Lopsided football games are more snore-ious than glorious for both teams involved, but Common Sense says sometimes they can’t be avoided.West Rowan didn’t arrive in soggy Granite Quarry with the intention of hanging a record-breaking 69-0 on East Rowan last Friday, but it happened.
When a strong team plays efficiently and a struggling team turns it over ó and over and over ó things have a tendency to spiral out of control.
Operative coachspeak for such situations is “things snowballed,” and that’s as good a phrase as any. West led 35-0 after a quarter.
It was a blowout and a snow-out.
All you can ask the winning coach to do when the scoreboard is overheating is to play everybody in uniform and keep things as up-the-middle as possible to keep the clock moving. But you can’t start taking knees with 11 minutes left. That’s rubbing it in more than scoring another six.
And you can’t ask reserves not to get after it. They’ve been putting in the practice time.
Several e-mails arrived this week wondering about West’s motivation for pouring it on East. It may cause a little pouting, but there was no pouring.
K.P. Parks, who was getting 17 yards on each tote, was done at halftime with a modest ó for him ó 191 rushing yards. West threw the ball once in the second half. Unfortunately for East, West’s backup backs produced a second-half TD and West’s defense scored twice on fumbles to turn the final score into something ugly.
It wasn’t unprecedented. We’re approaching the 10th anniversary of the “Kannapolis Chainsaw Massacre,” A.L. Brown’s 97-0 victory against Northwest Cabarrus in 1998.
I remember a Wonders fan holding up a sign for the enjoyment of disgusted folks in the Northwest portion of the bleachers. It read, “We feel your pain!”
Conversations about that game now include as much myth as fact, but it’s true that then-A.L. Brown coach Bruce Hardin, one of the all-time class acts, took a beating from reporters around the state for running it up. Outraged editorials wondered if the Wonders would have kicked a field goal for 100 if they’d gotten a chance.
There was a bit of bad blood, but mostly what happened just happened. And it wasn’t like Northwest, which had a winning record that season, was helpless.
Hardin’s son and quarterback, Justin, passed three times that night. Unfortunately for Northwest, five of Nick Maddox’s 17 carries ended with him handing the ball to the nearest referee.
In the second half, Northwest kept throwing, the clock seemed to stand still and Brown returned picks for TDs and scored on 80-yard quarterback sneaks.The most infamous blowout in Rowan history was Salisbury’s 95-0 victory against Spencer’s Railroaders on Nov. 10, 1933. As bad a mismatch as it was, there’s little evidence to suggest Salisbury “ran it up.”
The Post kept the game story mercifully short, but we know Salisbury scored 15 TDs. Had it converted a few more PATs, the home team would have reached the century mark.
Salisbury’s lead was 57-0 after three quarters, but it racked up six TDs and 38 points in the fourth as an outmanned and outnumbered Spencer team wore down and wore out.
The Post reported Salisbury coach Gordon Kirkland had his third-stringers in the game in the second quarter, which was about all he could do. The game ended with Salisbury on the Spencer 10, so it could have been 101-0 if he’d wanted.
The Post managed to put a positive spin on things for the losing side. “The less experienced and lighter Spencer lads fought hard but were unable to overcome the odds,” an anonymous sportswriter typed.
He could have just written that things snowballed.n
The picks struggled to an 11-5 mark last week and fell to 67-23 on the year.
Arnold Solomon of NCPreps.com cheerfully informed us he was 143-17 last week, which means he blew out Common Sense 69-0.
Lots of tossups in the NPC and CCC, so it figures to be another ugly night for the picks:
Mooresville 21, South 14The biggest blowout in South history was a 70-0 victory over Mooresville 30 years ago.
South led 42-0 after three quarters, but backup running back James Gwyn broke three long, fourth-quarter runs to make it a record-setter. Kevin Keiger was 10-for-10 on PATs. Not sure if anyone else has done that before or since.
It won’t be 70-0 either way this time. Should be the game of the night.
West 28, Lake Norman 0West has annually owned the Wildcats.
N. Iredell 17, East 14 Flipped a coin. The Mustangs can break a six-game losing skid.
NW Cabarrus 20, Carson 13
Flipped my other coin. Just figuring the Trojans are due and they’re at home.
Salisbury 28, Ledford 21Hornets are talented and resilient, and the chase for 11-0 is alive and well.
West Rowan vs. Salisbury in 2009 is something to look forward to.
North 12, Central Davidson 6Defense should produce North’s first victory.
A.L. Brown 28, Hick. Ridge 7Wonders will prove they’re the best in Cabarrus.
Davie 28, Reynolds 17War Eagles are down but not out.
NPC: West Iredell 28, Statesville 21
CCC: Lexington 21, West Davidson 14; East Davidson 13, Providence Grove 8
SPC: Sun Valley 34, Anson 21; Parkwood 28, Porter Ridge 17; Marvin Ridge 20, Concord 13
CPC: West Forsyth 35, N. Davidson 14; Mount Tabor 31, North Forsyth 10