West Charlotte, Hough featured in Keep Pounding Classic

WEST CHARLOTTE HIGH SCHOOL

West Charlotte High, which won the 2024 North Carolina 3A state title against Fayetteville 71st, will open the 2025 campaign against 4A winner Greensboro Grimsley at Bank of America Stadium.

The third annual Keep Pounding Classic will feature two Charlotte-Mecklenburg public school powers.

Hough High will face Rock Hill South Pointe and 2024 3A state champion West Charlotte will take on 4A winner Greensboro Grimsley.

For West Charlotte, the game is a chance to prove the Lions are one of the state’s top programs regardless of classification. 

“A lot of people say, ‘That was only 3A,’ and nobody wants to look at Hickory had the longest winning streak in the state, and then Dudley was a known powerhouse, and then the state runner ups last year [Fayetteville 71st] had everybody returning, but we still won that game, and there's still doubters,” West Charlotte coach Sam Greiner said. … “Well, what better to do than be able to take on the 4A state champions with pretty much most of their guys coming back as well? The big-time quarterback [Faizon Brandon] they have – rightfully so. He is amazing. And then, their coach and staff and all the players that they have returning are phenomenal.”

Five years ago — before Greiner got to West Charlotte — the program was in disarray. They returned to the pinnacle by winning a state title, and the classic keeps them in the limelight.

“I'm just excited to be a part of this game,” Greiner said. “The Carolina Panthers chose us to play in it and we’re the prime-time game. It’s like the UFC guy comes out there to the mic at the end, and he says, ‘This is the main event.’ West Charlotte is in the main event, and the biggest game you can play in North and South Carolina. And we built that thing five years ago today to appreciate this.”

As former Queen City 3A/4A foes, Greiner tossed in a friendly jab at Hough coach Deshawn Baker for playing the “warmup game.”

Baker’s side was a little different.

“I am going on record saying that I wanted to play West Charlotte in the Keep Pounding Classic, but Sam said no,” Baker said. “He didn’t want to play us until he had to in the playoffs.”

The game is special to Baker. South Pointe head coach Bobby Collins used to coach at Hough, and he was Baker’s college teammate.

“It's ironic because the very first head coach at Hough was Bobby Collins,” Baker said. “Bobby and I played together in college. He was my left tackle. I played running back. No kidding. Coach Chachi [Sullivan, a Hough assistant], we all played together at South Carolina State, so that is a factor as well.”

The Huskies lost to Grimsley the last three years in the playoffs, but to be in the classic is affirmation that Hough is doing the right things.

“I think it's a privilege and an honor to play in this game being picked by the panelists as one of the four teams to be showcased in the event. You know, for me, it's all about the kids and the experience they're going to get playing a good South Pointe team [that] is very well coached. … It shows that we’re doing the right thing to be picked as one of the four teams to play in this Keep Pounding Classic.”

Greiner and Baker each feel their teams will benefit from quality competition, especially in a championship-level environment.

“It is always good to challenge your team early in the season,” Baker said. “I think this is a great opportunity to do that against one of the best teams in South Carolina, and it gives the kids a good feel of what the playoffs are like with the larger crowds and things like that.”

Said Greiner: “We haven't had a game to that magnitude since I've been here. It’s game one where you have to come ready to play. We are really good at getting great at the end of the season. I think that we grow from mistakes and success and failure, and we're pretty good as a staff and a team to get really good towards the playoffs. I want to see if we can fix some of the weaknesses that we've had in the past of being ready to go game one. This is arguably going to be the hardest of the games we play all year right from the get-go, so, we have no time to grow. We have to be grown up right from the get-go.”

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