The novelty of doing what Mecklenburg County football teams did last week — playing two games in four days — might have been a bit intriguing after the first game of the week, but by the end of the second game, it was an entirely different story with a unanimous verdict, at least among North Meck and Myers Park coaches.

It’s not anything anyone wants to do again.

Myers Park claimed a lopsided 41-7 victory against the Vikings, in a game marred by turnovers, penalties, mental gaffes and some missing players who simply didn’t have time to heal the bumps and bruises from their game three days earlier.

“We can’t use that as an excuse,” North Meck coach Mike Bradley said, after his team fell to 1-3 heading into this week’s game against Lake Norman. “Myers Park had the same amount of time to prepare.”

Myers Park head coach Greg Taylor didn’t like the shortened week any more than Bradley did, even if he was happy with the game’s outcome.

“We had guys banged up who couldn’t play,” said Taylor. “And we had guys get banged up during the game. But both teams had to play under the same conditions.”

Rough start, rougher finish

The game began with Myers Park’s Jermiah Rainey nearly returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. The Mustangs then marched the ball downfield against a depleted Vikings defense that was without leading tackler Greg Mobley, who was injured, and Josh Stepoli, who joined quarterback Kelly Hall on the sidelines the entire first half for undisclosed reasons.

North’s disastrous start didn’t just include key players on the sidelines and an opening drive for a touchdown by Myers Park. It also involved an equally tough beginning for the Vikings’ offense, which false-started on its first play from scrimmage, suffered a quarterback sack on the next play, and a sack and a lost fumble two plays after that.

Before the Vikings’ offense, and first-time quarterback starter Bryll Moss could dissect what had occurred, they were marching back onto the field after Myers Park sophomore quarterback Max O’Brien connected with Chase Kallam on a 24-yard touchdown to post a 14-0 lead.

The Vikings’ second drive wasn’t much better than the first, with the team failing to pick up a first down and then having a punt blocked by the Mustangs, who were eyeing a potential three-touchdown lead before the midpoint of the first quarter.

“We gave them too many easy opportunities early,” said Bradley. “If we continue to play the way we did (Friday), we won’t beat anybody.”

Positive moments

With the prospect of trailing 21-0 before they’d run six plays from scrimmage, the Vikings needed a big play to get back into the game. They got one, from star player Terrence Clyburn, who picked off an O’Brien pass in the end zone to thwart a Mustangs drive, then capped an 80-yard drive in the other direction with a short touchdown run that brought the Vikings within 14-7.

Another highlight for the Vikings came from cornerback D.J. Williams, who picked off a second quarter pass from O’Brien at midfield and returned it 40 yards to the Myers Park 10 with 1:17 left before halftime. Trailing 21-7 at the time, the Vikings squandered an opportunity, but still weren’t out of the game.

North opened the third quarter driving the ball into Myers Park territory before having to punt.

Then came the play that sealed their fate.

O’Brien dropped back to pass on a second-and-15 play that the Vikings defended perfectly — at least from a strategy standpoint. Stepoli and Jaylon Bridges both had their hands on O’Brien during a play that could have easily resulted in a 10-yard loss. Instead, O’Brien somehow escaped, tossed a pass into the flat to Kennedy Barkley who evaded several would-be tacklers en route to a 52-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead.

“That was the play that broke our backs,” said Bradley. “We had three cracks at the guy, and we didn’t make the tackle.”

PATs

North hosts Lake Norman on Friday night in the I-Meck opener for both teams. The Wildcats are also 1-3. … Clyburn was kept in check for much of the game by Myers Park, but still managed a 60-yard kickoff return and a few dazzling runs after catches. … Moss was understandably shaky at the outset, but connected on seven of his first eight passes, including going 4-for-4 on the Vikings’ scoring drive.