Charles City drops home finale to West Point on Senior Night

Charles City's Ke'Vonta Meekins (50) hits West Point quarterback Gage Davis (8) during a handoff exchange with Rylan Stanley (6), causing a fumble. Charles City recovered the football.

Robb Johnson photo

The Fall 2023 football season for the Charles City Panthers has provided a lot of learning experiences for a team that listed 16 first-time players on the roster. And while the Panthers made it through another season on the gridiron, a focus on improving their level of competitiveness will be something in the offseason that Head Coach Sherod Jones will focus on.

Charles City fell to the visiting West Point Pointers 39-0 on Senior Night, thus concluding the Panthers season at 0-9 and extending their losing streak to 18 games, dating back to 2019.

After a short kickoff by the hosts to start the game, West Point marched down the field, as Pointer wingback Jack Lewis took an inside counter handoff 20 yards to provide the guests a 6-0 lead.

After going three-and-out on the next drive, a Panther punt landed in the hands of Lewis, who returned it 75 yards for another score. An extra point upped the visitors advantage to 13-0.

On the Pointers next series, Gage Davis connected with tight end Kaiden Lucky on a 55-yard pass. Davis would call his own number a few plays later, pushing the West Point lead to 20-0 by the end of the first quarter. Lewis’ second quarter touchdown provided the visitors a 27-0 lead, a score that would remain the same into halftime.

Charles City’s defense faired better in the second half, making key stops and holding the Pointers to only 12 points. But the Panther offense sputtered for most of the night, failing to reach the end zone as time expired on the clock.

After the contest, Jones commented that his team must do the small things to improve and get better.

“The offseason has to be filled with dedication,” the coach commented. “We have to recruit more players and get them to come out.

“We are going to give them a few weeks are and then we’re going to get to work three days a week in the weight room,” Jones continued, pointing to the team’s need to get stronger. “If these kids aren’t playing any other sports, they need to be in the weight room to get this ball rolling.”