By Cameron Lee
August 23, 2025
Photo: Alex Cason / CLTure
The high school football season opened in Charlotte on Friday night, as four of the region’s top programs clashed in the third annual Keep Pounding Classic.
The headliner featured a matchup between the defending 3A state champion West Charlotte Lions (now 8A) and the reigning 4A titleholders, the Grimsley Whirlies (now 7A). Under the lights at Bank of America Stadium and before a raucous crowd of more than 12,000, the Whirlies escaped with a 28-27 overtime win in what already feels like a game-of-the-year candidate.
West Charlotte, plagued by penalties all night (nine to Grimsley’s one), saw its chance at victory slip away on the game’s final play — a failed two-point conversion that could have secured the upset.
The matchup felt less like a high school game and more like a college Saturday. Bands blasted horns and drums, cheerleaders energized the sidelines, and every big play was met with a surge of fan excitement that never relented until the final whistle.
Grimsley quarterback Faizon Brandon — the nation’s top-ranked signal-caller in the Class of 2026, according to 247Sports — had a steady but unspectacular night (171 yards passing, 67 rushing), but it was enough to earn him the game’s MVP trophy.
For West Charlotte, junior quarterback Jamouri Nichols was electric, accounting for four touchdowns on 18-of-22 passing for 172 yards, and nearly carrying the Lions to victory. He connected early with Charlotte 49ers commit Donte Nicholson on a scramble-and-throw to tie the score after Grimsley’s quick-strike 54-yard touchdown to Hudson Cooper.
The Lions clawed back late, down by eight with 1:43 left in regulation, as Jaciere Gray gave them great field position on the kickoff, setting West Charlotte up at Grimsley’s 45-yard line. Nichols scrambled for a first down and then connected with versatile tight end Rakim Finch, moving the ball to the five.
A short run by Emory McClain left the Lions with just 12 seconds remaining and three yards to cut the deficit to two. Nichols punched it in on a short run with eight seconds left, then tied the game on a gutsy two-point conversion scramble, sending the stadium into a frenzy.
Overtime began with Grimsley capitalizing on a Lions penalty, setting up a Brandon touchdown run and a successful kick to go up 28-21. Nichols responded with a 10-yard scoring run of his own, cutting the deficit to one.
But on the decisive play, with the crowd chanting for a go-ahead two-point conversion, Nichols cramped up, and the Lions were pushed back by another false start. Forced to run from the eight-yard line, he was swarmed by a Whirlies blitz, with safety Makai Yon sealing the game by pressuring Nichols into a bad throw.
For Grimsley, the night ended with Brandon holding the MVP trophy and the Whirlies cementing themselves as North Carolina’s No. 1 team. For West Charlotte, it was heartbreak, but also proof that the Lions remain a powerhouse capable of going toe-to-toe with the state’s elite following a state championship last season.
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