MT. ULLA — You know times have changed when the first words Kannapolis football coach
Bruce Hardin utters — after hello — are “West is for real, aren’t
they.”That Hardin
speaks those six words as a statement of fact — not as a question awaiting a reply
— is significant.
It is even more significant that
Hardin chooses and uses those words during a week that the Wonders are focusing on their
annual war with fierce rival North Rowan.
Hardin respects North.
He has stronger emotions about the
1999 edition of the West Rowan Falcons. It’s not fear exactly, but it certainly
qualifies as anxiety.
The North game is an annual rite
of passage for the Wonders. They and the Cavs will knock each other’s brains out this
Friday, but when all is said and done that game is still nonconference. It’s about
bragging rights and it’s to tell Hardin and North coach Roger Secreast how far their
green machines have come since opening day and how far they still must go before playoff
time.
Their game with West isn’t
until Oct. 8, but it already has the Wonders’ full attention. It’s a much more
critical contest than North from the Wonders’ perspective. West is a league game in a
loaded South Piedmont Conference where there are six good teams and available state
playoff space for only half that number.
One slip in the SPC and
you’re in trouble. More than two slips and you’ll be sitting by the fire in
November, while your neighbors play football.
The Wonders have always been able
to count the West game as a certain “W.” West has never, ever — repeat,
ever — beaten Kannapolis in football.
But the times are changing. This
is no ordinary Falcon team. It may be their best team this decade. Maybe their best since
the 1967 team went 8-1-1. Maybe their best team this century.
And the Wonders know it.
Hardin and his assistants watched
West beat North 29-22 on tape on Sunday night. Afterward, those coaches huddled and
discussed Mario Sturdivant and Andre Byrd and Chris Phillips, and they agreed that North
is just as good as last year. As good as ever.
But when those coaches tried to
sleep on Sunday night, their dreams — or more likely their nightmares — were not
about Sturdivant and Byrd and Phillips. They tossed and turned instead over Scooter
Sherrill and Scooter Dalton and Jonathan Diggs and Jared Barnette.
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West did not play last week, so
the Falcons had time to reflect on what they have accomplished to this point — three
incredibly impressive victories over county rivals — and time to reflect on what lies
ahead.
“It was the perfect week for
us to be open, the perfect break between nonconference and conference,” said West
coach Scott Young, whose team opens SPC play with Harding on Friday.
“It was Labor Day weekend,
and it gave the coaches some time to spend with their wives, and the players some time to
spend with their families.”
Young stressed, however, that the
Falcons were only idle Friday night. They didn’t exactly waste last week reading
their press clippings.
“Honestly, we got better last
week,” said Young. “We had some physical practices and improved on offense. We
added some wrinkles.”
And in so doing, the Falcons added
some wrinkles to the brows of their competition — East Rowan’s Jeff Safrit,
Central Cabarrus’ Scott Stein, Northwest Cabarrus’ Glen Padgett, Concord’s
E.Z. Smith and of course, Hardin.
The Falcon players followed
different flight patterns on their free Friday night.
“I just chilled with my
teammates and friends,” said junior defensive back Terris Sifford. “A bunch of
us just sat around talkin’ about how good we are, and how far we’re goin’.
We know we’re on a roll, but we’re gonna keep on practicin’ hard.”
Young firmly believes his team has
an unsurpassed work ethic. He insists the quantum leap the Falcons have made this fall is
the product of sweat, not just the jets that the Scooters and Diggs and ferocious
linebacker James Francis have added to a squad that used to plod.
“These kids have worked their
butts off — some of them since the Monday after Thanksgiving,” said Young.
“It’s nice to see them reap some rewards.”
Young wants the rewards to keep
coming. That’s why he scouted Friday’s East -Central battle royal instead of
relaxing.
Another Falcon who took in
Central’s 31-28 win over East was 235-pound lineman Jason Fink. Fink walked even
taller than his usual 6-3, as he made the grand tour of Granite Quarry.
“I could tell there was a lot
more respect for me and for West football from people,” he said. “I’ve got
an uncle who’s an East fan, and I can tell it’s different. Hey, even our soccer
team has more respect for us now. It’s a great feeling.”
Sherrill and tenacious 250-pound
lineman J.D. Watkins strolled right into the lion’s den. They watched the Wonders
devastate Sun Valley by 50 points in their SPC opener in Kannapolis.
“We had our heads up and we
got respect,” said Watkins. “People that talked to us down there, it wasn’t
like last year. The other night, one of the North coaches came into Papa John’s where
I work, and he told me how much they respected us, too. That felt good.”
Watkins and Sherrill were
impressed with the Wonders, but far from awestruck.
“They’re great,”
Watkins said. “But they can be stopped. Look, we’ve been working since November,
and we’re still out here working every day. We’re making mistakes, but
we’ve got a lot of people out here who can play.”
No one’s arguing with you,
J.D. Not in Kannapolis, not in Concord. Not anywhere.
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The Cavs, meanwhile, were also off
last week, meaning they had two weeks to get over West and to get ready for the Wonders.
They’re only 1-2, but might
be the best 1-2 2A team in the state.
“North made a believer of
me,” said Young. “They’re for real and Sturdivant is as good as
advertised.”
Secreast indicated that his open
week, which included no contact work, is normally fun for the players. But he wasn’t
certain if this one was as much fun as usual, because his team is in the strange position
of having a losing record.
“Practices went well last
week,” said Secreast. “Sometimes they don’t, because they’re a little
anti-climactic if you don’t have a team to get ready for on Friday. We worked on
fundamentals and special teams, and the jayvees got extra work.”
Secreast went to Kannapolis on a
scouting mission Friday, and was an eyewitness to the brutal rout of Sun Valley.
“We got to see both A.L.
Brown and (future CCC foe) Ledford (vs. Davie County) firsthand,” said Secreast.
“That helps a great deal in preparation.”
Secreast’s players spent
their open Friday in different ways. Some went to the beach, some did nothing, some went
to football games.
“None of them went to see
A.L. Brown,” Secreast said. “If they went to a football game they went to see
Salisbury (at South Rowan). Their buddies go to Salisbury.”
Post sportswriter Steve Hanf
contributed to this story. |
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