CHARLOTTE — The only luck the North Meck High football team seems to be getting these days is bad.

It’s not that one or two plays made the difference in last week’s 55-21 loss at Vance in I-Meck Conference football action. It’s just that entire games seem to be turned upside down by those plays, and the Vikings have a hard time getting them turned back the right way.

Aside from the fact Vance is starting to play like the team that entered the season ranked instead of the group that lost six of its first seven games, the Cougars also benefited from those big plays in the first half that broke open a close game and led to the rout.

Huge plays by the game’s two highest-profile superstars — North’s Terrence Clyburn and Vance’s Larenz Bryant — set up this scenario just before halftime. The Vikings had the ball and were marching downfield, trailing 28-14.

On a first-and-10 from the Vance 32-yard line, North quarterback Kelly Hall targeted Clyburn on a crossing route. The ball, Clyburn and Bryant all arrived at the same place at the same time, resulting in a helmet-to-helmet collision, a deflection, and, ultimately, an interception by Vance’s Nolan Corpening.

A 15-yard penalty was called against Bryant, but the Cougars maintained possession on the interception. Instead of a Viking first down at the Vance 17 and a chance to go into halftime trailing only by a touchdown, Vance turned the opportunity into points of its own and entered halftime with a 35-14 edge.

When teams are struggling, as the Vikings are at 1-8 overall and 0-5 in the I-Meck, those kind of plays can be back-breakers. Against Vance (3-6, 2-3), it spelled doom because the Cougars were poised for a breakout performance and were fueled by a large homecoming crowd.

“I thought I was looking at our team from last year,” said Phil Culicerto, who having lost his job before the season, remains as Vance’s unofficial head coach.

The Cougars reached the 4AA state semifinals last year.

“It’s been a long time since we played like that, with that edge,” said Culicerto.

Star performances

The Vikings, who host Mooresville this week, hung close early against the Cougars, thanks to a few electrifying plays by Clyburn, who took a short pass from Hall in the first half and outran the Vance defense en route to a 48-yard touchdown.

When Bryant answered the big play by Clyburn with a 47-yard run and then a 35-yard interception return for a score, Clyburn and the Vikings responded.

After dropping the ball on the ensuing kickoff and appearing to be trapped near the 5-yard line by four Vance defenders, Clyburn faked out one would-be tackler, stiff-armed another and outran the others on his way to a 95-yard kickoff return.

Clyburn finished with four receptions for 63 yards, but was held in check during the second half, when the Cougars put constant pressure on the Vikings.

Defensively, the Vikings got their best performance of the season from defensive end Josh Stepoli, who was impossible for the Cougars to block in the early going.

Stepoli seemed to be in on every tackle in the game’s first 15 minutes, as Vance was flagged for four holding or personal foul calls trying to slow him down.

Ultimately, the Cougars were able to move the ball, with speedy quarterback Jalen Latter complementing Bryant’s production. Bryant finished with 182 yards and three scores.

“We knew we had to stop him to have a chance,” said North coach Mike Bradley. “And we didn’t even slow him down.”