Prep Football Notebook: Week 3

West Rowan Quentin Sifford (9) made an interception in game with Davie County. photo by Jon C. Lakey, Salisbury Post.

From staff reports

West Rowan has had trouble with Falcons holding onto B.J. Sherrill passes.

Maybe Scott Young should just move linebacker Quentin Sifford to receiver.

“Maybe they should,” Sifford laughed after West defeated Davie County 40-0 Friday night to improve to 3-0.

Sifford made the best catch of the night when he picked off a pass — one-handed.

“I see the quarterback roll out so I went to my zone and went to get it,” Sifford said.

It was an impressive play, according to Young.

“He reached up and grabbed it with that paw and took off,” Young said. “He was only a block away from breaking it.”

Sifford, who was one of the stars on East’s 9-4 team last year, moved to the West district last year. It didn’t take long to fit in. He actually played at West Middle and his older brother, Travis Sifford, is a former Falcon.

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GOOD HANDS PEOPLE: And what about those inexperienced receivers? They’re improving.

“I think it’s a work in progress,” Young said. “Our receivers are getting better and better.”

Sherrill hit four different Falcons in Jamarian Mabry (4 catches for 49 yards), Patrick Hampton (2-47), Jarvis Morgan (2-31) and Brandon Ijames (1-27).

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NO ORDINARY JOE: In what could be a matchup of the future, Davie receiver Joe Watson, who has committed to Duke, and West defensive back Domonique Noble, a Georgia Tech commitment, went head-to-head.

“We challenged Domonique to take away Watson,” Young said. “I know he had some receptions on us, but I thought Domonique did a great job overall.”

Watson finished with four grabs for 54 yards.

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VERSATILE: Just when you thought an 88-yard rushing performance by quarterback Sherrill was eye-opening, Young quickly reminds everyone that he has always been a good runner.

Sherrill had a 52-yard scoring jaunt in the 2008 state title win against West Craven and had several good runs last season in the state championship win against Eastern Alamance.

“B.J. can make plays with his legs,” Young noted. “We just don’t ask him to a lot. Sometimes, when things break down, he has too.

Sherrill had 236 yards of total offense Friday, including 148 yards passing.

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DOMINATION: West Rowan’s dominating 40-0 shutout of Davie on Friday marked the first time the Falcons have shut out the War Eagles since the teams battled to a scoreless tie in 1966.

Davie was 1-for-11 on third-down conversions.

West’s only other shutout of Davie was 13-0 win to close the 1960 season.

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ZE[0x12]RO HOUR: West’s defense already has two shutouts this season.

The Falcons had four last season and also had four in 2008.

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SHOUT OUT: Twenty-five years ago, the 1985 Falcons became the first team in school history to qualify for the state playoffs.

The playoffs didn’t go all that well. Statesville beat West 48-0 in the first round.

CARSON

Carson gave up three touchdowns that covered at least 30 yards, but coach Mark Woody said he was “extremely pleased” with how the defense played in a 42-27 win against Salisbury.

Romar Morris finished with two touchdowns and had an 80-yard score wiped out by a holding penalty. The Hornets ended up rushing for 220 yards, 124 fewer than Carson.

Ryan Shoaf accounted for two of Carson’s three sacks, and Zach Blythe intercepted a pass. T.J. Smith, Garrett Smith and Tripp Cross recovered fumbles.

Jeremiah Smith was also a force up front.

“We don’t have All-American superstars, but they get after it,” Woody said. “We’ve got some kids really buying into team concept and having fun playing. You can’t say enough to take a team that’s that explosive and, take away some big plays, which they’ll get against anybody, we did fine.”

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SURGING FORWARD: Carson fell behind in the opening minute but came out for the start of the second half with a 21-7 lead.

“Our kids don’t get too high or too low,” Woody said. “They just cruise as it goes.

“They were fine. I’m not so sure the coaches weren’t more tight than them.”

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SWEEP THE LEG: Carson scored six touchdowns against Salisbury, and senior kicker Caleb Lippard went 6-for-6 on extra points.

That phase of the game was often a concern for the Cougars early in their history.

“You don’t have to sit there and hold your breath, close one eye and cross your fingers,” Woody said. “Put it out there and go. It’s huge for us.”

