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October 27, 2000
Salisbury Post; Rowan County, NC

Ed Dupree Column

Secreast making history

BY ED DUPREE
SALISBURY POST

           


North Rowan’s Roger Secreast will make it official tonight: He’s going to be only the second football coach in Rowan County history to have 10 straight winning regular seasons.

The veteran coach has had only one losing season in his 13 years at the helm of the Cavaliers, who are closing in on the school’s first out right conference championship since 1993.

North, 4-0 atop the 2A Central Carolina Conference standings after big wins over Ledford and defending state champion High Point Central inOctober, is 5-4 overall while playing an extremely tough schedule.

The Cavaliers can clinch a title tie by beating last-place North Stanly in New London tonight, then can wrap up the outright championship by beating East Davidson next week.

Secreast’s 10-year streak started in his fourth season at North, 1991, when the Cavaliers were 6-4 and didn’t make the playoffs. The worst record in the streak was 6-5 last year. The overall mark, counting playoffs, was a break-even 6-6.

When North wins for Secreast tonight, he joins former Salisbury coach Pete Stout in the winning regular-season column for 10 straight years. Stout did it from 1966 through 1975.

Secreast, whose career record at Mooresville, Salisbury and North now stands at 122-97, also became only the fourth coach ever to win 100 games at county schools. He has a 100-68 mark in his 15 years at Salisbury and North.

The all-time coaching records cover the five current schools plus Price and Boyden. Records for other schools prior to consolidation are incomplete.

The late S.W. Lancaster of Price leads the way with a record of 183-50-15 over 29 1/2 seasons. The late BillLudwig was 129-67-11 in 21 seasons at Boyden. Secreast’s predecessor at North, Larry Thomason, was 125-69-3 in 19 seasons.

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Last week’s high school prediction record of 10-2 left the season mark at 105-22 for an .827 percentage. This week’s choices:

North Rowan has played the toughest part of the schedule. Now the Cavaliers can use the last two games against North Stanly and East Davidson to prepare for the state playoffs. — North Rowan 61, North Stanly 6.

South Rowan’s Raiders battle R.J. Reynolds for the top spot in the 4A Central Piedmont Conference. Coach Rick Vanhoy’s South club is looking for its sixth straight league win over two seasons. A victory would clinch a tie for the title, but South can win it all by beating both Reynolds and Mount Tabor next week. Reynolds, of course, has been the league favorite all season. — South Rowan 24, R.J. Reynolds 20.

West Rowan should keep rolling in high gear as coach Scott Young’s Falcons take aim on their first league title. A win clinches a tie for the championship in the 3A South Piedmont Conference, then West can go for a perfect league mark against Central Cabarrus next week. — West Rowan 42, Sun Valley 14.

East Rowan travels to take on a Concord team that is especially tough on defense. The Spiders have had problems on offense, so East has hopes to keep it close. — Concord 14, East Rowan 7.

Salisbury’s Hornets close out their season against Ledford, and coach Raymond Daugherty’s Hornets would like to get win No. 4. However, the Panthers’ offense may be too tough. — Ledford 28, Salisbury 14.

A.L. Brown is battling Concord for second place in the SPC, and the Wonders can’t afford to look past Northwest Cabarrus to next week’s big rivalry with the Spiders. Northwest also can move into a tie with the Wonders by pulling off an upset. — A.L. Brown 28, Northwest Cabarrus 21.

Davie County needs a win over Mount Tabor tonight in order to avoid finishing last in the CPC. The War Eagles have lost their share of close games, but they should win this one to finish 4-7. — Davie County 24, Mount Tabor 17.

Other picks:

Piedmont over Harding, HighPoint Central over Lexington, Mooresville over St. Stephens, and Thomasville over West Davidson.

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Ed Dupree is senior sports writer of the Post.

 

   

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