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No. 7 Charlotte Catholic ends Butler’s four-game high school football win streak

After losing two of its first three games to open the season, Charlotte Catholic’s Keith Emery still had hopes that the Cougars could be a championship team.

Catholic is now in that position, taking sole possession of first place in the Southwestern 4A conference after beating former co-leader Butler, 34-14, on Friday night.

The Cougars (6-2, 5-0) posted their fifth consecutive win to move atop the league standings with just one game remaining — next Friday at East Mecklenburg.

“We played some really tough teams at the beginning of the season,” said Emery, whose Catholic squad opened with a win over South Mecklenburg, then followed with losses to Providence Day and Crest.

“We had to learn and grow through those times, as we learned about each other and the things we do well and things we don’t do well. Playing good teams let us have the opportunity to learn and grow, and be where we are now.”

Jake Anderson accounted for three touchdowns for the Cougars, rushing for two scores and adding a touchdown catch from Charlie Smith in the second quarter en route to a 17-7 halftime lead.

Roman Hyland made field goals of 22 and 24 yards, and was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra-point kicks. Catholic’s defense also came up with points, with Hunter Chromy recovering a Bulldogs fumble late in the fourth quarter.

Butler (4-5, 4-1) saw its four-game winning streak snapped, with Jayden Williams accounting for both of the Bulldogs’ touchdowns. He caught a 38-yard TD pass from sophomore Tyler Druzbik for the first score, and added a three-yard plunge in the closing seconds of the fourth.

Still, Butler is still in the hunt for second place in the Southwestern 4A. The Bulldogs would need to win their season finale against rival Independence on Nov. 1 for that to happen.

“You can’t have penalties against a team like that, that’s putting you behind the sticks,” Butler head coach Glenwood Ferebee said. “We put our JV quarterback (Druzbik) in some bad situations, and its hard to be successful like that.

“If we can eliminate mistakes, we can be a pretty good football team. … We started the season off bad, but we got an opportunity to rectify that.”

Three who made a difference

Jake Anderson, Charlotte Catholic – The Cougars’ star running back ran for two touchdowns (of 19 yards in the first quarter and 6 yards in the fourth), as well as the 9-yard catch from Smith. He finished with 99 rushing yards on 25 carries.

Charlie Smith, Charlotte Catholic – The Cougars’ quarterback got off to a hot start, completing passes of 46 yards to Hugh O’Brien and 56 yards to Nick Bierman (which set up Anderson’s first TD run).

Tyler Druzbik, Butler – The Bulldogs’ sophomore starting JV quarterback split time with Keyshawn Barrino on Friday, but may have made a good case to be the full-time starter. He completed his first eight passes, and finished 9 of 11 for 131 yards, one touchdown and an interception.