Palisades High School stops Olympic for fifth straight win, eyes first conference title

Playing its third season of high school football, Charlotte’s Palisades High School is getting close to the SoMECK conference championship.

The Pumas beat Olympic, 27-14, on Thursday, handing the Trojans their first conference loss and assuming sole possession of first place in the league.

Palisades (6-2, 4-0) won its fifth straight game and leads Ardrey Kell (3-4, 2-1), Olympic (5-2, 2-1) and Myers Park (3-4, 2-1) in the league standings.

The Pumas have two regular-season games left: home against first-year Ballantyne Ridge next week and at Ardrey Kell on Nov. 1.

After a slow start for Olympic and Palisades, Pumas junior quarterback Addison Rowland got his team going with a 24-yard quarterback keeper. Senior running back Fedayeen Turner followed with a 13-yard run and Rowland finished the drive with a 1-yard run to score the first touchdown of the game.

On the next drive, Olympic’s offensive progress was cut short as senior linebacker and East Carolina commit Kendric Davis made his first interception of the game after diving for a low pass on their own 45-yard line.

Palisades took advantage of the turnover and Rowland powered his way to the end zone again with a 12-yard touchdown run to put Palisades up 14-0 before halftime.

In the third quarter, Palisades put together another solid drive with junior running back Lincoln Wise finishing it with a one-yard touchdown on the goal line. After a blocked PAT, Palisades led 20-0.

Olympic made progress at the end of the third quarter with a 21-yard pass from junior quarterback Chance Cato to CJ Martin, but later Cato would get picked off in the end zone by Palisades senior defensive back Kendall Adams.

Olympic managed to score early in the fourth quarter with a one-yard run by senior tight end De’Angelo Hall. After Davis recorded his second interception for a pick-six, Olympic managed to score again with under a minute left in the game with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Cato to senior wide receiver Alex Wiley IV.

Two that made a difference

Addison Rowland, Palisades: The junior baseball standout rushed two touchdowns before exiting the second half.

Kendric Davis: The East Carolina commit recorded two interceptions, including a pick-six and a forced fumble.

Notes

Palisades became the winner of the first annual Battle of the Steele Creek Cup after defeating neighboring Olympic.

The Battle of the Steele Creek Cup was created by Palisades coach Jonathan Simmons and Olympic coach Brandon Thompson to promote a friendly rivalry game for players who all grew up in the Steele Creek area of Charlotte.