The prep football notebook …If anyone can offer a reliable scouting report on the Class 3A South
Piedmont Conference it’s Mt. Pleasant coach Mike Johns, whose team has already
provided the overmatched opposition for league contenders Central Cabarrus, East and
Northwest Cabarrus.
“That SPC is gonna be a great
league,” said Johns after East Rowan scored a 41-7 win over his squad Friday night.
“You’re gonna have six or seven really good teams fighting for four playoff
spots.
“Central is so well-coached
(by newcomer Scott Stein) and Northwest has great talent this year. They’re for
real.”
So apparently, are unbeaten West
Rowan and East. Concord and Kannapolis, until proven otherwise, must be considered part of
the playoff mix every year. Sun Valley has some brilliant individual talent.
If Mount is an accurate barometer,
Northwest, Central and East are pretty even. The Mustangs beat the Tigers by 34 points.
Northwest and Central both whacked Mount by 35.
East takes on Central this Friday
in an early SPC showdown.
Every East Rowan Mustang —
from head coach Jeff Safrit on down — said the Mustangs weren’t all that
discouraged by their bitter 26-21 loss to North Rowan last week.
The Mustangs realized that they
had played well. They had been beaten by the Cavs. It wasn’t a case where they had
given the game away.
Mustang lineman Danny Misenheimer
perhaps expressed the locker room feeling best.
“A championship team
isn’t measured by wins and losses, it’s measured by how quick it bounces back
from a loss,” he said. “One loss out of conference to a real good team
isn’t going to get us down at all. It’s not gonna stop us from reaching our
goal. That’s the states (playoffs).”
West Rowan athletic director
Randall Ward was excited about two things Friday night. One, of course, was West’s
win.
Two, he had become a grandfather
the previous night.
Daughter Kerry gave birth to a
healthy 8-pound, 9-ounce boy named Cooper.
Think the kid is going to have
football in his blood? His father, Brent Wall, is a middle school coach in Davie County
and played under Grandpa when he coached Davie’s War Eagles.
Kerry, by the way, was a
cheerleader, cheering on both dad and future husband.
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THE UNKNOWNS: You don’t know
their names. But Young said if any part of his offense needs lauding, it’s his
offensive line.
He had no problem coming up with
every name: Trey Waller, Taurus Cunningham, Bryan French, Christian Summers, Matt Moore,
Daniel Kluttz, Daniel Sears.
They need a lot of credit,”
Young said.
North Rowan coach Roger Secreast
says that when he loses Friday night, he spends Saturdays alone.
“Idon’t go out, I
don’t answer the phone,” he said.
No one found him Saturday either.
He took a trip to Florida.
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NOT SO BAD: Actually, Secreast
wasn’t feeling ill about the loss because his team didn’t play that badly.
Several long completions were just out of the reach of receivers and other big plays were
called back due to penalties.
“I told these guys, You
played a good football team,” said Secreast. “I don’t like losing but you
don’t get disappointed in games like this. We played until the last minute and still
had a chance so that’s all you can ask, for them to do the best they can.’’
South Rowan junior Keith Garrett
has at least one fan on the Raiders’ offensive line. Senior tackle Brian Billings was
rather complimentary after Friday’s 53-31 loss to visiting Kannapolis.
“Little G is a tough little
guy,” the burly lineman said after Garrett rushed for 42 yards and added 59 on three
pass receptions. “He always runs the ball hard. That’s what an offensive lineman
likes best.”
Garrett added a 43-yard kickoff
return in the third quarter.
North Stanly emerged bruised and
bloodied from Friday night’s 49-20 loss at Albemarle but vowed not to let
back-to-back county losses bother them.
“We just didn’t hang on,
but I’m not worried about this game,”said O.J. Owens, perhaps the most banged up
with a swollen eye and bits of turf gracing his face after the game. “This game
can’t knock us out of the playoffs.”
The Comets blasted Garinger 38-25
to open the year but then fell 23-3 last week to South Stanly. North continues its county
battle next week against visiting West Stanly, and head coach Robert Harris is upbeat.
“Even though we lost I think
we played better tonight than in the first two games,”Harris said. “The guys
showed serious pride tonight, they played real tough.”
They also showed serious resolve,
not hanging their heads even after sophomore Bulldog tailback T.A. McClendon ran for 336
yards and four touchdowns against the Comet defense.
“This could have been a
stepping stone to our season, but our season doesn’t start until we play High Point
Central,”said Kamal Watkins, already eyeing the Sept. 24 Central Carolina Conference
opener.
Enough already about Nick Maddox.
Senior quarterback Justin Hardin, for one, wants to move on.
“He was a great loss,”
the shifty QB said after Friday’s defenseless 53-31 win at South Rowan. “But
this team is trying to find its own personality. Last year we had a lot of individualism,
a lot of star players. But this year, with our different running backs and different types
of receivers, we could have a better offense.”
Hardin led the Wonders to eight
touchdowns and 501 yards total offense. Among his most productive plays was a 77-yard
touchdown pass to Justin Chambers late in the third quarter.
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Ronnie Gallagher, Steve Hanf and
David Shaw contributed to this notebook. |
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