Football preview: It’s time for the main event

The flashy games against out-of-state opponents are finished. Now it’s down to business for Mecklenburg County’s 18 schools in the Class 7A and 8A ranks.

Conference play opens Friday night in the Greater Charlotte, Meck Power Six, and Southwestern conferences, with a pair of games scheduled in each league.

Conference play already has begun in most other conferences.

After five weeks of preliminaries, here’s a look at how things are shaping up in the three Mecklenburg-centric conferences.

Greater Charlotte 7A/8A

This is Hough’s world, and we’re all just visitors in it. The Huskies are the No. 1 team in North Carolina, by just about any standards.  With a superb defense and an offense that can churn out points at times, Hough will be difficult to beat.

In fact, it’s tough to see anyone in the conference really pushing the Huskies.

Myers Park and Hopewell look like the contenders for the No. 2 spot.  Hough plays those two teams on the final weeks of the regular season – Oct. 23 at home against Myers Park, then Oct. 30 at Hopewell.

Hopewell and Myers Park, by the way, meet in two weeks at Hopewell.

Meck Power Six 7A/8A

Chambers has staked itself as the team to beat.  With Jamouri Nichols at quarterback, the Cougars have a high-octane offense to go with a solid defense.

Mallard Creek has looked sharp at times and could give Chambers a battle.  West Charlotte also has played well at times.  We’ll get a better idea of a possible No. 2 contender Friday night, when these two teams meet at West Charlotte.

Butler can score lots of points and could be a problem for any of those teams.

Southwestern 7A/8A

Palisades has the best overall resume.  But there are four other teams – Ardrey Kell, East Mecklenburg, Ballantyne Ridge and Providence – that are capable of playing with Palisades on any given night.

Hall of famers

Two of Charlotte’s private schools will be inducting alumni into their halls of fame during homecoming events this weekend.

Charlotte Latin will honor its inductees during Friday night’s home game against Spartanburg, and the group includes Russ Cockrell (Class of 2009), a football standout who went on to play at Duke and then in the NFL, including a stint with the Carolina Panthers.

Others being honored are Juan Guzman (2006), soccer; Toby Okwara (2015), football, wrestling and track and field; Anna Steenrod (2006), swimming; and DeMarkes Stradford II (2018), football and track and field.

Providence Day will induct its new members in a ceremony set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the school’s gym.

Honorees include Anna Cockrell, sister of Charlotte Latin honoree Russ Cockrell.  Anna Cockrell (2016) won a silver medal in the Olympics in track and field.  Others being inducted are Grant Williams (2019), a basketball standout who played at Tennessee and is now with the Charlotte Hornets; Ickey Ekwonu (2019), a football standout who played at N.C. State and is now with the Carolina Panthers; Emma (Brown) Vandemore (2015), cross country and track and field; and Carol Lawrence, who coached track and field from 2012-22 and is now the coach at Johnson C. Smith University.

Here is a look at some of the area’s top games (with Queen City Sports Report’s rankings listed with teams):

No. 12 Mallard Creek (3-2, 0-0 Meck Power Six 7A/8A) at West Charlotte (3-2, 0-0), 7 p.m. – Mallard Creek’s defense will try to dominate this game.  Isaiah Johnson leads that defense, with five sacks, an interception and two caused fumbles. West Charlotte will need a big game from freshman QB Demarius Hill Jr., who has played well at times this season but will need to avoid mistakes in this game.

Porter Ridge (2-3, 1-0 Southern Carolina 6A/7A) at Charlotte Catholic (2-3, 0-1), 7 p.m. – Marvin Ridge and Weddington are the big favorites in this conference, but the this game will give the winner a nice boost in the RPI ratings and playoff seeding. Porter Ridge was hard-hit by attrition in the offseason and has been rebuilding its offense. Junior QB Corbin Donahoo has played well in recent weeks. The Cougars, as usual, prefer to run the ball, but QB Adam Aoun delivers an accurate pass and gives the team some options.

No. 10 Shelby (4-1, 3-0 Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A) at Stuart Cramer (4-0, 2-0), 7:30 p.m. – Shelby is … well, it’s Shelby.  The Golden Lions are doing Golden Lion kinds of things, like passing the ball (sophomore QB Cruz Scott has thrown for 952 yards) and scoring lots of points. But the host storm also have a standout sophomore QB, Camden Stilwell, who has 12 touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Ambassador Christian (5-0) vs. Rabun Gap-GA School (1-4), at Johnson C. Smith University, 7 p.m. – Ambassador Christian has been flying under the radar, but it’s time to pay the Lions some attention.  Rabun Gap’s record is deceiving, as the Eagles have played a brutal schedule, including last week’s 17-14 loss to Providence Day.  Ambassador Christian QB David Echevarria has thrown for 18 touchdowns but will face a very tough defense this week..

Cannon School (4-0) at No. 3 Providence Day (4-1), 7 p.m. – So, how good is Cannon School?  The Cougars have an explosive offense, with QB Lucas Lopez averaging 321 passing yards a game and throwing for 14 touchdowns with no interceptions.  But this week, Lopez and the Cougars face a powerful defense. DT Charles Ibe has 54 tackles, eight of them for losses.  He and the Chargers will put heavy pressure on the Cannon offense.

