Prep Football: The Notebook

North Rowan's Kornell Cook (4) prepares to catch the onside kick as the whole East Rowan line bears down on him. The ball took a hop and East recovered the to build up steam on a comeback to win the game. Photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

From staff reports

East Rowan linebacker Jordan Hopper was at the right place at the right time in the fourth quarter of the Mustangs’ 21-20 comeback win against North Rowan.

East trailed 20-0 when the Cavaliers fumbled a snap from their own 1-yard line. Hopper recovered the ball in the end zone with 10:55 remaining.

“I didn’t believe I recovered the fumble there for a second,” Hopper said. “Next thing I know I look down and the ball is in my hands and the ref is signaling touchdown. I ran off to the sideline, and the whole morale of the team just lifted. From there on we just kept pushing.”

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FRONT OF THE PACK: East coach Chad Tedder found plenty of room for improvement, but he was generally pleased with how defensive linemen Kevin Gillespie, Sam Sherman, Wilson Weeks and Jesse Meismer helped shut down North’s running game.

Sherman and Weeks also combined for one sack.

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HUMBLE LEADER: The game was Tedder’s first as East’s head coach. He was an assistant under Dale Barnes at West Davidson last year.

Tedder, who still lives in Davidson County, had a memorable weekend. His son, Andrew, and daughter, Ana, were baptized Sunday morning.

“The response I got at my church Sunday was pretty overwhelming,” Tedder said. “It was like I was a celebrity, and I’m like, ‘I’m not a celebrity; I just changed jobs.’ ”

Barnes has joked with Tedder, who is uncomfortable with all the attention, that he’s still in the honeymoon phase of his new job.

“My community in Davidson County has been very supportive, former coaches I’ve coached with have been very supportive, and the community and faculty here have been very supportive,” Tedder said. “It’s good to know I’ve got people behind me rooting for me and happy to see the first win.”

When Salisbury beat South Rowan 39-30 on Friday, the teams combined for the most points ever scored in one game in the series.

Salisbury leads the series 14-7.

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SENSE OF HUMOR: Salisbury QB John Knox had a beautiful, scrambling 64-yard run called back due to penalty. That yellow flag cut his rushing production for the night nearly in half, but he didn’t seem worried.

“The way I feel about that holding penalty— at least they’re trying to block,” Knox said with a grin.

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FIRST GAME: Salisbury coach Joe Pinyan (66-27 overall, 6-2 vs. South) said his team was generally disappointed with its opening-night effort.

“Our pride got hurt a little bit,” he said. “We felt like we were in shape before the game, and now we know that we’re not.”

Salisbury players blamed first-game-itis more than the heat for an uneven performance that included only seven points in the second half.

“I thought we play fired-up ball until we got tired,” Knox said. “Yeah, you want to be play great, but the reality is that it was just the first game and you’re going to make mistakes.”

Running back Romar Morris, who scored three TDs, echoed Knox’s thoughts.

“Next game, we’ll play a lot better,” he said. “A lot of our young guys had never been out there on Friday night. They had some first-game jitters, but they’re gone now.”

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CONVENIENT TARGET: Like a 7-11, Salisbury tight end Riley Gallagher is open all night.

His line Friday was a familiar story — two catches, two TDs.

He made the most of 14 catches last season, turning nine into TDs, and he’s the target right now that Knox has the most confidence in.

“I have no idea how Riley gets so open,” Knox said. “I just know that he does what he does and keeps doing it.”

Gallagher also fell on an onsides kick with a minute to go to seal victory.

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DOWN, NOT OUT: Fullback Tyler Downs, who is also the long snapper, had an impressive opening night. He rushed for 60 yards on a handful of carries.

“Tyler’s tried quarterback and defensive back in the past, and he came to us before this season and wanted to be at a position where he’d have the best chance to play,” Pinyan explained. “We thought about him a lot as a tight end.”

Instead, Downs was inserted as the second-team fullback, and he was elevated to first team after Hanson Saryee missed some football practice while playing in the county soccer tournament.

Downs made the most of his opportunity.

“Had he blocked just a tad better against South and graded out a winner, he would’ve been our offensive player of the week,” Pinyan said.

Instead that honor was shared by Morris and right tackle Marqui Ross.

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SIMON SAYS: David Simons gave the Hornets a big edge in the kicking game and was Salisbury’s special teams player of the week. He was 4-for-4 on PATS and drilled a 35-yard field goal in the final seconds of the first half.

“Any time you get a field goal of more than 30 yards in high school, it’s big,” Pinyan said.

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NOT TONIGHT: Tre Jackson recovered a fumble for the Hornets, but no defensive player of the week award was handed out. Coaches weren’t overly thrilled with the defense.

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KNOWLEDGE: Pinyan credited assistant coach J.K. Adkins, who was working upstairs, for a constant stream of relevant information.

West Rowan coach Scott Young was happy to see Dinkin Miller and Desmond Jackson run the ball well. Everyone was wondering who would take K.P. Parks’ place.

“That was the most asked question I’ve ever had as a coach,” Young smiled. “Both running backs answered the bell.”

Miller and Jackson combined for 172 yards. The team finished with 252.

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DROPS: B.J. Sherrill was 6 of 15 for 129 yards but it could’ve been 11 of 15 for about 300 yards without dropped balls. At least three might have gone for scores.

“He had three flat-out drops and two more that would’ve been good catches,” Young said. “Hopefully, we can get where we make good catches. It hit our hands.”

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DEFENSE: Young got some answers on defense as well. At linebacker, Quentin Sifford and Logan Stoodley received praise. So did lineman Justin Teeter.

