The final period, however, belonged to visiting Northwest Cabarrus, which rallied to beat South 27-21 and ruin the Raiders’ homecoming Friday night.

South, ahead 21-10 late in the third period, dropped to 1-5 for the season, while the Trojans improved to 4-1.

Northwest, coached by Glen Padgett, struck for two long touchdown passes in the final period after getting only a field goal in the third quarter.

Quarterback Ryan Woodham connected with wide receiver David Zack for a 47-yard TD play to start the fourth quarter. Woodham found Zack wide open down the left sideline at the South 30, and Zack raced into the end zone. Woodham also ran for a 2-point conversion to pull his team within 21-18.

South defensive back Brad Lanning stopped the Trojans on their next possession with an interception, but Northwest’s defensive unit quickly got the ball back for the Trojans by forcing a South punt.

Woodham’s next pass was broken up by South linebacker Darryl Childers, but the next two throws covered 63 yards. He hit wide receiver George Lipscomb for 19 yards, then found wide receiver Dusty Carmichael in the clear at the South 15 for a 44-yarder that proved to be the game-winning TD. It was 25-21 with 5:01 to play after Adam Brown’s extra-point kick.

South had three possessions after that, but couldn’t get out of its territory until the game’s final seconds. The first possession lasted only two plays, because linebacker Robbie Cook of the Trojans intercepted a pass thrown by South quarterback Tim Cook.

Four plays later, a Northwest punt was downed at the Raiders’ 1-yard line, putting South in terrible field position with 2:57 to play.

After three incomplete passes, South punter Joe Finney stepped out of the back of the end zone for a safety, giving the Trojans two more points and a 27-21 lead.

It wasn’t over, however, because, after South kicked off from its 20, the Raiders’ defense held. Brown attempted a 47-yard field goal, which was short, giving South one last chance at its own 20 with just 1:09 on the clock.

Two incomplete passes, then a 2-yard completion to running back Jeremy Basinger set up a fourth-and-eight situation. Cook then got the first down by hitting running back Keith Garrett for a 15-yard gainer over the middle. A facemask penalty against the Trojans moved the ball to the 48.

Cook, with only 15 seconds left in the game, then looked for wide receiver Daniel Pinyan, who was covered, before trying to hit the speedy Garrett over the middle again. Trojan Robert Williams intercepted it to wrap up the victory.

“We played better (than in past games) and we did what we wanted to do in the first half. We came out and sort of controlled the tempo and played good offensively and good defensively,” said coach Rick Vanhoy of South.

The Raiders tied the score at 7-all in the first quarter on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Cook to tall wide receiver Jesse Kirkman and Robby Basinger’s conversion, but missed another scoring opportunity later minutes later after the Trojans fumbled on the ensuing kickoff.

South had possession at the Northwest 28, but gained only one yard in three plays. Robby Basinger ‘s 44-yard field goal attempt was short.

“It would have been good to get that one touchdown in early there and go up 14-7, but it just didn’t happen,” said Vanhoy.

South did go up 14-7 in the second quarter when Garrett’s running featured a 78-yard drive that was climaxed by running back Childers’ 8-yard touchdown run.

Another Cook-to-Kirkman TD pass of 15 yards late in the third quarter gave South its 21-10 lead.

“I thought our kids played well in the first half, and I thought they played pretty good in the second half,” said Vanhoy. “A bounce here, a bounce there, who knows?”

Northwest’s Padgett, who coached at Salisbury last year, was pleased with his team’s rally from that 11-point deficit.

“We were really pleased with how our kids responded at halftime and came out in the second half and played enthusiastically on both sides of the ball,” he said.

“My hat’s off to the South Rowan coaches and players. They played a great ball game, and they played hard. They didn’t quit. We made some big plays in the second half on both sides of the ball, and that was the key for us. … We could have come in at halftime and been down after struggling last week against a very good Central football team, but our kids regrouped and came out in the second half and played hard.”