring touchdowns on runs of 5, 92 and 36 yards in his last game with the Knights.
Coleman Bryson, Rabun Gap: Bryson did just about everything for the Eagles. He rushed for 85 yards, scored a touchdown, blocked an extra point, returned a punt 60 yards, had two sacks and a tackle for lost yardage. Bryson rushed for 229 yards last week in his team’s 52-42 semifinal victory over Providence Day.
Chip Kasay, Charlotte Christian: Kasay picked off a pair of passes, including an interception that halted Rabun Gap’s potential game-winning drive in the closing minutes.
Worth mentioning
▪ Last week, Rabun Gap recovered a Providence Day fumble early in the first quarter and never trailed. Friday night, the Eagles lost a fumble on the game’s opening kickoff.
▪ Charlotte Christian’s six victories were the second-fewest for a Knights’ team in Estep’s 13 years as head coach. But this COVID-shortened season carries an asterisk since Charlotte Christian only played seven games. The Knights are 111-30 under Estep.
▪ Henry Rutledge wants to set the record straight. He’s a superbly talented running back, but Rutledge also handled punts and long-distance kicks for the Knights. He was sent out on the final play of the first half to try a 53-yard field goal, but the kick fell about 8 yards short. “I can make that kick!” he insisted afterwards. “I’ve got the range for that kick. I just got underneath the ball a bit and floated it.”
▪ Charlotte Christian’s stadium was a disappointing place for Rabun Gap athletic teams this month. The Eagles’ boys’ soccer team lost 2-0 to Carmel Christian in the state championship match Nov. 7. That contest was played at Charlotte Christian.
▪ Coleman played his first three years of high school football at Tuscola High, in the North Carolina mountain town of Waynesville.
▪ In Mecklenburg County history, Independence won seven straight N.C. 4A state championships from 2000-07. Mallard Creek won three in a row from 2013-15, and Charlotte Catholic has won the past three N.C. 3A state championships.
The Cougars will have a shot at a fourth when N.C. public school football returns in February.
In the private schools, Charlotte Country Day has 16 football state championships, including four in a row from 1981-84.
They said it
“This will always be a special state championship, given the strange season that it was. We had to overcome a lot to get here.” — Charlotte Christian coach Jason Estep.
What’s next?
The season is finished for North Carolina’s private schools. But another season starts in a little more than three months. The state’s public schools are scheduled to start Feb. 26.
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
-----------------------
Rabun Gap 7 0 0 14 -- 21
Charlotte Christian 7 14 0 6 -- 27
CC -- Henry Rutledge 5 run (Ben Shropshire kick)
RG -- Aidan Semo 2 run (Dominik Sojat kick)
CC -- Matthew Tuomala 15 run (Shropshire kick)
CC -- Rutledge 92 run (Shropshire kick)
RG -- Brady Holloway 13 pass from Semo (Sojat kick)
RG -- Coleman Bryson 2 run (Sojat kick)
CC -- Rutledge 36 run (kick blocked)
NCISAA Finals
Division I: Charlotte Christian 27, Rabun Gap 21
Division II: Christ School 55, Harrells Christian 21
