Charlotte Catholic beats Providence High behind 413 yards rushing

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The Charlotte Catholic running backs combined for 413 yards to lead the Cougars to a 41-7 nonconference win at Providence High Friday.

The win is Catholic’s (2-0) second straight to start the season.

“We’ve got two wins and our defense has been pretty good,” said Charlotte Catholic coach Jim Oddo. “The kids played hard. They don’t let up.”

After trading punts the first two drives of the game, an interception by Charlotte Catholic’s Tafon Mainsah gave Catholic the ball 27 yards from the end zone. Two plays later, running back Elijah Hood scored on a 22-yard run to give Catholic a 6-0 lead in the first quarter.

Providence High (1-1) had a chance to tie the game or take the lead late in the first. Providence Panther quarterback James Haigh drove his team down to the four yard line, but the team couldn’t score on the first three downs. On fourth and goal, the Panthers tried a fake field goal, but the pass fell in complete.

Catholic took over on their own six yard line and scored five plays later on a 63-yard run by Hood, giving the Cougars a 13-0 lead in the second quarter. Hood finished with 202 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

“He did OK,” Oddo said about Hood, laughing. “He’s got a heart and he just runs hard and doesn’t quit. Barring injury or anything he’s going to have a great year.”

Defense scored the next touchdown for Catholic. Kevin Kirchmer intercepted a tipped Haigh pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. Catholic took a 20-0 lead into halftime.

“I think that turned the game right there,” Oddo said about Kirchmer’s interception.

Hood scored his third touchdown of the game just one minute and 30 seconds into the second half on a 16-yard run to put Catholic up 27-0. Catholic sophomore Jake Priester scored less than two minutes later on a 56-yard run to make the score 34-0.

The Providence Panther offense struggled to move the ball most of the game. Haigh (10-for-24, 167 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions) finally put his team on the board with a 56-yard pass to Austin Proehl with 5:19 left in the third quarter.

Three Providence running backs combined for just 81 yards in the game.

Priester (97 yards, two touchdowns) scored Catholic’s final touchdown on another long run, this one 35 yards, to make the score 41-7.

Alex Sabates added 82 yards rushing for the Catholic Cougars.

Catholic has outscored its first two opponents 82-7, but Oddo still wants his team to get better as they prepare to face rival Charlotte Country Day next week.

“We still need to sharpen up,” he said. “We need to block a little better some places, you know. We let them get away with two or three sweeps out there. We need to sharpen up.”