Now in, South looks to win

This is the third of this week’s state football playoff previews. North Rowan appeared Thursday and A.L. Brown Wednesday.

LANDIS — South Rowan coach Rick Vanhoy had planned to keep his players in suspense until he arrived back at the Raider fieldhouse late Friday night.

But as he strolled across the field of Davie County’s War Eagle Stadium in Mocksville with assistant Jason Rollins and Dr. Alan King, Vanhoy decided he couldn’t let them sit and wait in anguish while he enjoyed the leisurely drive back to Landis.

Vanhoy instructed Rollins to take out his cellular phone and call the South fieldhouse to immediately reveal the good news: Unlike last year, the Raiders had drawn a favorable number and were going to the playoffs.

“I didn’t want them sitting there and worrying,”Vanhoy said. “It doesn’t hurt you to call back with good news.”

Assistant Tim Corriher answered Rollins’ call, and he quickly let South’s players know they could rest easy.

“(Corriher) asked us how we were dong, and I said ‘Pretty good, you need to sit down, we’ve got some real good news for you,’ ” Rollins said. “You could hear them in the background screaming and yelling. It’s a lot better news than we had to give last year.”

Said quarterback Andrew Morgan, “We didn’t think fate was going to stab us in the back twice.”

The Raiders pulled a No. 3 in a drawing for two playoff spots last year, but aNo. 1 came up on Friday. South, seeded No. 6 in the West, hosts 11th-seeded McDowell County in first-round action tonight at 7:30 p.m.

The Raiders remember last year’s snub, but Vanhoy points to 1999 with equal importance. South made the playoffs that season but lost 33-0 in the first round to A.C. Reynolds.

The Raiders have lost six consecutive first-round playoff games, with their last postseason victory coming in a 14-6 win against Asheboro in the first round of the 3A playoffs in 1981.

South hopes to reverse its trend of quick exits with a win against the Titans tonight.

“In 1999, it was just a sense of, ‘Hey, we’re going to the playoffs, what a great thing,’ ”Vanhoy said. “This year’s attitude has been more down to business. It doesn’t do us any good to play one game and go back home.”

The Raiders are seeded above McDowell County, but this game is a toss-up. Both teams own 7-4 records, and the Titans entered last Friday’s showdown against A.C. Reynolds with a 5-0 record in the Northwestern 4A.

Reynolds defeated McDowell 41-0 to claim the conference crown, but the Titans already had plenty of quality wins to put on their resume.

In McDowell’s five conference victories, it outscored its opponents 66-16. The Titan defense pitched two shutouts in league play, including a 6-0 win against Freedom, a team that beat Davie County.

“The defense is the strength of their football team, like it is with ours,”Vanhoy said. “It should be a pretty tough battle among two pretty good defenses.”

Both offenses like to run the ball a lot, but South’s task will be tougher without Henry Norman.

The Raiders had five players gain more than 60 yards on the ground in last week’s 56-0 win against South Iredell, and they will continue to rotate several backs into the game.

“We were able to build some depth during the year,”Vanhoy said. “We’re not going to be able to replace Henry, but we’ve got some guys who can step up and do a good job.”

The Titan defense will rely on defensive tackle Dustin Wiseman and linebacker Nick MacKinnon to stop South’s rushing attack, which finished with 397 yards against South Iredell.

“They’re big and powerful up front, and their quarterback has good speed,” McDowell coach David Riggs said. “It will be a challenge to stop them, they present some problems.”

So does Titan back Matt Reel, McDowell’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 1993. Riggs said the Titans run approximately five running plays for every passing play.

That formula doesn’t add up well for the Raiders, who have feasted on teams that throw the ball.

But this is the playoffs, after all, when nothing comes easy.

“We know we have a pretty good task in front of us,” Morgan said. “I’m pretty sure we’re up to it. We came off a great performance on Friday night, and we hope we can get it going again.”

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Contact Bret Strelow at 704-797-4258 or bstrelow@salisburypost.com .