Providence Day School will play for its fourth consecutive N.C. Independent Schools high school championship next Friday.
The Chargers, located in Charlotte, earned a berth into the NCISAA Division I title game Friday night, defeating Charlotte Christian 28-20. Providence Day will face Rabun Gap School, which beat Christ School (Arden) 42-7 to punch its ticket to the finale.
The title game will be played Friday, Nov. 15 at Rabun Gap and is a rematch of last season’s championship.
NCISAA has three divisions of football. Top-seeded Asheville School will play No. 3 Trinity Christian in the Division II championship next Friday. Asheville School defeated Hickory Grove Christian 51-9 to improve to 6-1. Trinity Christian, from Fayetteville, knocked off previously undefeated High Point Christian, the number two seed, by a 50-44 final.
In the eight-man division, the top two seeds got knocked out in Friday’s semifinals. No. 3 Cary Christian School edged No. 2 Wayne Christian by a 20-19 count. Fifth-seeded John Paul II Catholic also won by one point, 23-22, against No. 1 Arenell Parrott.
Faith Christian School in Rocky Mount will host the eight man championship between Cary Christian and John Paul II Catholic.
Providence Day: UNC quarterback commit Zaid Lott threw touchdown passes to teammates Steele Fletcher and Gordan Sellars in the win. He also rushed for a score. Providence Day’s defense held Charlotte Christian on fourth-and-short late in the game to prevail.
Rabun Gap: The Georgia school, which competes in the NCISAA, jumped to a 28-0 halftime lead and cruised home to victory. Providence beat Rabun Gap 34-27 in last year’s title game.
Asheville School: The Blues only needed 31 offensive plays to roll up 51 points in their semifinals win in Division II. Ricky Tolbert completed 13 of 16 passes for 326 yards and six touchdowns. Zander Baptiste and Hayezon Tobe each caught two TD throws.
Trinity Christian: Amir Jackson scored what would be the winning touchdown with about six minutes to go. Xayden Watson had a 45-yard fumble return for a touchdown earlier in the game. Elijiah Oehlke added a key rushing score in the third period that tied the game 30-30.
Jaylen Moore had a huge game for High Point Christian, which had been 10-0. In addition to recording a tying touchdown with eight minutes to go to make the score 44-44, Moore also returned a kickoff 85 yards for a score, notched touchdowns on runs of 46, 3 and 2 yards, and hauled in a 66-yard scoring strike from Tyler Eley.
Cary Christian: The Knights scored all of their points in the first half against Wayne Christian. Cennoth Kalisiak caught a 17-yard pass from Reed Harvey in the second quarter for what would be the winning touchdown.
Jeremiah Winders pulled Wayne Christian to within 20-19 with a rushing score. Wayne Christian advanced inside the Cary Christian red zone in the final period but was turned away.
John Paul II Catholic: Arendell Parrott Academy of Kinston had rolled to a 52-35 win in the regular season meeting on Sept. 20. The Saints turned the tables on Friday night. The teams were tied 16-16 after three quarters.
Luke Stocks scored for Arendell Parrott but the PAT was unsuccessful. Gentry McMinn notched the tying touchdown for JPII in the final minute. The extra point gave the Saints a one-point lead, and Ryan Wright sealed it by batting down a pass in the end zone on the final play.
