BY STAFF REPORTS
SALISBURY POST

The 3A North Piedmont Conference won’t officially open hostilities until Sept. 28, but Friday’s nonconference encounters made it clear that the battle for the league’s two state playoff berths will likely go down to the final week.

At least five teams — Mooresville, Statesville, A.L. Brown, Northwest Cabarrus and West Rowan — appear to be very much in the hunt in the “Not Predictable Conference.”

Then there’s North Iredell (2-2). Cabarrus and Rowan teams are going to have to travel over the river and through the woods just to get to Olin to face the Raiders. North Iredell tries hard and has already doubled last season’s win total. It overcame a 17-0 deficit on Friday to post a win over 4A rival South Iredell.

Mooresville (2-1), which looked like the obvious team to beat the first two weeks, took a beating from Davie County that brought it back down to earth and back to the rest of the NPC’s pack of challengers.

Scott Young’s West Rowan’s Falcons (2-2), all but counted out after opening with three uneven performances, turned heads with Friday’s huge win over previously unbeaten South Rowan and now has to be considered a genuine threat. The Falcons get to pounce on winless Salisbury this week, then host North Iredell, so they have a chance to build serious momentum prior to their first big NPC test at A.L. Brown on Oct. 5.

Northwest (3-1) has to be considered part of the playoff free-for-all. Coach Glen Padgett’s Trojans looked to be headed for a down year after a rocky scrimmage against South Rowan, a lackluster opening-night performance against West Mecklenburg and an unimpressive struggle past Jay Robinson. But they’ve turned things around with explosive wins over a pair of Cabarrus rivals. Speedy Trojan back Shelton Roseboro has looked like the second coming of Nick Maddox with consecutive 200-yard rushing games.

Meanwhile, experienced Statesville (3-1) has been every bit as good as expected. Coach Roger Bost’s Hounds’ only loss was a tense battle with 4A Morganton Freedom.

Then there’s preseason favorite A.L. Brown (1-2). The Wonders have suffered a staggering amount of injuries, but history says it would be silly to think they won’t be a factor in November. They’ve missed the playoffs once in the last 12 years.

CENTRAL CAROLINA

With North’s first CCC game more than a week away, everyone is already asking the question about Roger Secreast’s team: Can anyone touch North Rowan?

So far, the league doesn’t look all that strong. In fact, only two teams (North and Central Davidson) have winning records in the early nonconference games.

West Stokes, the league’s most pleasant surprise to date, stands 2-2. Ledford, which still looms as the biggest threat to the Cavs, is only 1-2, but has played a tough slate.

The lower teams in the standings — Lexington (which has also faced a tough schedule), Salisbury, West Iredell and East Davidson — have combined for an 0-13 record.

CENTRAL PIEDMONT

Early-season events in the 4A Central Piedmont Conference have gone very much as expected.

Davie (4-0), projected as the team to beat, solidified that line of reasoning Friday with its romp over highly regarded Mooresville. Coach Doug Illing’s defense is giving up 7 ppg and scary freight train Neil Rice is finally healthy.

The chief challengers to Doug Illing’s War Eagles were supposed to be South Rowan (3-1) and North Davidson (3-0) and nothing has happened to this point to alter that thinking.

The Forsyth County schools were supposed to be down — and apparently are. West Forsyth and R.J. Reynolds have both crept out of the starting blocks with 0-4 marks.

The one school in this league that can’t be figured out is South Iredell. The Vikings beat West Rowan (although they later forfeited) but lost to North Iredell.