Post-game comments from Charlotte Catholic's loss in the NCHSAA 3AA championship

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I wasn't able to get quotes into the print version of my story about Charlotte Catholic's loss to Northern Guilford in the NCHSAA 3AA championship game Saturday. The game started 45 minutes late and deadline loomed just minutes after the clock hit zero.

I did rush down to the media room after and added quotes to the online version of the story, which you can find here. 
Here are other notable post-game comments from both teams:

Charlotte Catholic

Head coach Jim Oddo:

Opening statement:
“We picked a bad day to have a bad day.”
[...]
“Really, we hung with them for a half and right at the close of the first half we drove theball down the field and scored and were in it and then with just a little bit of time left hepopped a long one and I think that was the one that kind of broke our back.”
[...]
“I thought our kids played hard and we’re very happy to be here, but sorry that it wasn’t abetter game. But I’m proud of our young men and what they’ve done.”

On the uncharacteristic mistakes his team made:
“We turned it over too much early in the ball game. … When things went south, they wentsouth and then it snow balled.”

On Northern Guilford running back T.J. Logan:
“We knew that he was going to pop one or two. There’s no way you can hold him downfor a whole ball game and I expected that somewhere along the line he’d get off oneor two. I didn’t expect he’d get off that many, but, you know, that’s the way it is. He’san outstanding athlete. Blinding speed. And if you don’t get him tied up at the line ofscrimmage or close to it, half the time he’s going to take it to the house.”

On if Charlotte Catholic's offensive style makes it harder to come back from an early deficit:
“Our big problem was we rely on some base plays and they were able to take them away.We were not able to do what we wanted to do. We were still getting four and three andgetting first downs and matriculating down field and shortening the game, but it doesn't take them very long to hand the ball to Logan to bounce back.”
[...]
“They just bunched them up and we weren’t good enough to take it to them. And we're not going to pass every down.”

Running back Elijah Hood:

On what he hopes to take away from the game, going into his senior year:
"I mean, it's kind of a sour experience but I'm just going to use that to move on. I mean, I'm going to keep growing as a football player. Obviously there were some things in that game I could have probably did better. I probably missed some blocks, I've got to go watch some film and stuff.
"There's a lot for me to learn, so I'm just trying to learn from it. Football is a learning experience so I'm just going to keep learning, try to get better, that's the way I see it.
"Because I've got another year, I'm going to go back at it, so I'm just going to go ahead and go for the state championship next year. Same heart, same passion, same drive. Work harder. That's all I can give, give it my all."  
Northern Guilford
Head coach Johnny Roscoe: 
“We said defense was going to have to win a game for us and they did. They containedtheir running attack.”

Talking about the players sitting at the media table with him:
“These guys have been here four years with us and this is our program, right here in frontof you.”

On if he was surprised by Catholic's miscues, like fumbled punts:
“They made very few mistakes and that gave us an advantage. It really did. …It’s an outstanding football game. We knew what they were coming to do. … We knewwhat was in store. 34 (Elijah Hood) is an outstanding player, the offensive line did a good job and wehad to come in and defensively do something.”

On the importance of Northern Guilford's two quick scores before and after the half:
“It was so important. … the movement of the game goes back and forth so many times… It’s so important to stop their momentum because we saw them on film, certain teamswould stop them and then, bam they’d get an 80 yard run, a 70 yard run, a 60, and so weknew that they were going to make some runs at us and we were going to have to justtake care of those and move the ball offensively.”

Running back T.J. Logan:

On what helped him have such a big game:
“The O-line. I feel like in practice they opened up a lot of holes and I just try tohit the seam.”
[...]
“They were just like over pursuing a little bit so I could just cut to the back side.”

On his response to Charlotte Catholic fans who might say they Nighthawks were running up the score:
“It’s just football. You play to the end.”

On how it felt to finish an undefeated season with a state championship:
“It feels good. We’ve been playing together since like the seventh grade."
[...]
“This is perfect.”

On what he would say to fans of North Carolina, where he's committed to play next year:
“I’m ready. I’m ready for Tar Heel nation.”

Defensive lineman Austin Simmons:

On how playing in past state championship games helped the team this year:
“It helped us get ready for the noise and the level of competition. Every player, like theseniors on their team, it was their last game so they were going to play as hard as they can. So we were ready to face their best. Film can’t prepare us for how well they’re going toplay when they’re ready just to give their all.”