“I loved Teeter’s effort up front,” Young said.

Young said the secondary “was lockdown.”

Shaun Warren totaled 221 yards on 37 carries in a 24-12 win against Hickory Ridge.

“It was good for him,” coach Mark Woody said of Warren’s heavy workload. “It’s not always going to be 80 or 90 yards a pop. We’re going to take 5 and 6, and they add up quick.”

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LOOKING AT THE OL: Woody said he ran Warren so much because he is still trying to solidify a couple of spots in the offensive line. He mentioned Caleb McCora as his starting center.

“The effort’s there, they just need a little more experience,” Woody said.

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RECEIVING HELP: Woody credited Cody Clanton’s 112-yard receiving night with the help he got from other Cougar ends.

Especially K.J. Pressley, a sophomore. Pressley caught two passes for 17 yards.

“K.J. had some big catches,” Woody said. “He’s a good-looking kid. When we get him and Dylan Eagle involved, it takes away the double coverage on Clanton.”

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DEE-FENSE: Carson kept Hickory Ridge under 200 yards of offense.

“Travis had those kids ready,” Woody said of his defensive guru Travis Billings. “He had those kids believing.”

Especially the revamped secondary of Jarod Raper, Donte Gilbert, Tripp Cross and Nick Martin. That group held the Ragin’ Bulls to just 58 yards.

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BACK TO WORK: Woody was happy to win, but he knows the Cougars can play better.

“I guess if you were watching the game people will think we looked pretty good, but there’s a lot of things that I saw that we’ve got to get better at,” he said. “But it’s a lot easier to work now than it is with a loss.”

The two-point conversion isn’t often a high-percentage call, but both South and Salisbury made it look simple Friday, combining for a 3-for-3 effort.

Keion Adams had one for Salisbury, while South fullback Ricky Sherrill plowed over for a pair of two-pointers.

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FULL HOUSE: South’s backup fullback Dillon Wright came in to give Sherrill a breather and pounded for an 11-yard TD.

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MIGHTY MAC: Mark McDaniel, a 48-minute man, lived up to the hype with a terrific first outing.

McDaniel started at wideout and defensive back. He returned kicks and was all over the place.

“I thought we played good for about half a game,” McDaniel said. “But to beat a team like Salisbury, we’ve got to play a whole one.”

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ALUMNI: Two of last year’s South heroes — Quan Glaspy and B.J. Grant — came by to speak to head coach Jason Rollins after the game.

Andrew Moody, a standout offensive lineman last season, is helping coach this year.

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NOT A BAD START: Rollins wasn’t satisfied with losing to the Hornets, but it was an encouraging start for a South team that had sophomores all over the field.

South was probably a three-TD underdog going into Ludwig Stadium, but it acquitted itself well.

“I thought we really fought against a team that’s very highly ranked in the preseason,” Rollins said. “We just made a lot of what I call young-boy mistakes.”

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PATS: South added soccer player Abel Betancourt to the roster to kick PATs, and he went 2-for-2.

Sophomore quarterback T.J. Allen’s first throw, a quick toss toward the left sideline, badly missed its intended target.

North Rowan’s second offensive play was much more productive. Allen fired a short pass to Sam Starks in the right slot — the throw was almost a lateral — and Starks sprinted down the sideline for a 52-yard touchdown.

Allen later connected with Terry Allen on a 12-yard touchdown pass that helped North claim a 20-0 lead in an opener it lost 21-20.

The Cavaliers finished with 125 yards through the air, and T.J. Allen accounted for 89 of them by completing six passes on 13 attempts.

“We’re trying to give a sophomore a chance to be successful,” North coach Tasker Fleming said. “We have receivers I think we can do a lot of things with this year, and I was very happy with the protection.”

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WELCOME BACK: Former North coach Roger Secreast attended the Cavaliers’ opener. He was on hand to watch his grandson, ballboy Wesley Isenhour.

Secreast’s teams at North had prolific passing attacks, and the Cavaliers have taken a step back in that direction.

“I think you ought to do what you know how to do and what the players are capable of doing,” Secreast said. “We were fortunate to have players capable of doing the things that were fun for us.”

Secreast, who has been retired from coaching for three years, lives in North Myrtle Beach. He is in good health after spending almost all of last year at Duke receiving treatment for lymphoma.

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BALL HAWKS: North entered the fourth quarter against East with a 5-0 advantage in the turnover battle.

Joe Wiggins, Xavier Robinson and Javon Hargrave recovered fumbles. Kornell Cook and Darius Jackson intercepted passes.

A.L. Brown running back Travis Riley, who has committed to North Carolina, will miss Friday’s home game with South Rowan with a right knee injury sustained in the season opener at Statesville and may be out for an extended period.

That means bigger roles in the offense for quarterback Martel Campbell, running back Xavier Stanback (two TDs on Friday) and possibly Damien Washington.

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SPC: Opening night wasn’t very positive for the SPC, which went 1-6. Brown nipped Statesville 29-25 and was the only league team to prevail.

Robinson, which was idle, had the second-best week.

Mount Pleasant did have an encouragingly competitive loss against 1A power Albemarle.

West Rowan coach Scott Young offered favorable reviews for rebuilding Central Cabarrus, even though the Falcons trounced the Vikings 56-0.

Young said Central is significantly improved over 2009, and he predicted they won’t go 0-11 again.

After watching film of the Northwest Cabarrus-Mooresville game, Young commented that NWC defensive linemen D.J. Bostick and Donovan Shaw are very impressive players.