Charlotte’s Alec Kushion goes up for a pass over two Mason defenders.
For two and a half quarters last Friday night, the Charlotte varsity football team did its best to hang in the game against undefeated Mason. Then the bell went off midway through the third
quarter and Charlotte never looked back. The Orioles scored 37 unanswered points en route to a 37-16 win Friday. Sept. 27.
“We moved the ball consistently all night, but we were unable to finish in the first half,” said Charlotte coach Jeff Finney. “Something clicked on in the third (quarter) and our offense came to life. Our defense, on the other hand, played a great game all night.”
The Charlotte defense limited Mason to less than 50 yards on the ground. The Orioles were playing with nearly a full roster, something Finney did not have at his disposal in the previous two losses.
“We picked a good time to start getting healthy because we need to gai
n momentum that can lead us into the playoffs,” Finney said. “We were still a couple players short of having our full roster but we are close.”
Charlotte was paced by quarterback Alex Stenberg, who rushed for 133 yards and threw for another 163 yards. He accounted for four of the five Oriole touchdowns, rushing for three, including a 24-yarder midway through the third quarter that put the Orioles on the board for the first time, and throwing for one.
Charlotte was scheduled to travel to Waverly on Friday, Oct. 4. Finney said the team will need to bring the same intensity it showed in the second half of last week’s victory to be able to come away with a win.
“We need to take advantage of every chance we get to score,” Finney said. “Our defense just needs to keep doing what they do best; shutting down the run completely and slowing down the pass.”