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OH YEAH: The 3-0 start is a nice reward for Carson’s senior class.

“The kids are just trusting in what we’ve been preaching,” Woody said. “They’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid for three years. They’ve kind of accepted where we are and are extremely confident right now.”

SALISBURY

Salisbury running back Dominique Dismuke has been an important part of the team’s success in the ground game, and he contributed to the passing attack against Carson.

Dismuke rushed for 46 yards on 13 carries, and he scored on a 65-yard reception midway through the fourth quarter.

On a play-action pass, John Knox hit a wide-open Dismuke in stride at the Carson 45.

“He’s really been blocking pretty well for Romar to be enjoying the kind of success he’s had,” Salisbury coach Joe Pinyan said. “It was good for Dominique to catch that touchdown pass. Get him in the end zone as often as we can and build him up as well as he’s playing without the football.”

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SENIOR MOMENT: One bright spot from the loss to Carson was the blocking of wide receiver John Jarrett, a senior.

Jarrett put in a lot of work in the weight room during the offseason.

“It’s paying off for him,” Pinyan said. “He’s able to control his guy and put them where he needs to put them. We just have to get out there to him.”

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CALCULATED RISK: The Hornets trailed 35-27 after Dismuke’s touchdown with 5:35 remaining.

Salisbury tried an onsides kick, but a batted-around ball ended up in the hands of Carson’s Alex Lee. The Cougars drove 44 yards for an insurance touchdown.

“Our young defense, they don’t need a short field — they need to play on a long field,” Pinyan said, “but we had to take a chance because we weren’t sure we were going to get it back if we didn’t do that.”

SOUTH ROWAN

South Rowan’s football team was a member of the South Piedmont Conference from 1961-72 and from 1978-1985.

The Raiders almost have the feeling their back in the SPC. They’ve played SPC neighbors A.L. Brown and Northwest Cabarrus the past two weeks, and their next two games — Robinson and Central Cabarrus — are also against SPC foes.

South went 4-0 against the SPC in 2009, a big factor in its 9-3 season, but it’s 0-2 so far this year.

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DOING IT ALL: Mark McDaniel’s primary job is still defense, but he also ranks in the top dozen in the county in rushing, receiving and passing. He may be the first to accomplish that feat.

NORTH ROWAN

Maybe “The Aiport” really is back.

North leads the county in passing yards per game, and sophomore QB T.J. Allen has thrown for 225 yards and two TDs.

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SENIOR STAR: North defensive lineman Javon Hargrave appears to be a recruiting target for Catawba.

EAST ROWAN

East Rowan needs to improve its passing game, according to coach Chad Tedder.

In a 33-6 loss to Concord, the Mustangs managed just 21 yards through the air, going 2-for-7 with two interceptions.

“We’ve got to be able to throw the ball a little bit,” Tedder said. “When we get in a four-receiver look, they’ve got six guys covering four guys so we try to run with that.”

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IN THE WEB: East’s bread and butter is running the football but Concord held the Mustangs to just 98 yards. Sophomore Max Allen finished with 61 of them and Chris Moore 23.

Allen got over half of his total on one attempt when he scored East’s only touchdown on a 32-yard run.

“They’ve got a very good defense,” Tedder said. “We knew their defensive front was probably the strength of their defense.”

The Spiders did much better on offense. They got a 100-yard rushing game from Denzel Phillips, who has taken over as the main running back with Dominique Posey playing only on defense, while sophomore quarterback B.J. Beecher threw for 159 yards and two touchdowns, including a 38-yarder to tight end Terrance Knox that got Concord on the board midway into the second quarter.

“I thought we played real well on both sides of the ball,” Padgett said. “Our kids were ready to play. We made some things happen and created some turnovers and built on that momentum. I was real pleased with our ability to run the football. We really focused on that this week.”

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STAY FOCUSED: Tedder doesn’t want his Mustangs to lose faith in the system.

“I just hope they believe this will work, and it will work,” Tedder said. “I've seen it work with this type of kids. We’ve just got keep plugging and the coaches have to do a better job and I’ve got to do a better job. I put a lot of responsibility on me for how we play and I’ve got to get better as a coach.”

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DON’T I KNOW YOU? Padgett is a familiar face to Rowan County fans. He coached Salisbury a few years ago and is sure East will be a team to reckon with as the season continues.