Weekend schedule

Friday

Greater Charlotte 7A/8A

Hopewell (4-1, 0-0) at South Mecklenburg (1-4, 0-0)

Hough (5-0, 0-0) at West Mecklenburg (0-5, 0-0)

Meck Power Six 7A/8A

Chambers (5-0, 0-0) at Butler (3-2, 0-0)

Mallard Creek (3-2, 0-0) at West Charlotte (3-2, 0-0)

Southwestern 7A/8A

East Mecklenburg (3-2, 0-0) at Ballantyne Ridge (2-3, 0-0)

Providence (1-4, 0-0) at Rocky River (0-5, 0-0)

Greater Metro 6A/7A

A.L. Brown (4-0, 1-0) at Berry Academy (2-2, 0-1)

Central Cabarrus (1-3, 0-1) at Olympic (2-2, 1-0)

Harding (1-3, 0-1) at Cox Mill (1-3, 0-1)

Hickory Ridge (3-1, 1-0) at West Cabarrus (1-3, 1-0)

Southern Carolina 6A/7A

Cuthbertson (1-4, 0-1) at Piedmont (2-3, 0-1)

Porter Ridge (2-3, 1-0) at Charlotte Catholic (2-3, 0-1)

Weddington (5-0, 1-0) at Sun Valley (2-2, 0-0)

Big South 4A/5A

Crest (3-1, 0-0) at Forestview (0-5, 0-1), 7:30 pm

North Gaston (0-5, 0-1) at Ashbrook (2-3, 0-1)

South Point (5-0, 1-0) at Hunter Huss (3-2, 1-0)

South Piedmont 4A/5A

Jay M. Robinson (4-0, 1-0) at Salisbury (0-4, 0-1)

Jesse Carson (3-1, 1-0) at West Rowan (3-1, 1-0)

Northwest Cabarrus (3-1, 1-0) at East Rowan (2-2, 0-1)

South Rowan (3-1, 0-1) at Concord (1-3, 0-1)

Western Foothills 4A/5A

Bandys (2-2, 1-1) at Newton-Conover (1-3, 0-2), 7:30 pm

Bunker Hill (3-2, 1-2) at East Lincoln (5-0, 3-0), 7:30 pm

Maiden (2-3, 1-2) at Fred T. Foard (1-3, 0-2), 7:30 pm

North Lincoln (1-4, 0-3) at Hickory (4-1, 3-0), 7:30 pm

Catawba Shores 2A/3A/4A

Bradford Prep (1-3, 0-1) at Langtree Charter (2-2, 0-1)

Christ the King (4-0, 1-0) at Community School of Davidson (2-2, 1-0)

Lake Norman Charter (2-2, 0-1) at Pine Lake Prep (3-1, 1-0)

Lincoln Charter (0-4, 0-1) at Corvian Community (3-1, 1-0)

Southern Piedmont 2A/3A/4A

Burns (3-2, 3-0) at West Lincoln (2-2, 1-1), 7:30 pm

East Gaston (2-2, 0-2) at Bessemer City (0-5, 0-3), 7:30 pm

Lincolnton (4-1, 2-1) at Highland Tech (0-5, 0-3), 7:30 pm

Shelby (4-1, 3-0) at Stuart Cramer (4-0, 2-0), 7:30 pm

Yadkin Valley 1A/2A/3A

Bonnie Cone Academy (0-4, 0-1) at North Rowan (3-1, 1-0)

Mountain Island Charter (3-1, 0-1) at Albemarle (2-2, 1-0)

Thomas Jefferson Academy (1-3, 0-1) at North Stanly (4-0, 1-0)

Union Academy (2-2, 0-1) at South Stanly (1-3, 1-0)

Mecklenburg nonconference

Ambassador Christian (5-0) vs. Rabun Gap School-GA (1-4), at Johnson C. Smith Univ.

Cannon School (4-0) at Providence Day (4-1)

Charlotte Christian (1-3) at Raleigh Ravenscroft (1-3)

Charlotte Country Day (2-2) at Myers Park (2-2)

Covenant Day (1-3) at Harrells Christian (1-4)

South Wake Christian (0-5) at Hickory Grove Christian (4-0)

Spartanburg (1-3) at Charlotte Latin (2-3)

Area nonconference

Anson County (3-1) at Pender County (2-2)

East Rutherford (0-4) at Forest Hills (4-0)

High Point Christian (3-1) at Trinity Christian (4-1)

Lumberton (1-3) at Monroe (2-2)

North Raleigh Christian (3-1) at Metrolina Christian (2-3)

West Stanly (2-2) at Eastern Randolph (2-3)

Saturday

Nonconference

Asheville School (3-2) at Christ School (5-0), 2 pm

OFF: Ardrey Kell, Cabarrus Stallions, Cherryville, Davie County, Garinger, Independence, Kings Mountain, Lake Norman, Marvin Ridge, Mooresville, Mount Pleasant, North Iredell, North Mecklenburg, Palisades, Parkwood, South Iredell, SouthLake Christian, Statesville, West Iredell