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Friday night’s Division II-AA semifinal between CPA and FRA featured a pair of two teams in two different spots.
On one side there was CPA looking to punch its ticket to a sixth straight state championship appearance. The other side featured an FRA team playing in its first semifinal since 2018 and looking to make it its first state title appearance since 1991.
By the end of the night, CPA’s experience in moments like that showed as the the Lions pulled away in the second half to secure the 37-16 win.
“We’ve gone the last three years so we definitely wanted to come back,” CPA senior linebacker and North Carolina commitment Crews Law said. “To get to do it one last time with this group is special. I’ve never been a part of a team that loves each other this much.
…to go get another one with my guys, there’s nothing better.”
Law’s night was the catalyst for what would end up as another blowout win for the Lions. Not only did he lead the team in tackles, but he finished with four rushing touchdowns.
He opened the night capping off a long touchdown drive for the Lions on the game’s opening possession. CPA’s lead quickly rose by two shortly after Law’s first touchdown as a bad snap from FRA led to a safety. Law once again found the end zone on CPA’s next drive and the rout looked like it might be on.
FRA would not go away and quickly orchestrated a pair of a touchdown drives in the second quarter. The Panthers converted on both two-point conversions and what was a 16-point lead from CPA became a 16-16 tie at the half.
A shanked FRA punt midway through the third quarter led to Law’s second touchdown and then on FRA’s next drive is when the game turned on the Panthers.
FRA looked to be on its way tying the game up driving down to CPA’s two. The Panthers looked like they were about to score on a jet sweep but fumbled the ball away. Weston Parker scooped the ball up and bolted the other way to put Lions up by two touchdowns.
Law found the end zone for the fourth and final time a few minutes later to put any hope of a comeback out of reach.
“When Crew goes in, the whole stadium knows what’s about to happen and no one can stop it,” CPA senior offensive lineman John Wayne Oliver said. “For us next, there’s nothing special. We practice hard and keep doing what we do, you’ll see the same outcome we had tonight in two weeks.”