“Coach Tedder and his staff are doing the right things and they’re going to be a good football team before this is over,” Padgett said. “There’s no doubt about that in my mind.”

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PICK ONE: East, along with South Rowan and Salisbury, is still looking for its first interception of the season. Maybe it’ll come tomorrow when the Mustangs play Hickory Ridge.

East’s defense produced a season-high six Hickory Ridge turnovers in the game last season, including interceptions by Evan Hiatt, Jordan Hopper and Shawn Galloway. Those three are still around, as is Jesse Meismer, who fell on two Hickory Ridge fumbles last season.

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SLOW START: East hasn’t gotten much production offensively in the first half. The Mustangs haven’t scored yet in the first quarter, and they’ve been outscored 56-6 in the first halves of their games.

East hasn’t been able to get its passing game rolling. The Mustangs have a meager eight completions for 61 yards in three games.

East QB Jamey Blalock (134 yards total offense) and running back Chris Moore (94 rushing yards) had good games against Hickory Ridge last season.

DAVIE COUNTY

Middle linebacker Jared Barber missed the loss to West Rowan due to dehydration concerns dating back to summer camp at Catawba.

The West Virginia commitment had 35 tackles in Davie’s losses to Page and Alexander Central, and he obviously was missed against the Falcons.

“I don’t want to discount what our kids did,” West coach Scott Young said, “but I know he is so important to their defense. With him being out, that tremendously affects their team. I just hope the kid’s healthy the rest of the season because I know without a doubt he’s their defensive leader.”

Barber may return tomorrow when winless Davie plays host to undefeated Greenville Rose.

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All-NAME TEAM: Mookie Martin had two of the five interceptions Davie jayvees recorded in an 18-6 win against West Rowan.

A.L. BROWN

A.L. Brown doesn’t vote in the Associated Press poll.

If the Wonders did get to vote, Thomasville would be ranked higher than 11th in 2A. The Bulldogs did a number on the Wonders, beginning with Kesean’s return of the opening kickoff for a stunning touchdown.

“The guy goes 90 on the kickoff, and that’s tough on anybody,” Brown defensive lineman Mark Goodjohn said. “But it’s still part of the game, and you have to step up and come back from it.”

It was the first time the Wonders have allowed an opening-kickoff TD during Ron Massey’s 11 years as head coach.

The Wonders allowed kickoff returns for TDs by Kings Mountain and Asheville Erwin last season, although not on the opening kickoff, and they still managed to win both games.

If you’re wondering, Brown’s had three opening-kickoff TDs during Massey’s coaching tenure — by Jonathan Peoples, Artrele Louis and Jamill Lott.

Louis, whose amazing career at Brown was cut short by a vertebrae injury, is now on the roster of the Elizabeth City State Vikings.

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NICE GAME: Linebacker Andrew Leslie played very well for the Wonders, forcing a fumble with a sack of Thomasville QB Sam Nelson and punting for an average of more than 40 yards.

Leslie and his teammates held Thomasville to under 200 yards of offense — no small feat.

Senior DB Tevin Jones, not to be confused with senior receiver Teven Jones, blocked a field-goal attempt.

Brown’s Evans White, Jericho Rivers, Tevin Jones and Travis Harris made tackles for loss.

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OFF WEEK: This is A.L. Brown’s off week, and it comes at an opportune time. The offense will have to be tweaked with Travis Riley, the team’s only power back, out for the season with leg and knee injuries.

With the aid of crutches, Riley hobbled out with the game captains for the coin toss, but his only contributions are going to be of the inspirational variety.

Riley was probably going to be a 2,000-yard guy, so it’s a huge blow to the program.

“We’re all helping him keep his head up, and he’s helping us keep ours up,” Goodjohn said.

Riley still plans to graduate after the first semester and enroll at UNC. He’s no doubt looking at a redshirt season in 2011, but after that, he should be ready to roll for the Tar Heels.

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INJURED: Charles Mance, a returning starter on the offensive line, remains sidelined by a knee injury.

Linemate Sheldon Saddler said it’s going to be at least a few more weeks before Mance returns to action.

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Ronnie Gallagher, Mike London, Bret Strelow, Paul Hershey and Brian Pitts contributed to the notebook.