Charlotte Latin overcomes early turnovers, beats Carolina Pride

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By Corey Inscoe

The Charlotte Latin Hawks overcame three first half turnovers and a six point deficit at halftime to win 35-20 at home against the Carolina Pride Friday.

The win takes the young Hawks team to 3-0 on the season.

“I’m really proud of the fact that we were down twice and weren’t playing particularly well and were able to come back,” said Latin head coach Larry McNulty.

Carolina Pride (1-2) scored on the first drive of the game with a 38-yard run by Shakur Herron, giving the Pride a 7-0 lead.

Most of the rest of the first half was characterized by sloppy play by both teams.

After the Pride forced a Latin punt, Pride quarterback Jake Mackey threw an interception to Latin’s Zach Brouse. On Latin’s next play from scrimmage, quarterback Daniel Jones fumbled and it was recovered by Pride’s Brian Battle.

Latin’s next possession ended in another turnover, this one an interception by Herron. Just three plays later, the Pride gave the ball back to the Hawks when Brouse intercepted another pass. But Latin gave the ball back when Xavier Almonte intercepted a Jones screen pass.

Both offenses settled in late in the second quarter. Latin tied the game with a 19-yard pass from Jones to Kanyon Tuttle (82 yards receiving) with 2:54 left in the half.

“This is the first big game that he’s had that he came through,” McNulty said about Tuttle. “He was very emotional, very excited.”

The Pride put together a nice drive their next possession and scored on a 3-yard run by Jonathan Adams with just 18 second left in the half. The Pride failed to score a two-point conversion and led 13-7 at the half.

Latin retook the lead 14-13 late in the third quarter on an 8-yard pass from Jones (20-28, 166 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions) to Alex Massardo. But the Pride answered quickly, scoring just three plays later on a 56-yard run by Adams (164 yards rushing, two touchdowns).

“That is the best coached home school football team I’ve ever competed against,” said McNulty about the Pride. “They’ve got talent, they’ve got speed, that running back (Adams) is a bear and they’re super well coached, so I tip my hat to them.”

The fourth quarter belonged to the Hawks. Latin scored three touchdowns in the final period, first on an 8-yard run by Jackson Monnin, then on a trick pass from running back Denzel Pearson to Matthew Wingard, and finally on a 70-yard run by Pearson (104 yards, one touchdown).

After the game, McNulty and his Hawks team were visibly excited about winning their third straight game to start the season.

“With a young team, this is the first time we’ve been behind all year and I didn’t know how we’d respond but, boy, the kids really did a heck of a job and really had a lot of life and a lot of poise,” said McNulty. “We made a ton of mistakes early but we cleaned it up and I couldn’t be happier.”

Inscoe: 704-358-5923; Twitter: @CoreyInscoe