* Time: 7:30 p.m.
* Records: East Rowan 1-2, 0-1 NPC; Carson 1-2, 0-1 NPC
* Series: East leads 1-0
* Last meeting: East held the Cougars to three first downs and rolled 27-0 in Granite Quarry
* Last week: East put up a good fight in a 34-21 loss to a West Iredell team that has a lot of offensive weapons; Carson took a step back in a 48-6 thrashing by Mooresville
* Next week: East will be an underdog at home against Mooresville; Carson travels to face a Lake Norman team that has played well so far
* Game notes: Obviously, itís a very important game for both teams.
Neither team will be favored often in the NPC, and this is a game both teams believe they can win and a game their fans believe they will win.
The teams have two common opponents. Carson crushed a North Rowan team that was tied 0-0 with East at halftime, and the Cougars also gave Salisbury a tougher time than East did.
Having said that, East made strides on offense last week, while Carson wasnít competitive. Not that Carson was supposed to beat Mooresville or seriously scare Mooresville, but no one was predicting 48-6 after the way Carson played in its first two games.
Carson is playing at home for the third straight week. That could be a factor, but East figures to fill the visitors side. Itís a short trip.
The teams are so even statistically, itís scary. Both teams are rushing for 168 yards per game. Both allow 25 points per game.
East QB Marcus Weddington has thrown for 244 yards and three TDs, but leading rusher Thomas Lowe is no longer on the team.
Carson has a solid running attack keyed by Jacorian Brown and Shaun Warren, the countyís No. 3 and No. 4 rushers.
DB Jensen Harden picked off a pass for the Cougars last week.