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The best Rowan County football season in memory just came to a screeching halt with perhaps the most dismal weekend ever thrust upon county gridiron fans.
Unbeaten Catawba fell with a thud in the mud on Saturday, two weeks shy of playing for the Division II national championship.
Catawba’s calamity followed Friday night misfortunes for the final two local high school teams, both of whom were sent packing from the state playoffs by determined Devils. Mike Carter’s Mooresville Blue Devils outscored West Rowan, which hadn’t lost since Aug. 25, in the 3A quarterfinals, by 36-29. And Nick Bazzle’s Newton-Conover Red Devils bedazzled the Cavs 39-15 in the 2A quarters, knocking off a team which had been on an unbeaten roll since Sept. 29.
Hopeful prep fans called the Post late Friday for the scores and groaned and growled at the news. West fans had pulled for North and North fans had pulled for West. Even South fans, whose team had beaten both West and North (and Mooresville), but still hadn’t made the playoffs, had wanted their more fortunate county cousins to advance.
Post sportswriter Steve Hanf, away on Thanksgiving vacation, checked in to see who he’d be covering this Friday. The sad answer was none of the above. Area football — unless, you’re still counting the Carolina Panthers, for some odd reason — is over for 2000.
The phone also rang throughout the night Saturday, as Catawba’s far-flung alumni called in — just as they do every weekend— looking for the score. But this time, for the first time since the 1999 Carson-Newman game, the news was discouraging.
“Delta State 20, Catawba 14.”
“Oh.” Followed by stunned silence.
Most everyone in town thought Catawba would win, and many supporters would have followed their team to snowy North Dakota next week had they done so.
Most everyone in Rowan thought West would win, too. Everyone knew about Mooresville, but wasn’t this the best Falcon team ever? The first Falcon bunch to beat A.L. Brown. The team that had gone to Concord the very next week and won there as well.
The feeling was that North’s chances were 50-50, but there was optimism. Rowan had started to believe in the surging Cavs, who had started 1-3. Everyone knew Newton-Conover was good, but could they really be any better than the second-seeded Shelby team the Cavs had stunned the week before?
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One of the first people I saw as Iclimbed toward the Mooresville press box on Friday was Catawba coach David Bennett. He was perched on the top row on the home side, eager to check out prospects on both teams. But he was also there to cheer (inwardly, at least) for West, where his wife has close ties.
“Better bring your rain gear Saturday,” said Bennett with a smile.
I did. It helped me. It didn’t help the Tribe.
While Bennett was supporting the Falcons in the flesh, West coach Scott Young was supporting the Cavs in spirit. He’d heard they were trailing, but even as he trudged from the field after his loss to Mooresville, he hadn’t given up on Rowan having a team in the hunt on Dec. 1.
“How ‘bout North?” he asked.
“Down a bunch last I heard,” I told him.
“They can still come back,” said Young, hopefully. “North scores quick.”
Secreast had expressed similar confidence in West when I talked to him on Wednesday morning. Pressed for a prediction on the 3A clash of titans, Secreast gave the nod to the Falcons. “West’s big; Mooresville’s tiny,” he said.
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But a lot went wrong for all three Rowan teams. And that’s taking nothing away from Delta State or Newton-Conover or Mooresville.
Especially Mooresville. Young said he hopes “Carter’s boys go and get ‘em all” and so does the Post. The Moors will be part of the South Piedmont Conference next season and the Post will be covering them more than in the past.
West tackle Matt Moore said Mooresville’s as good as any team West played — “right up there neck and neck with Kannapolis.” And if the Moors can beat Ragsdale, which beat South Point, which beat Kannapolis, then they aren’t just good, they’re great.
But back to what went wrong for the Rowan teams. Simply put, none of them were at their best.
West’s defense wasn’t what it usually is. Super safety Terris Sifford was a late scratch from the gameplan and that had to hurt — physically and emotionally. West scored touchdowns on three straight second-half possessions and still lost. Who would have believed that possible?
West’s defense had its chances. Mooresville put the ball on the ground four times. Twice there were major melees, but the Falcons couldn’t come up with a recovery. For the first time in 14 games, the Falcon defense didn’t create a single turnover. How did South beat Mooresville on Sept. 15? Because the Devils fumbled five times and South pounced on all five. The Raiders turned three into touchdowns.
“Our offense showed up, the defense didn’t,” admitted West’s star linebacker James Francis.
The setback left seniors like Moore staggering around the stadium in stunned disbelief 20 minutes after the game had ended.
“This year was the most fun I’ve had in my life,” said the big guy through tears. “And these were the best boys I’ve ever been around. We wanted it all, but sometimes, I guess you don’t get what you want.”
The Cavs didn’t get what they wanted, either. Judging from reports, they would have been hard-pressed to handle the Red Devils under the best of circumstances. And their circumstances were hardly the best. North made five turnovers, handing Newton-Conover four touchdowns. Alfonzo Miller, the player who makes the Cavs a special team, entered the game hobbled by an ankle sprain and left the contest for a Hickory hospital in the third quarter.
Could one guy have made a difference? If it’s Miller, it’s possible.
Catawba was in trouble as soon as the clouds burst. Quarterback Mitch Ellis carried the Tribe offense in the second half of the season and the woeful weather essentially drowned Catawba’s passing game.
Delta State’s defense gave up 35 points in three straight games at one point this fall. Had Ellis been able to toss it around like he usually does, there is reason to believe Catawba could have outscored the Statesmen. And that’s not to mention the continued absence of the Tribe’s awesome defensive tackle DeVonte Peterson, perhaps the best defender in D-II. Peterson would have made things tougher for Delta’s impressive running game.
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Still, you had to appreciate the fact that none of the trio of county coaches made excuses. They congratulated their opponents on fine wins and congratulated their own players on spectacular seasons.
Young, SPC coach of the year, didn’t even mention Sifford’s injury in his postgame analysis. All he would say was that Mooresville was very fast and very talented.
Secreast shrugged and said Newton-Conover simply outperformed his guys.
Bennett agreed weather conditions were awful, but insisted “they were the same for both teams.” He refused to pout about Peterson.
And now, it’s all water under the bridge. And, yes, injuries and weather are part of football and part of what makes it unpredictable. And because it’s unpredictable, it’s exciting.
But what happened Friday and Saturday still hurts the Post sports staff and still pains fans all over the county. No one was prepared for this fantastic football season to end quite like this.
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Mike London is the assistant sports editor of the Post.
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