* Time: 7:30 p.m.
* Records: East Rowan 0-1; North Rowan 0-2
* Series: North leads 35-13-1 in the countyís most one-sided series
* Last meeting: East Rowan won at home 27-14 in 2007
* Last week: East fell to Salisbury 35-6; North lost 36-0 to Carson
* Next week: East opens NPC play against West Iredell; North is on the road at Forbush
* Game notes: Two winless teams come off a frustrating week.
Everyone realized North might struggle with a late coaching change, key player defections and general inexperience, but no one expected the Cavaliers to get outscored 96-0 in their first two outings.
North has produced no points and negligible offense. The defense has been better, but itís been placed in impossible situations by turnovers and special-teams mistakes.
Sophomore Javon Hargrove and junior Vince Shropshire are leaders for Northís defense, which actually ranks ahead of East and Salisbury in terms of yardage allowed.
Alex Lawson played well on both lines for East last week, but the Mustangs lost the field-position battle. They were always staring at a long field and couldnít finish 80-yard drives without a costly miscue. What hurt most was throwing three picks.
East did move the ball on the ground, with Thomas Lowe and Quentin Sifford both churning for more than 100 yards. Lowe had 120 yards when he went down with cramps in the third quarter, but he should be fine tonight. Lowe made a huge run for a clinching TD against North last year when East finally ended a 13-game losing streak to the Cavaliers.
East shut out North twice in 1969 and won seven meetings in a row from 1965-1970.
North has dominated since 1971 and also won all five from 1960-1964.