Make a sweetsale - Carolina Weekly Newspapers

Football Night
in Mecklenburg
MECKLENBURG
STATISTICAL
LEADERS
passing
Player School Comp. Att. Yards Int. TDs
Chauncey Concepcion Providence Day 152 261 2,187 8 25
Jonathan Weymann Myers Park 122 231 1,908 10 18
Brad Clay North Mecklenburg 112 210 1,868 3 17
Ray Mallos Carolina Pride 122 193 1,821 6 22
Sam Spence Charlotte Latin 96 188 1,452 7 16
Kenny Patterson Berry 101 156 1,431 4 20
John Kincaid Charlotte Christian 75 177 1,264 10 15
Lucas Beatty Olympic 80 123 1,248 5 16
Morgan Roberts Charlotte Country Day 69 124 1,078 1 17
rushing
Player School Att. Yards TDs
Josh Covington Providence Day 187 1,390 13
Jalen Ross Charlotte Latin 131 1,078 19
Deyonta Wright Myers Park 147 1,061 6
Dondre Lewis-Freeman Hopewell 103 955 13
Mike Huff Olympic 89 936 10
Xavier Joplin North Mecklenburg 102 866 8
Germone Hopper Berry 89 821 13
Angelo Acitelli Charlotte Catholic 126 730 9
Zak Johnston SouthLake Christian 93 685 5
Chris Shembo Charlotte Country Day 107 578 7
Grant Nowell Hopewell 82 529 2
Chauncey Concepcion Providence 77 518 5
Ty Linton Charlotte Christian 111 500 5
Chris Williams Providence 111 472 5
interceptions
Player School No.
Nick Dawson Berry 6
Andre Diouf SouthLake Christian 6
Taylor Chiesa North Mecklenburg 5
Nic DeLuca Charlotte Country Day 5
Tate Bloomer Charlotte Country Day 4
Quan McCleary Carolina Pride 4
Toby Swimmer Providence Day 4
receiving
Player School Rec. Yards TDs
Banks Jenkins Myers Park 47 931 10
Davis Austin Charlotte Latin 35 772 13
Marquis Buckman Berry 25 734 10
Matthias Farley Charlotte Christian 15 618 8
Travis Hallman SouthLake Christian 37 583 2
Michael Haffner Hopewell 27 576 6
Dasean Payton North Mecklenburg 26 554 3
Braxton Deaver Providence 43 543 5
Jarrid McKinney Providence 21 530 6
Raheim Jennings Olympic 23 478 7
Quincey Ekechukwu Berry 19 462 5
Anthony Henderson Olympic 31 458 7
Miles Boardman Charlotte Country Day 23 450 9
Tim Litton Carolina Pride 33 441 6
Greg Brignolle Carolina Pride 21 433 5
Tate Bloomer Charlotte Country Day 28 418 6
Brandon Braxton Providence 25 415 7
sacks
Player School No.
Ty Linton Charlotte Christian 10
Daquavius Reid Berry 9
David Durham Charlotte Christian 7
Braxton Hicks Berry 7
Chance Miller Hopewell 7
Latham York North Mecklenburg 7
Tyler De Stefani Carolina Pride 6.5
Alex Zimmerman Providence Day 6
Chase Carbone Charlotte Latin 5
Judson Hall Charlotte Christian 5
James Howe Charlotte Country Day 5
Keith McAfee Olympic 5
Charles Hazzard SouthLake Christian 4.5
Sam Fulginiti Charlotte Christian 4
Colton Walls Charlotte Latin 4
punting
Player School No. Yards avg.
Tim Litton Carolina Pride 12 42.3
Austin Long Myers Park 14 42.1
Ace Richardson Myers Park 25 40.6
Michael Haffner Hopewell 24 38.50
Bryce Thompson Providence 26 34.3
Ben Rhyne Charlotte Country Day 22 33.4
Tyler McMahan Olympic 25 33.0
John Kincaid Charlotte Christian 12 32.7
Nick Funck Charlotte Catholic 20 32.4
tackles
Player School No.
