RALEIGH, N.C. — Defense wins championships, and one last defensive stop sparked the championship celebration for West Charlotte in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A title game on Saturday.

To defeat Seventy-First 14-7 in a knock-down, drag-out battle played mostly between the 20-yard lines with neither team willing to break, the Lions needed to bow up one more time.

West Charlotte (13-2) forced a stop on 4th-and-20 with 5:56 remaining in the game. The Lions turned the ball back over to the Falcons with 1:41 on the clock and 75 yards in front of them and no timeouts.

The Falcons completed a pass on first and second downs, both inbounds, not doing themselves any favors. Deandre Nance completed a pass with players hanging off of him for a big gain to the 42, but his attempt on 1st and 10 hit the ground. Nance hit Shon Pone for a gain. However, a bad snap meant the Falcons’ intention to spike the ball turned into a tackle for loss as time expired, setting off a Lions’ celebration.

It’s the Lions’ second state championship in school history and the first since 1995. Seventy-First (15-1) fell in the 3A title game for the second straight year.

West Charlotte held the Falcons to 187 yards of total offense and just 45 on the ground.

“Those guys on the front line did an amazing job playing through people,” Lions head coach Sam Griener said. “It caused them (Seventy-First) a lot of ruckus and guys came through and finished the tackles.”

Falcons head coach Duran McLuarin mentioned the team speed on the West Charlotte defense and the problems they presented.

“Their team speed was difficult to neutralize,” McLaurin said. “Make no mistakes about it, they are as good as advertised; fast and athletic on defense and we made too many mistakes. There were things that were a little bit too difficult for us to overcome.”

The Seventy-First defense gave its offense life when Nyrus Moore recovered a West Charlotte fumble on the 30-yard line with 6:20 remaining in the game. Moore, who had nine tackles and two sacks, was named his team’s Defensive Most Outstanding Player.

The two teams went scoreless in the third, but it took the Lions just two plays into the fourth to score. Jamouri Nichols threw a strike to Donte Nicholson for a 10-yard touchdown. The PAT gave West Charlotte a 14-7 lead with just 32 seconds off the clock in the fourth quarter.

Nichols was named MVP after his near-perfect day passing. He was 12-of-13 passing, with his last throw his only incompletion, for 94 yards and two touchdowns. He added 26 yards on 14 carries.

It was tied at halftime, 7-7, but there as many penalties (14) as combined points.

Noah Collins, who finished the game with 10 tackles and four for loss, had three of his TFLs in the first half alone en route to his team’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player award.

West Charlotte scored on its opening drive, a 6-yard pass from Jamouri Nichols to K.D. Cotton with 6:42 remaining in the first quarter. That was the main highlight for the Lions, who had a kickoff return for a touchdown taken off the board due to a holding right before the half.

Cotton, who had just the one catch but added four carries for 39 yards, was voted his team’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player.

“Since the beginning of the season we knew we had the group (to win it all),” Cotton said. “We had to grow, discipline wise and be able to make it to where we could play as a team, no individuals. Now we have a ring, it’s just proof of all the work we put in day by day.”

The Falcons took a while to figure out the West Charlotte defense and had to enter Nance into the game midway through the second quarter. Nance didn’t start the game due to an injury, but threw a 50-yard pass to Jytavius Whitted to finally spark the Seventy-First offense.

Nance was named Offensive Most Outstanding Player, completing 10 of 20 passes for 142 yards on a day when the Falcons only ran for 45. Nance wore a bulky brace on his knee, but wasn’t going to leave his team hanging in the final game.

“It’s a mental thing,” Nance said. “I couldn’t quit on them. I was going to go out there and give it my all, whatever I had, I was going to try and give it to them.”

Prior to that completion, the Falcons only had 27 yards of offense. That 12-play, 75-yard drive that took 6:29 off the clock ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Jayson Franklin with 33 seconds remaining in the half.

It was another heartbreaker for Seventy-First. The Falcons were the state runner-up last year, falling by six. Two years ago they lost in the East regional to Northern Nash by a point. Three years ago they lost in the third round to eventual state runner-up J.H. Rose by six.

