In Cleveland County, Crest withstands late charge to hold off Charlotte Catholic

Crest and Charlotte Catholic waged yet another thriller between the two schools that had previously only played in the postseason.

In the first regular-season matchup between the two, on Friday at Sid Bryson Stadium, Crest held on for a 27-21 victory that wasn’t determined until the final play.

After Crest drove 82 yards in 12 plays for the go-ahead touchdown on quarterback Turner McSwain’s 1-yard sneak with 1 minute, 7 seconds to play, Catholic returned the ensuing kickoff to its own 34 and drove to the Crest 2 in the final minute.

Cougars quarterback Charlie Smith completed three first-down passes, and a fourth-down personal foul penalty against Crest that negated an incompletion moved Catholic to the Crest 17.

Two plays after the penalty, Smith’s 15-yard completion to Drew Dinkin had Catholic at the 2-yard-line.

But The Cougars were unable to advance any farther as the game ended after a spike by Smith to stop the clock and two straight incompletions in the end zone.

“We just didn’t get it done today,” Catholic coach Keith Emery said. “We made too many mistakes to win.”

Both teams endured turnovers that cost them momentum and scoring opportunities. Crest fumbled once and threw three interceptions, and Catholic fumbled on a fourth-and-goal play at the Crest 1 in the middle of the third quarter.

“They’re a tough team,” Chargers coach Greg Lloyd said. “You’re not going to find a more disciplined team than Charlotte Catholic.”

Crest is 3-0 and Catholic 1-2 as both teams concluded their non-conference schedules

Three who made a difference

Turner McSwain, Crest: Completed 16 of 19 passes for 234 yards and one touchdown and rushed five times for 28 yards and one touchdown.

Charlie Smith, Catholic: Completed 10 of 17 passes for 164 yards and one touchdown and rushed five times for 22 yards.

Aiden Carson, Crest: Rushed 17 times for 72 yards and one touchdown and caught an 81-yard touchdown pass.

Notable

▪ Catholic has played seven of the current eight teams in the Big South 3A Conference over the years, with nine of the 15 matchups coming in the state playoffs.

▪ Crest won 2010 and 2011 Western 3A finals against Crest before beating the Chargers in a 2021 spring season first-round game. South Point is the only current Big South member that has never played Catholic.

▪ Neither quarterback had an incomplete pass until the last drive of the game — with all seven for Catholic’s Smith in the final drive. ....Catholic punter Ford Mauntel had three kicks for a 49.7 average

They said it

“You’d rather gain experience through a win. We’ve just got to learn from this and move on. We’ve played two of the best teams in the state in Providence Day and Crest the last two weeks and we’ve learned a lot.” — Catholic coach Keith Emery.

GAME SUMMARY

Charlotte Catholic 0 14 0 7 - 21

Crest 7 6 6 8 - 27

FIRST QUARTER

Crest: Aiden Carson 81 pass from Turner McSwain (Nick Sanchez kick)

SECOND QUARTER

Crest: Kentrell Degree 1 run (Kick failed)

Catholic: Jake Anderson 1 run (Aidan Flynn kick)

Catholic: Nick Bierman 15 pass from Charlie Smith (Flynn kick)

THIRD QUARTER

Crest: Carson 10 run (Pass failed)

FOURTH QUARTER

Catholic: Anderson 3 run (Flynn kick)Crest: McSwain 1 run (Carson run)