Garrett Gysel Myers Park 104
Travis Hallman SouthLake Christian 94
Connor Dunaway Charlotte Country Day 87
Robert Stack Providence Day 86
Ryan Merceer Myers Park 85
Matt Sawyer Charlotte Catholic 79
Kelby Brown Charlotte Christian 78
Ryan Lemke North Mecklenburg 76
Denzel Hooks Olympic 75
Donshae Joyce North Mecklenburg 75
Colton Walls Charlotte Latin 74
Jonny Peace North Mecklenburg 69
Jake Flynn Providence Day 67
Paul Paschal Charlotte Latin 67
Quacy Robinson Myers Park 66
Darius MacKey Hopewell 65
Cameron Joe North Mecklenburg 64
Daniel Breeden Charlotte Country Day 63
Matt Hall Charlotte Christian 63
Sean Hubbard Olympic 63
Kentril Washington North Mecklenburg 62
Nick Dawson Berry 60
David Durham Charlotte Christian 59
Latham York North Mecklenburg 59
Will Smith Providence Day 58
Toby Swimmer Providence Day 58
Antwan Alexander Myers Park 57
Nic DeLuca Charlotte Country Day 55
Chase Carbone Charlotte Latin 54
Collin Manning Charlotte Catholic 54
Tyler De Stefani Carolina Pride 53
Keith McAfee Olympic 52
Chance Miller Hopewell 51
Sayyid Muhammed Olympic 51
Justin Avery Hopewell 50
Buddy Craft Charlotte Christian 50
Derek Passenant Charlotte Country Day 50
To report statistical leaders,
send an e-mail to sports@
thecharlotteweekly.com
each Tuesday by noon.
Bucs
(continued from page 26)
senior running back Chris Shembo.
Track record
When the Charlotte Country Day players
heard preseason discussions that Charlotte
Christian and Charlotte Latin were
favored to win the conference title, they
understood – to a certain degree. After all,
they did lose 14 starters from last season’s
squad that posted an 8-3 record. But this
group of Bucs also knew better than to
expect a mediocre campaign. They’d never
had one, so why start now?
Since seventh grade is the first year
students are eligible to don a Bucs uniform,
this the sixth season the current
seniors have played alongside one
another.
Witman said that continuity within the
program has certainly helped his team.
“And that has (a lot) to do with our
coaching staff,” Witman said. “(The
coaches) are not identical (with their)
coaching (styles) all the way through.
But we’ve got good coaching staffs at
the seventh-grade, eighth-grade and the
(junior varsity) levels … (The players are)
getting pretty much the same philosophy
and the same stuff up through the ranks.
You have to be a little more basic at the
lower levels.”
The numbers seem to agree. This season,
the Bucs score an average of 33.8
points per game while allowing opponents
just 11.4.
But the players’ success stems from
more than just a thorough knowledge of
the playbook.
“Basically, all the lifers, we’ve always
been best friends,” said senior defensive
back Nic DeLuca. “That’s basically what
it comes down to.”
After six years, the players have logged
more hours playing football together than
many sets of brothers. A good portion of
them even played together before seventh
grade in various youth leagues.
“We all know each other’s tendencies,
we all know each others’ strengths and
weaknesses and where we can help each
other in those areas,” said senior lineman
Payton McCrossan. “But really, we’ve
played with each other forever, so we
just click offensively and defensively. We
understand each other so well.”
Linebacker Daniel Breeden agreed.
“You know exactly what (teammates
are) thinking when they’re alongside
you,” Breeden said.
A winning tradition
Charlotte Country Day assistant Art
Hoffman began coaching the current
Bucs seniors when they were in middle
school. He believes the players’ winning
tradition offered a clue that 2009 could
be a big year for them, mainly because
the majority of the seniors have notched
an overall record of 47-9 while playing for
the Country Day seventh-grade, eighthgrade,
junior varsity and varsity teams.
That culture of success seems to have
become as much a part of the players’ identities
as the pirate flags on their helmets.
“There’s that belief that you’ve been
successful before and … just a feeling
of, ‘Well, I can be successful again,’” said
Hoffman. “These guys have clearly far
exceeded what we thought might happen
(this season). There’s a lot of talent in
the league this year, and we thought we’d
be rebuilding. But (this team has) been
successful all the way along. Maybe we
(coaches) were just too critical.”
The players said their winning legacy
comes in handy when adversity strikes.
“It helps a lot because you can think
back, look around (and say), ‘Guys, we’ve
been doing this forever. This is nothing
new to us at all,’” said McCrossan.
“’We’ve been in this situation many times.
We all know what we have to do to make
this situation better.’”
Breeden agreed.
“It’s calming because you know you
have the ability to come back if you’re
down,” he said.
The team’s bond is even more evident
when facing a team that doesn’t share the
Bucs’ level of camaraderie.
“With other teams, when they’re down,
we’ve noticed that they always fight,” said
Cummings. “But with us, when we’re
down, we always (convene) at halftime
and bring it back together.”
So while they understood why the prognosticators
figured other teams would
do better this season, the Bucs’ players
didn’t buy into that sentiment. After all,
they knew they’d be facing many of the
same teams and players they’d grown up
beating since seventh grade.
Bucs senior Miles Boardman was a freshman
on the Bucs’ 2006 JV squad and recalls
that year’s season finale against Charlotte
Latin. Though they finished with a 5-5
record, the Bucs rallied to beat the Hawks
and finish their season on a high note.
“That was a high point in my athletic
career,” said Boardman of beating Latin.
“I knew it was going to be fun from there
on out.” q
Page 28 • Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2009 • South Charlotte Weekly
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