Dutch Fork football to open 2022 season in “Charlotte Kickoff Night”
Charlotte, NC — Teall Properties Group (TPG) & OrthoCarolina are proud to announce the ninth installment of “Charlotte Kickoff Night powered by OrthoCarolina.” As residents, businesses, and sports fans continue to enjoy being outdoors with friends, family, and neighbors, this first-class community event continues to be a highly anticipated start to the high school varsity football season.
Keeping with its roots, the “Charlotte Kickoff Night powered by OrthoCarolina” will be played at American Legion Memorial Stadium in Uptown on Thursday, August 18, 2022.
“OrthoCarolina is thrilled to make this year’s event possible and believe this may be our biggest and most exciting year yet! said Dr. Dana P. Piasecki, Surgeon and Director of the Sports, Shoulder & Elbow Fellowship Program at OrthoCarolina. “Our goal when creating this event has always been to showcase and celebrate the student-athletes, coaches, parents & schools that make our community special. We look forward to an incredible celebration and start to the high school football season under the lights in Uptown.”
Game One, will be a “battle at the border” at its finest, when perennial big school football powerhouses from North and South Carolina kickoff the ’22 season. At 5:00pm, the Dutch Fork High School Silver Foxes (Irmo, SC) will make the trip up I-77 to take on the Hough Huskies (Cornelius, NC) in a contest that will feature two teams that finished last season nationally ranked and who are early favorites to win a state title this fall.
This clash of the Carolinas will feature the return of storied head coach Tom Knotts to Charlotte. Knotts won eight state titles while coaching in Charlotte and has six during his time at Dutch Fork.
Hough, under the leadership of head coach Matt Jenkins, return a talent-laden roster that finished last season with a 14-1 overall record. UNC commit, QB Tad Hudson, will lead the Huskies on their pursuit of the program’s first state championship.
Game Two, at 8:00pm, will showcase two of the most prominent and dominant 4A schools in the state over the last decade, one that might be classified as a post-season matchup that will be featured in week one of the regular season. The Myers Park Mustangs (Charlotte, NC) will tee it up against the Mallard Creek Mavericks (Charlotte, NC) in the night cap.
Myers Park will be led by first year head coach Jason McManus while Kennedy Tinsley will man the helm at Mallard Creek. The Mavericks, one of the more decorated teams in the state, have won three state titles in the last decade and look for a return to prominence.
This year’s matchup is sure to highlight some of the most athletic and talented athletes the state has to offer.
“Of the nearly 10-years of conducting this event for the greater Charlotte high school football community, from top to bottom this might be the most talented and highest profile set of programs
we’ve ever assembled,” said James Companion of Teall Properties Group, with great enthusiasm. “Seeing Coach Knotts in the border war game should something really special to check out as well.”
A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Middle School Athletics.
