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Up and down the Christ School sideline, there is the palpable feel of a confident football team.
But forget feelings, Friday’s score says it all.
The Greenies put together by far their most compete game of the year, stomping Charlotte Country Day in the quarterfinals of the NCISAA Division I state playoffs, 46-0.
Alabama recruit Cayden Jones ’24 passed for a touchdown, caught one, and was a general menace for a Christ School defense that never came close to allowing points with the starters in. Reserve defensive back Blue Simmons ‘25 made an interception in the closing minutes to preserve the shutout.
Friday was the final home game for Cayden and 15 other seniors – the fourth-seeded Greenies (4-6) are on the road next week at undefeated Rabun Gap (12-0).
“A lot of mixed emotions I’m feeling right now, of course,” Cayden said.
“It felt like tonight was my whole career summed up in one game and it was even better to make some plays on defense and get the shutout. It’s truly a dream come true. Of course, I’m going to miss this place, but we couldn’t have gone out any better.”
The very first play from scrimmage was an indication of how the night would go. UNC Chapel-Hill recruit Khalil Conley ’24 made his second interception in two weeks, returning it to the Country Day 8-yard line. The short field set up the first of three rushing touchdowns from Kaden Brown ’24 (1, 4, and 73 yards).
Christ School was in command with a 23-0 lead after a quarter that included a 40-yard touchdown pass from Mason Holtzclaw ’27 to Cayden and a safety caused by Jakob Iwanek ’24 on a bad punt snap by the Buccaneers (4-7).
Mason hit T.J. Hamilton ‘24 for a 28-yard touchdown in the second quarter and the Greenies used a little trickery for their fifth TD. Mason flicked a short sideline pass to Cayden behind the line of scrimmage, who then heaved a 69-yard pass to Khalil.
Spencer Thompson ’26 has made all six of his field-goal attempts this year after Friday’s 25-yarder in the second half. Kaden’s longest run capped the scoring at the 3:25 mark of the third quarter.
T.J. also made an interception in the second half as Christ School continued to hound the Country Day quarterback.
“The guys came out and played awesome,” Greenies coach Chad Walker said.
“They executed the gameplan well. They know that we made some mistakes early on, but they kept battling. The guys that came in, the subs, did a great job securing the shutout. Just an all-around awesome effort and I’m really proud of our guys. They’re believing, they’re believing in each other. We challenged them a few weeks back and they’ve just kept working and getting better every week.”
Next Friday’s game will be a tall order and then some. The Greenies faced a running clock in a 42-21 loss at Rabun Gap on Sept. 8, with the Eagles scoring the first 42 points of the game played in Georgia.