Charlotte Cardinals beat Charlotte Tigers 50-7 to secure their third successive North Carolina State Championship.
In the semifinals, these teams dispatched the Raleigh Redhawks and Clayton Cobras respectively, and this was a high quality contest as one would expect in a state final.
Due to injuries, Cardinals brought in three freshmen: Max Colson starting at flyhalf in place of older brother Zach, Luke Zehmke coming in at fullback, and Evan Culicerto in the front row. All three players made strong claims for starting jerseys at the upcoming National Championships with Colson and Zehmke composed in the backfield, and Culicerto carrying strongly and scoring a try.
In the opening 10 minutes, both teams probed their opponents for weaknesses and the Cardinals' Matt Hogston set his stall out early as a force in the lineout, going on to steal five Tigers lineouts and help Cardinals maintain 100% on their own throws.
Cardinals opened the scoring on 11 minutes when No. 8 Nate Rawls dove over after a rolling maul. Colson converted. Within two minutes, however, the Tigers struck back with some smart handling allowing fullback Jackson Wilson to dissect the Cardinals defense. Vincent Keller converted to tie the game at 7-7.
In the 20th minute, speedy kick chase pressure from Cardinals winger Beyond Bembry forced Tigers into loose passing with his captain Finlay Mitchell capitalizing by kicking through and collecting it to score under the posts. Colson again converted for a 14-7 lead.
The game ebbed and flowed, with no quarter asked or given, until the Cardinals delivered a hammer blow with tries either side of halftime. First Bembry scored in the corner, and then from the second half kickoff the Cardinals maintained possession through multiple phases, with backs and forwards combining neatly, for hooker Colby Marr to power over. That made the score 26-7.