Nance graduates with a 55-4 overall record, all four losses coming to state finalists by single digits.

No Fayetteville school has won a title since Seventy-First defeated crosstown foe Douglas Byrd in 2008. Seventy-First is now 3-2-1 in its title appearances.

West Charlotte was in its eighth championship game. The Lions’ only two losses of the year came to 4A conference opponents Mallard Creek and Hough.

Greiner, having led Harding to a 4A title in 2017, now has two state titles at two different Charlotte schools.

“I coach for my players,” Greiner said. “They play for me because they know I love them. I’m the most blessed coach there is and I get to be a part of great players. I’m going to coach with passion and they are going to play with passion.”

The classifications are changing next year, and teams from this year’s 3A class are more likely to be 5A or 6A, so there will no true passing of the torch continuation of the last two years that set the stage. In 2023, Hickory snapped a 19-game win streak by East Lincoln and went on to win the 3A title. Last week, West Charlotte ended Hickory’s 30-game win streak, and also went on to win the title.

“We knew coming into this game we were not going to leave without a win,” Greiner said. “We knew the end result, we didn’t think it was going to be a 14-7 game, but it shows their tenacity. That is a great football team we played against.”

Before the game, each team honored its sportsmanship award winner for the season: Jytavius Whitted from Seventy-First and Mike Kpuih from West Charlotte.

Final Stats

Offense

Seventy-First

Passing — Deandre Nance 10-of-20 passing, 142 yards; Rushing — Jayson Franklin 13 carries, 25 yards, 1 TD, Donovan Frederick 8 carries, 15 yards, Shon Pone 4 carries, 6 yards, JaSiaha Nance 1 carry, 0 yards, Deandre Nance 1 carry, -1 yard; Receiving — Jytavius Whitted 4 receptions, 70 yards, Shon Poine 4 receptions, 37 yards, Jadyn Surgeon 1 carry, 20 yards, Jayson Franklin 1 carry, 15 yards.

West Charlotte

Passing — Jamouri Nichols 12-of-13 passing, 94 yards, 2 TDs; Rushing — Emory McClain Jr. 14 carries, 47 yards, K.D. Cotton 4 carries, 39 yards, Jamouri Nichols 14 carries, 26 yards, Donte Nicholson 1 carry, 5 yards, Aidan Turner 1 carry, -1 yards; Receiving — Davion Jones 8 receptions, 55 yards, Donte Nicholson 2 receptions, 29 yards, 1 TD, K.D. Cotton 1 reception, 6 yards, 1 TD, Emory McClain Jr. 1 carry, 4 yards.

Defense

Seventy-First

Leading tacklers — Kaiveon Gear 10 (1 TFL), Hector Bautista 9 (4 TFL), Kalen Lucas 9, Nyrus Moore (2.5 TFL); Sacks — Nyrus Moore 2; Other — Nyrus Moore 1 FF, 1 FR

West Charlotte

Leading tacklers — Noah Collins 10 (4 TFL), Michael Griffin Jr. 8 (0.5 TFL), Sincere Gray 4 (1 TFL), Landon Cox-Arrington 4 (1 TFL), Shamauri House 4 (1 TFL); Other — Sam Johnson 1 FF, 1 FR

Scoring plays

WCLT — Jamouri Nichols 20-yard pass to K.D. Cotton, XP good by Deng Cheagkauch; 7-0, 6:42 1Q
SEV — Jayson Franklin 5-yard run, XP good by Rodolpho Joseph; 7-7, 0:33 2Q
WCLT — Jamouri Nichols 10-yard pass to Donte Nicholson, XP good by Deng Cheagkauch; 14-7 11:28 4Q

Total numbers

Seventy-First: 9 first downs; 45 yards rushing; 142 yards passing; 187 total yards; 25:33 time of possession; 4-of-12 third down conversions, 1-of-2 fourth down conversions

West Charlotte: 13 first downs; 116 yards rushing; 94 yards passing; 210 total yards; 22:27 time of possession; 3-of-7 third down conversions, 0-of-3 fourth down conversions