West Rowan’s 40-7 victory against North Buncombe in the first round of the 3A playoffs included 44 clock-stopping incomplete passes, a cold-weather marathon that dragged deep into the night.

West Rowan coach Scott Young didn’t mind that the Falcons were one of the last teams to officially advance to the second round. The length of his game gave him the opportunity to gather final scores from all over the area and most put a smile on his face.

He was pleased fellow South Piedmont Conference teams Concord, Hickory Ridge, Cox Mill and East Rowan also had won — sixth-place and 16th-seeded Central Cabarrus was the league’s only loser at 3AA No. 1 Asheville — and he was pleased that 2A squads North Rowan and Salisbury had advanced along with the Falcons and Mustangs.

“Our county went 4-0 and that speaks well for football in Rowan County,” said Young, teeth chattering and bundled up like he was preparing to enter the Iditarod sled dog race. “Our conference went 5-1 and that speaks well for the South Piedmont Conference.

“I was kind of worried that the teams in our league were all pretty average, but I guess we were all pretty good.”

During the SPC season, Concord beat everyone and Northwest Cabarrus lost to everyone, but there weren’t many sure things between the second- and -eighth-place teams in the standings. Hickory Ridge beat Cox Mill. Cox Mill beat Central Cabarrus. Central Cabarrus beat Carson. Carson beat South Rowan. South Rowan beat East Rowan. East Rowan beat West Rowan. And West Rowan beat Hickory Ridge to bring things full circle.

Say this for the SPC, it was competitive. Even Concord could’ve gone down against Hickory Ridge and Carson if the Ragin’ Bulls or Cougars had gotten one more break.

What it all means is while most of the SPC goes on the road Friday, they all have a fighting chance because they’ve played against good opponents just about every week.

3A West: No. 8 West Rowan (8-4) at No. 1 Shelby Crest (12-0)

No one in the state has produced a more dominant season than Crest, which has outstanding veterans back from the team that lost in the 3AA state championship game a year ago. Crest has outscored opponents 482-59.

Crest’s biggest win was against neighbor and rival Shelby, a 2A power, late in the regular season.

West Rowan’s biggest issue with Crest could be stellar defensive end Omar Brooks, a 230-pound athlete who has 28.5 career sacks to his credit. He has 11.5 this year, and it’s going to tough for the Falcons to keep him from pressuring QB Kacey Otto.

Offensively, Crest throws and runs equally well. Junior QB Willie Green has passed for 1,868 yards and 21 touchdowns. Junior Tre Harbinson (210 pounds)  has scored 26 touchdowns and leads a running game that has piled up more than 3,000 rushing yards. Traquan Hopper is the leading receiver with 37 catches.

West Rowan’s defensive philosophy is to stop the run and make opponents one-dimensional. They’ll try to do that one more time.

Playing the No. 1 seed always is a daunting task, but the Falcons, with the exception of the 2011 state championship game, have almost always responded to playing well on a big stage. Young is excited about the Falcons’ being back in the statewide spotlight.

As Crest coach Mark Barnes told the Shelby Star: “West Rowan is a program with some great history. Over the past 10 years or so, they’ve done really well and they’re going to come here feeling like they’re supposed to win the game. It’ll be a different animal than a lot of the teams we’ve faced so far.”

West Rowan has lost its last two road games — at Cox Mill and Concord.

West Rowan played Crest once before. As a heavy underdog in 2002, the Falcons went on the road and put up a fight before losing 19-7.

 

3A West: No. 15 East Rowan (6-6) at No. 7 West Henderson (8-4)

Coming off a home loss to South Rowan, which had dropped six games in a row, the Mustangs staged a remarkable turnaround by winning at No. 2 Morganton Freedom 50-49 in the first round.

West Henderson, which outscored No. 10 Kings Mountain 41-27 in the first round, is enjoying quite a Cinderella season after going 1-10 in 2013 and won its first home playoff game in 24 years.

West Henderson rushed for 470 yards against Kings Mountain, while East Rowan allowed 464 rushing yards against Freedom, so it’s a good bet West Henderson won’t have much trouble moving the ball on the ground.

But West Henderson still should have its hands full outscoring the Mustangs and the record-setting Wyrick brothers. Samuel Wyrick has thrown a county-record 36 touchdown passes. Seth Wyrick has set county records for receptions (81) and receiving yards (1,311) in a season.

East Rowan appears to have played a considerably tougher schedule, and it’s noteworthy West Henderson was beaten 40-21 by 2A Mountain Heritage, a team that North Rowan handled 20-6 in the first round of the playoffs.

West Henderson hasn’t made the third round of the playoffs since 1984. East Rowan made the third round in 2012.

This is the first meeting of the teams.

East Rowan could be looking at another trip to Concord in the third round if it wins.

 

2A: No. 5 North Rowan (10-2) at No. 4 Mount Pleasant (10-2)

This shapes up as a great second-round game, probably a 20-17 type of headknocker. Neither team has lost to a 2A opponent.

Mount Pleasant’s Tigers dropped their first two games to 3A SPC teams Central Cabarrus and Concord, but they won 10 in a row, including a first-round playoff squeaker against East Rutherford.

North Rowan has eight straight wins since self-destructing and losing to Statesville and Davie County in back-to-back weeks.

Both teams are stout defensively, and both teams dominated relatively weak conferences.

Both teams rely on great running backs. North Rowan’s Jareke Chambers broke school records for rushing yards in a game, a season and a career, is approaching 5,000 career yards and is headed to the Shrine Bowl.

Mount Pleasant back Cody Reece, a junior, has rushed 354 times for 2,398 yards and 28 touchdowns in a breakout season. He ran all over Carson when Mount Pleasant beat the Cougars.

The advantage North Rowan appears to have is it’s more versatile offensively. North Rowan’s Alexis Archie has thrown for 1,627 yards and 17 TDs, while Mount Pleasant averages only 78 passing yards per game.

North Rowan beat the Tigers four straight times when both were members in the Yadkin Valley Conference from 1993-96, but they’ve never met in a playoff game.

 

2A West: No. 8 Salisbury (6-6) at No. 1 Black Mountain Owen (12-0)

Owen was pounded 55-22 by North Rowan in Spencer in the second round of the 2A playoffs last season, but even then, it was apparent the Warhorses would be back for a 2014 run. Their 2013 roster was filled with juniors. Now they’re seniors.

Owen comes into this game after destroying Lake Norman Charter 88-32 in the first round, while Salisbury won 14-10 in a hard-fought battle with Surry Central.

Owen running back Jager Gardner  is one of the great players in western North Carolina history. He rushed for 234 yards and five TDs last week and has rushed for 6,580 career yards. He also had a 93-yard kickoff return last week and will be the guy Salisbury has to slow down to have a chance at a monumental upset.

Chris McHone had a 99-yard kickoff return and a 41-yard interception return for the Warhorses last week.

Owen has scored over 500 points in 11 games. It has won against good mountain teams, including Hendersonville, Mountain Heritage, and Asheville Reynolds.

Salisbury QB Riley Myers has thrown for 1,030 yards. Fullback Willie Clark and Antwond Glenn have teamed for 1,740 rushing yards, but the Hornets’ running game has been quiet the past two weeks.

Salisbury hasn’t played Owen in football before.

If Owen and North Rowan both advance, they would meet in a rematch in Black Mountain in the third round. A Salisbury-North Rowan third-round game in Spencer would be fun, but it looks like a longshot.

 

Mike London: 704-797-4259; twitter.com/mikelondonpost3