Two of the top seeds in North Carolina's private school football playoffs are from northern Mecklenburg County.
Davidson Day and SouthLake Christian enter the postseason Friday with home field advantage throughout playoffs. It's a first for both programs in football and a first for SouthLake overall.
"It is a credit to the hard work all the players and coaches have put in," says SouthLake coach Rich Landis.
SouthLake (9-1) is the top seed in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association's eight-team 2A bracket, while Davidson Day (9-1) is seeded No. 1 in the four-team 3A playoffs.
"I like our team," says Davidson Day coach Chad Grier, whose Patriots are playing at the varsity level for the first time. "I've liked our team all year. I think we've got a lot of weapons."
Davidson Day will host No. 4 Fayetteville Christian (5-5) Friday at 7 p.m. at Hopewell High. The Patriots don't have a home field that can accommodate a varsity football game, and Grier said Davidson Day is appreciative that Hopewell is offering its facility for use.
SouthLake, on the other hand, will experience some deja vu Friday when No. 8 Forsyth Country Day (3-7) comes to town. The Eagles just beat FCD 42-0 last week to end the regular season.
"Playing the same team two weeks in a row is very odd and challenging," says Landis. "My concern is from the mental side of the situation. Forsyth Country Day will come ready to play. ... We always have battles with them."
The first meeting against the Furies belonged entirely to SouthLake, with the Eagles finding the end zone six times while posting a second consecutive shutout and getting their first-ever win over FCD. SouthLake scored four touchdowns in the last four minutes of the first quarter, as running back Adam Gilkerson opened the scoring with his first of three touchdowns on a 39-yard run before Demitri Allison punched in a 1-yard run. A 9-yard Gilkerson scoring run preceded a 23-yard interception return by Brian Jones, which concluded a frantic end to the quarter with the Eagles leading 28-0.
The Eagles then turned on the trickery in the second half, with Allison taking a reverse and finding Jones for a 70-yard touchdown pass to close the scoring after Gilkerson's final touchdown, a 52-yard run.
With 19 carries for 160 yards, Gilkerson surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season.
Davidson Day's 21-18 win over Victory Christian was its closest of the season.
The Patriots trailed 18-7 at the half, before shutting out Victory in the third and fourth quarters.
Having run the ball with success against Charlotte Latin Oct. 21, the Patriots attacked Victory with the running game, and the result was 286 rushing yards.
With quarterback Will Grier averaging more than 300 passing yards per game, his father the coach is hopeful showing a strong running game can only help the Patriots' cause.
"I've gotta think that makes us a lot tougher to prepare for," says Chad Grier.
Jordan Brown ran 10 times for 130 yards and a 25-yard score, while Will Grier ran 10 times for 106 yards and had a 12-yard touchdown run.
Evan Gates provided the first Patriots' score on an 80-yard kick return in the first quarter.
Grier finished the night 11-of-20 passing for 84 yards and was intercepted twice.
Tre Hunt led Davidson Day with 17 tackles.
Lake Norman Charter heading to S. Stokes
In its second varsity season, Lake Norman Charter is headed to the state playoffs. And to LNC coach Bob McKay, that sounds just great.
"We're proud of what the kids have done," he says. "It's good for us, good for the school. Definitely, we're excited about it."
The Knights (5-5 overall) will travel to South Stokes (5-5) Friday for a 7:30 p.m. first-round game in the 1AA (larger 1A) playoffs. LNC is seeded No. 5 in the MidWest, while South Stokes is seeded fourth. South Stokes is located in Walnut Cove, between Mount Airy and Greensboro.
The Knights (2-5 Southern Piedmont Conference) ended the regular season last Friday with a 35-12 win over league foe Highland Tech, and ended up sixth in the SPC 1A/2A standings, third among 1A teams.
Alex Scearce scored three touchdowns, including on a 93-yard end around run, a 40-yard reverse and a 30-yard pass reception.
"Scearce just had a monster game again," said McKay, of the junior who has now scored 22 touchdowns.
Randon Hassell filled in for LaMarcus Smith-Kelly at running back and scored a touchdown, and Blake Douglas provided the other LNC score on a short pass from Michael Dorsainvil.
— Ian Richardson contributed to this story.
