Now, many are wondering how the Falcons are going to handle losing.

Tuesday afternoon, senior defensive linemen Jason Fink, all 6-foot-3, 235-pounds of muscle mass, took his frustrations out on a basketball rim in the gym, dunking with the ferocity that his coach said was missing from the team last Friday when Northwest Cabarrus handed West its first loss in six games.

“Look at him,’’ marveled coach Scott Young. “He should be all-everything.’’

If Fink was anything leading up to tonight, it should be a motivator for his teammates. This is not the time to be sulking over a loss with powerful — and undefeated — A.L.Brown waiting in the Towel City for a 7:30 p.m. start.

“We’re at the fork in the road,” Fink admitted of the Falcons (5-1, 2-1). “We can fall to adversity or we can go beat Kannapolis.”

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Young and Fink both agree that nothing can take away from the first five Fridays.

“It was awesome,” Fink said. “It was really a good feeling because we did get school history.”

Young isn’t worried about the mature Fink’s attitude. But he does know that teenagers are just that — teenagers. So he has been pumping the team up with positive vibes since the loss.

“I saw a lot of hurt in those kids’ eyes Friday night and I see a lot of hurt in them right now,” Young said. “But what they’ve got to realize is they’ve already accomplished more than any team here. We’ve got to work that much harder becauswe we’ve got a big test.

“I’ll be honest with you. We’ve got a bunch of quality teams left.”

Teams with the names Central Cabarrus, Kannapolis and Concord to name three who suddenly think they’re the favorites for those coveted playoff spots from the South Piedmont Conference.

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Also, this is not the week for injuries but West has a crucial one in fullback Jonathan Diggs. He suffered a badly sprained ankle against Northwest.

“I was running and people jumped on me and I tried to carry the pile,” said Diggs. “They didn’t blow the whistle and more rolled up under me. It just popped out of place.”

As of Tuesday, Diggs was wearing a soft cast on his ankle.“It’s kind of weak — I can’t put any pressure on it,” he said.

And then, there’s Scooter Sherrill’s big toe injury that kept the talented receiver off the field Friday night.

“He’s fine,” Young said.

West is also expecting the return of noseguard Brant Marlin from a shoulder injury and Terris Sifford from sickness.

If Diggs can’t go, Young is ready for Ben Hampton and Nick Blankenship to step in. Both stand 6-foot-1, 185.

Of course, Diggs says he will be out there.

“I’m going to play, no matter what,” said the 5-foot-11, 205-pound bruiser. “I can’t miss a game like this.”

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And what a game it was touted to be before last Friday.

It was supposed to be a matchup of undefeated teams, one a surprise, the other never a surprise. West would have probably made its debut in the 3A Top 10 poll had it beaten Northwest.

“Kannapolis did its part to stay undefeated,” shrugged Young. “We did not.”

Now, the key is to forget Northwest Cabarrus.

“We’ve just got to keep talking each other up and say it was just a fluke,” Diggs said. “We’ve got to bring our A-game next time.”

Young agrees.

“Our boys are either going to respond from it and finish this thing out at 10-1 or 9-2 and still be in the playoffs or they’re going to choose to tuck their tail and run. In that case, we’ll wind up 6-5. But I think we’ve got a good bunch of boys with a lot of character.”

And what better way to snap back than to play well against one of only a handful of teams favored to win the 3A state title.

“I said it the first week of the season and I’m saying it now,” Young said. “The conference championship goes through Kannapolis.”

But he wouldn’t mind a little detour tonight.

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