Common Sense was fortunate to go 5-1 last Friday to boost the season mark to 10-3.
It was a strange night.
Carson won, which had never happened. North was shut out, which didn’t use to happen. West lost, which happens about twice a year.
The normal occurrences were Salisbury beat East for the sixth time in seven years and A.L. Brown made it 13 out of 14 against South Rowan.
It’s not all bad that Common Sense was moved up to Thursday because some games were moved up to beat Hurricane Hanna.
The rush to make picks provides a built-in excuse for screw-ups. Common Sense couldn’t calmly and brilliantly analyze matchups the way it usually does.
This is a tough week with Davie going to Thomasville and A.L. Brown going to Mooresville. If the War Eagles and Wonders get it done, those will be great road wins.
Lots of questions to be answered tonight and tomorrow.
Is Carson suddenly a juggernaut? Can North turn things around overnight? Is East going to struggle like the bad, old days? Will A.L. Brown go undefeated?
Common Sense says no, no, no and no.
East 35, North 7
The last time North was shut out three straight weeks was in 1964, so chances are good the Cavaliers will visit the end zone.
If you’re wondering, North hasn’t been shut out four consecutive weeks since 1958, its first year of football.
Salisbury 24, Carson 14
The Hornets ran at will and battered the Cougars 48-14 last season.
Carson is unlikely to make up such a huge gap in one year, but it should be a quality game.
Brown 21, Mooresville 17
The Wonders didn’t look like the No. 3 team in 3A last week, but they usually rise to the occasion in big games.But there are a lot of reasons to pick Mooresville.
The Blue Devils are due in this series, they have the home field and Jjshaun Pinkston ran all over the Wonders last year when Brown needed two kickoff return TDs to survive 29-26.
Davie 28, Thomasville 21
Thomasville allowed 445 yards of offense to Lexington last week, which means Davie should be able to throw on the Bulldogs and put up three or four TDs.
Thomasville is an I-formation running team, and Davie contained West Rowan’s strong running game last week.
Still, Thomasville is Thomasville and Davie back James Mayfield is probably out, so Common Sense is out on a limb, and the chainsaw is humming.
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West, South and Northwest Cabarrus are off this week, but there is one NPC game. Lake Norman takes on Statesville in a battle of unbeatens. Common Sense says Greyhounds 21, Wildcats 7
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And in a game tonight involving a CCC team, West Davidson should roll over Southwestern Randolph 28-7.