This time the unbeaten Falcons unlocked the display case and hung up an attractive 28-7 victory over host East Rowan.

“This is going to open some eyes,” senior lineman Jason Fink said after West gained its fifth win and improved to 2-0 in the Class 3A South Piedmont Conference. “We won our first four games and people still didn’t have a lot of respect for us. That’s all gonna change after this.”

It certainly got the Mustangs’ attention. West’s forget-me-not performance featured a defense that limited East (3-3, 1-2 SPC) to 124 yards of total offense — including just 26 in the decisive first half — and sacked quarterback Drew Davis six times.

“Our defense played its best game of the season,” boasted West coach Scott Young. “Hats off to the coaches and kids because they played super-duper. If they keep playing like that, who knows what could happen?”

If they keep playing like this, Falcon fans may find themselves in line for playoff tickets. “We’re almost the best team in the county,” smiled running back Jonathan Diggs. “Even though you’re never the best. There’s always something we can do to make ourselves better.”

There wasn’t much to improve on in the first half Friday night. West capitalized on an early scoring chance after sophomore Luke Drechsler blocked a first-quarter punt. The Falcons took over on the East 28-yard line and grabbed a 7-0 lead six plays later when QB Jared Barnette tossed a 16-yard touchdown pass to Justin Davis.

“I don’t know what gets into us sometimes, but we just weren’t ready to play,” said disappointed East lineman Henry Faavesi. “They’re not a better team than us. We were prepared. We knew what was coming. We just didn’t stop it.”

West hit the gas pedal in the second period when it scored three touchdowns and built a 28-0 halftime lead. The first came on Barnette’s second TD pass of the night — and ninth of the season — a 7-yard sideliner to tight end Chris Mauriello. Next came an impressive 12-play, 62-yard drive that chewed more than five minutes off the clock and culminated on tailback Scooter Dalton’s score on a 9-yard trap play.

“We got beat everywhere,” complained East’s Danny Misenheimer. “In the first half we didn’t do anything right. We overpursued, we weren’t in the right spots at the right time. Then we got out of position and started breaking down and missing tackles.”

They all missed West’s Davis seconds later when he zigged left and zagged right and finally bolted down the sideline on a last-minute 70-yard punt return.

“It was special, but I had a lot of great blocks,” he said before boarding the festive team bus. “Especially the last one by Calvin Roebuck. I’d like to thank him because he’s the one who sprung me for the touchdown.”

East coach Jeff Safrit felt the punt return dropped his team in the no-return bin. “It’s the play that broke our backs,” he explained. “We were supposed to punt that one out of bounds. It started out over that way but then bounced back.”

East scored its lone touchdown early in the third quarter. A brief, 15-yard drive was set up by Chris Faavesi’s fumble recovery and capped by Drew Davis’ 2-yard bootleg.

In the closing moments West’s defense rallied to thwart a couple of Mustang threats. First came a clutch interception by freshman DB Brandon Bailey at the Falcons’ 10. Then Fink — a 6-3, 235-pound doberman in the trenches — threw East’s Davis for a 13-yard loss on a first-and-goal play.

“My eyes got big when I saw I had a clear path to that quarterback,” he said. “It was pretty tough because I was going against a great offensive line all night. I just saw a chance to get there.”

The Mustangs ran out of chances when Thomas Hendrickson broke off a 10-yard run on fourth-and-12 with 2:54 remaining. Now Safrit has to wonder if East has enough fuel left to chase a fourth straight playoff berth or if it’s discarded its battle fatigues.

“We’re in a hole, no doubt about it,” he said afterward. “I can’t understand why we can’t play a good first half. We haven’t had one all year. For some reason, we don’t always execute the things we’ve worked on.”

West, on the other hand, solidified its newfound role as playoff contender. “We’ve got a good ballclub, but this is just the first step of many we’ve got to take,” said Young. “We’ve started the walk. Now we’ve got to finish the walk.”