defeating Junius H Rose High School of Greenville, NC. In 2016, Catholic lost to James B. Dudley High School (led by future Virginia Tech QB Hendon Hooker) in the NCHSAA Semi-Finals. Catholic was moved to 3A for all sports, and the 3A classification for football in 2017. Catholic won three straight State Championships in football from 2017–2019: 2017 over Havelock High School, 2018 over Jacksonville High School, and 2019 over Southern Nash High School. They now reside in the Southern Carolinas Conference, consisting mainly of teams from Union County such as Weddington High School, Marvin Ridge High School, and Monroe High School. Catholic was recognized by MaxPreps as the best football program in North Carolina during the 2010s. Fine arts The school puts on two major theatrical productions per year: a fall drama and a spring musical produced by the drama department. The shows are produced on the stage within the gymnasium. There are also 2 major productions done per year by the chorus and honors chorus. The final production usually has a set of songs done by the graduating seniors of both classes. The Marching and Symphonic Bands placed first for their division in the 2009 Providence Cup marching band competition. They also won 1st place Marching, 1st place Concert Band, and 1st place Grand Champion in a competition in Orlando's Universal Studios. In Ireland, the band performed in the Limerick Marching Showcase, winning Best International Band, and in the Dublin St. Patrick's Day Parade, where the band won Best Overall Band. In 2015, the Marching Band swept first-place awards in Class A with an overall score of 80.79 at the Cuthbertson Showcase of Bands, the first such awards won since 2009. On Thanksgiving Day, 2016 the band participated in the McDonald's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Chicago, IL. As of 2017, the band has ceased performing drilled halftime shows and attending competitions. Controversy Principal Healy In 2014, Jerry Healy, Charlotte Catholic's principal, resigned amidst speculation that he had been embezzling money from a fund set up to aid lower-income families in sending their children to the school. In 2015 Healy pleaded guilty to stealing more than $160,000 from the school as well as the foundation over a seven-year period. While prosecutors suggested probation with no action to take him into custody, in April 2016 U.S. District Judge Frank Whitney Jr. sentenced Healy to three months in a halfway house.