No. 14 Charlotte Catholic rallies in fourth quarter, upsets No. 5 Independence on the road

For the last two years, Charlie Smith has been a 1,000-yard passing quarterback for Charlotte Catholic.

Saturday night, Smith directed a ball control offense for much of the game but hit critical passes when he had to in a 25-22 upset victory at unbeaten and No. 5-ranked Independence in a Southwestern 4A game.

Smith completed two long passes after Independence had taken its first lead with 2:41 to play, including a game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass to Hugh O’Brien.

“One thousand yards is one thousand yards,” Catholic coach Keith Emery said. “But being clutch is more important. And he was really clutch tonight.”

Led by Smith, the offense churned out 296 total yards in 61 plays that included three long scoring drives.

After Nick Bierman’s 20-yard punt return set up a 32-yard drive for the Cougars’ opening score, Smith directed scoring drives of 16 plays for 83 yards, 19 plays for 60 yards and four plays for 65 yards.

“They did a good job of keeping us off the field,” said Independence coach D.J. McFadden, whose team tallied more total yards (306) but ran fewer plays (37). “Give them credit. They ran their offense well and didn’t get off schedule since they were really good on first-down plays.”

Despite rarely having the ball against Catholic’s ball control tactics, the host Patriots (4-1, 0-1) showed their playmaking ability by rallying in the fourth quarter after trailing 17-7 entering the final period.

Independence running back Jayden Jones scored on a 58-yard touchdown in which virtually every Catholic defender had a shot at him. The play started with Jones running right before he cut back, broke tackles and raced down the left sideline for a score that helped the Patriots get within 17-14 with 7:54 to play.

On the Patriots’ next possession, quarterback Justin Little hit Brian Crowder for an 81-yard pass in which Crowder caught the throw near the Independence 30 and raced down the left sideline before being tripped up at the Catholic 2.

Jones scored one play later on a 2-yard run.

After Jones converted the two-pointer, Independence was ahead 22-17 with 2:41 left — and appeared to have all of the game’s momentum.

Instead, Smith was forced to rekindle the form that allowed him to pass for 1,303 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2022 and 1,603 yards and 15 touchdowns last year.

“On our whiteboard at school it says, ‘Three yards and a cloud of dust,’” Emery said. “We were able to do that most of the game because we knew they were a talented team with explosive playmakers.

“But Charlie was able to make plays for us there at the end.”

Taking over at the Catholic 35, the third play of the drive saw Smith elude Independence pass rushers and float a pass deep down the right sideline to Drew Dinkin for 41 yards that gave the Cougars possession at the Patriots 25.

On the next play, Smith hit O’Brien over the middle for the winning score.

Independence had one more possession and converted one first down, and had a fourth- down deep throw caught out of bounds at the Catholic 10 before turning the ball over on downs.

Three who made a difference

Charlie Smith, Catholic: Completed eight of 12 passes for 109 yards and one touchdown, rushed three times for 13 yards and directed a 61-play, 296-yard offensive attack.

Jayden Jones, Independence: Rushed 13 times for 187 yards and two touchdowns.

Jake Anderson, Catholic: Rushed 31 times for 95 yards and two touchdowns.

Notable

▪ Catholic and Independence are two of the winningest programs in Mecklenburg County as Catholic entered the season with 569 victories, 25 conference championships, eight state titles and four state runner-up finishes since opening in 1955. Independence entered the year with 424 victories, 17 conference championships, seven state titles and one state runner-up finish since opening in 1966.

▪ Catholic and Independence were meeting for the sixth time. The teams played twice as non-conference rivals in Independence’s first two seasons of 1966 and 1967, then as Southwestern 4A Conference rivals the last four years. Catholic won that initial meeting 12-6 at its old home field off Park Road on Sept. 24, 1966.

▪ Catholic linebacker Vincent Keller had a highlight-reel interception to stop an Independence drive late in the first half. Keller made the interception with a diving grab in the end zone for a touchback with 54 seconds left in the half — and after it was juggled by an Independence receiver.

They said it

“We’ve just got to get back to work. They came out and punched us in the mouth and we didn’t respond soon enough to get the win.” — Independence coach D.J. McFadden

GAME SUMMARY

Catholic 7 7 3 8 - 25

Independence 6 0 0 16 - 22

FIRST QUARTER

C: Jake Anderson 6 run (Roman Hyland kick)

I: Travis Hill 2 run (Run failed)

SECOND QUARTER

C: Anderson 1 run (Hyland kick)

THIRD QUARTER

C: Hyland 30 FG

FOURTH QUARTER

I: Jayden Jones 58 run (Brian Crowder pass from Justin Little)

I: Jones 2 run (Jones run)

C: Hugh O’Brien 25 pass from Charlie Smith (Anderson run)