MOUNTULLA — Win or lose, Friday, Nov. 10, 2000, will be a day that Mark Leek, youthful head football coach of the Franklin High Panthers will never, ever forget.
A little before 1 p.m. tomorrow, Leek and his Panthers will board a bus in their home in the southwestern part of the state, where they are close enough to Georgia to have a team from the Peach State on their schedule. “Tennessee,” explains Leek, who lives southwest of Franklin in the town of Hayesville, “isn’t all that close to us. It’s two counties over.”
Leek’s legions will head north for a spell. They’ll say goodbye to the Nantahala Forest. They’ll roll past Glenville and Cashiers and past Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. They’ll ride past Waynesville and Clyde — yes, Clyde — and past scenic Lake Junaluska. Then, a little southwest of Asheville, the Panthers will hit that big paved road known as I-40 and motor several hours east toward Statesville. Then they’ll travel Highway 70 to Cleveland and then finally, they’ll negotiate that strip of 801 leading to the football field at West Rowan High.
Sometime around 5:30, after more than four hours on the road, the Panthers will exit their bus in Mount Ulla, and prepare to play a 3A first-round state playoff game against the best football team in West Rowan history.
The Panthers barely squeaked into the playoffs and are only 5-4 and the No. 14 seed in the West. Meanwhile coach Scott Young’s Falcons are the undisputed champions of the South Piedmont Conference, 10-1 and seeded third. When you consider that the Panthers are going to see half of North Carolina before they even get a glimpse of the Falcons, you’re inclined to think that this one might be a colossal mismatch.
But don’t tell that to either of the coaches.
Leek sincerely believes he can win, even though he makes West sound like it could take the St. Louis Rams.
“I was mighty impressed with West on film,” said Leek. “West is bigger than us. West is stronger than us. West is faster than us. And there’s a lot more of them.”
Leek says no fewer than seven Panthers will play both ways, while the Falcons have so many athletes that they have successfully two-platooned since the first day of practice. West even has some studs who only get in on special teams.
“West has so many great athletes,” said Leek. “But we’ve played teams with similar athletes this year. Asheville Erwin (No. 4 seed in the West and the champion of Franklin’s mixed 2A-3A Western Athletic Conference) is fast and athletic. So is Brevard (which outscored North Rowan in the first round of the 2A playoffs last season). So is Asheville High.
“We can play with West if we can find a way to move the ball on their tough defense and if we can minimize their big plays.”
Moving the ball on West, of course, is easier said than done. The Falcons give up only 12 ppg and only No. 8 seed A.L. Brown (22) and 4A South Rowan (31 in overtime) have scored more than 17 against them. The Falcons are physical upfront, where J.D. Watkins and Brant Marlin are two of the county’s underappreciated stars, scary at linebacker, swift in the secondary.
Still, Franklin has a better chance to move against West than most, because the Panthers can travel by land or air.
“They really do mix it up well,” said Young. “They’re 50-50.”
But even Young isn’t convinced the Panthers can make hay against a Falcon front, which hasn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher all season. So look for Franklin to air it out.
“This will be a real challenge for our secondary,” said Young. “They’ve got two good receivers and their quarterback reminds me a lot of our guy, Jared Barnette. He makes good decisions and throws accurately.”
Franklin’s quarterback, senior Mark Bradley, does have outstanding credentials. Bradley’s receivers, who double as DBs, are excellent as well. Ben Vanhook is capable and the stats for Craig Younce look like Randy Moss’. Younce was All-Western North Carolina last season after catching 50 balls for 927 yards and six TDs. This year, despite getting plenty of defensive attention, he’s been devastating. The N.C. Prep Football News reports Younce runs a 4.43 40-yard dash, which makes him as quick as Central Cabarrus sprinter Lamont Reid.
“I believe it,” said Young. “On film, Younce sure looks like the fastest guy on the field.”
Young worries about Franklin’s defense. “I am concerned because they are so multiple defensively,” he said. “On three straight downs, they’ll show you three different fronts. “Some teams try to be multiple, but you can spot a weakness. But these guys execute. That’s the sign of a very well-coached team.”
Both teams have come far in a short time under third-year coaches. Young was 3-8 in his debut, then 8-3 in ‘99 before this year’s banner season in which West reached the playoffs for the first time since 1994 when it was a 2A school.
Leek’s first team made the playoffs, losing at home in the first round to Concord. In ‘99, the Panthers plummeted all the way to 1-8. This year, they were predicted to finish sixth in their league and started out 1-3. But Leek turned things around. And now he hopes to produce another minor miracle if his troops can get their legs back after that exhausting road trip.
“The travel’s a factor only if they let it be,” said Young. “I know they are going to be ready to play. They’re a quality team or they wouldn’t be here. And they’ve got one decided advantage over us. They played what amounted to a playoff game last week (a 56-20 win over Tuscola) just to get here. We haven’t had that. We’ve known for weeks we were going to the playoffs.”
West hasn’t been as sharp recently as it was on when it knocked off Northwest Cabarrus, A.L. Brown and Concord between Sept. 29 and Oct. 13 to seize control of the SPC race. At least it wasn’t, until it turned it on the jets in the second half last week at Central.
“We’ve talked about it,” said Young. “We’ll have to play a whole game Friday, not a half. You’re not gonna beat anybody in the playoffs unless you play a complete game.”
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Tickets for the 7:30 kickoff will be pre-sold for $6 at the school again today. ... SPC fans hoping for an A.L. Brown-West rematch in the playoffs won’t get it unless both reach the Western finals on Dec.1. ... West’s left guard Kyle Isenhour broke his leg against Central. That means more duty for vets Chris Mundy and Luis Ramos.
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