The Harrells Crusaders football team is back in the NCISAA Football State Championship game, which is set for this Friday at 7 p.m. This marks the second straight year the Crusaders have advanced to the title game, but this time they will have the luxury of hosting the momentous occasion.

Last year, Harrells ran an undefeated season all the way to the State Championship against the Christ School, where they took a difficult loss. Now, the Crusaders will be looking to claim some redemption and send their senior class out in style.

This season, Harrells is 11-1 overall – their lone loss to much bigger Charlotte Christian 28-7 back on Oct. 8. In their playoffs journey, consisting of just two games, the Crusaders overcame High Point Christian Academy for the second time this season 48-27 and breezed past Charlotte Country Day School 40-0.

Now, HCA is set to host another school for the second time this season, the Cabarrus Warriors, who the Crusaders defeated 21-14 back on Oct. 1.

The Warriors are 9-2 overall, the other loss coming to Metrolina Christian Academy, 42-38.

Having played them already as well as watching film, Crusaders head coach Jason Arnette knows that Cabarrus is an air raid team that will look to spread you out and attack. He likens them locally to Joe Salas and the Hobbton Wildcats.

“Their quarterback is probably their best player,” Arnette said. “After that, they also have a great running back with over 2,000 all purpose yards.”

The Warriors quarterback that Arnette mentions is sophomore Tyler Green, who is 170-of-274 passing with 2,507 yards and 30 touchdowns. Will Jones is the running back he eluded to, who has 213 carries for 1,767 yards and 25 touchdowns to go along with 40 catches for 512 yards and six more touchdowns.

The other receivers the Crusaders defense will have to watch out for are Xander Lamb, who is just shy of 1,000 reception yards at 42 catches for 984 yards and 14 touchdowns and Duncan MacFadyen, who has 21 catches for 404 yards and three touchdowns. All together, Cabarrus has utilized 11 different guys this season in their pass reception.

Their offense is a stark contrast from Harrells, who will look to put the ball on the ground and run it right at the Warriors. The Crusaders have nearly 4,000 rushing yards (3,880 to be exact) on the season. Devin Gardner claims most of those with 2,158 and 32 touchdowns. Right behind him is Xavier Arrington with 935 yards and seven touchdowns. Junior quarterback Ethan Spell has ran for 276 yards and four touchdowns. Spell has also shown the potential to throw the ball on occasion, going for 18-of-33 attempts for 382 yards and two touchdowns this season.

One thing that the Crusaders may also have going right for them right now is they may be peaking. Arnette said that Charlotte Country Day was a legitimate contender from a big time tough conference. He says that 40-0 victory was just a product of his team having a great game.

“We played our best all-around game Friday night,” Arnette said. “They play in a real tough schedule but they are a great team and that was a real good win for us.”

When asked how the team is going to gear up for Friday’s big game, Arnette said that his approach doesn’t really change. Monday’s tend to be a light day with a lot of self reflection before they get to know their opponents better in the film room on Tuesday’s. After that, it’s all-out preparation.

It’s also perhaps beneficial that the Warriors provided some locker-room material for the Crusaders this past week. For their side of the bracket, Cabarrus was pit in a rematch with Metrolina — a game in which the Warriors got revenge after winning 36-29. When speaking of their next rematch with Harrells, the comment “Redemption Arc 2.0” was mentioned and is something Arnette says he and his team will stew on between now and game time.

Still, Arnette says that his team will proceed business as usual.

“I think the biggest thing this week is not letting ourselves get distracted,” Arnette noted. “Worried about ourselves on Monday. Worked on film and discussed avoiding distractions. It was light a day but Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we’ll dive in real good on breaking down all the film we can and working on our game plan.”

Experience is also key headed into the season finale.

“Knock on wood, we’re healthy. We’re senior heavy. And, we’re looking a little redemption ourselves in that we are hungry to avenge last years championship loss.”

Admission to Friday’s game is $10.

Reach Sports Editor Daron Barefoot at [email protected].