By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
Roaming the county getting ready for tonight …
At first, West Rowan head football coach Scott Young wasn’t even going to the pep rally.
“I thought it was just a regular ol’ pep rally,” he said later.
But he went, and now, he’s glad he did. He had a surprise in store.
Once Young was pulled up on stage, he looked around and saw his beautiful wife Diane with their children Bryant and Ally. He saw his mother and father.
Hey, wait a minute. This pep rally was for him.
“I usually have my finger on the pulse of everything that goes on,” Young said. “But this caught me off-guard.”
The pep rally was to congratulate Young for his 100th career victory, a 27-14 win over Statesville the previous Friday in the second round of the 3A state playoffs. The senior players presented the game ball to him with the date and score and a big “100” written on it.
“That was nice,” he said. “It blindsided me.”
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West has set a precedent. It won’t be long before basketball coach Mike Gurley breaks Bob Hundley’s all-time mark for wins in the county. He’ll get a surprise pep rally, too.
Well, actually, I guess it won’t be a surprise now, huh?
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Young spent Thursday with the family celebrating Thanksgiving. He was asked if he thought his players would be too full from eating so much turkey and fixins’ that it might slow them down tonight when Carver shows up in Mount Ulla for a third-round matchup.
“If they are (full), so is Carver,” Young chuckled. “It’s an even playing field.”
And was he full?
“I’m always full,” the burly Young laughed. “You can tell that by looking at me.”
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What a quick playoff exit for the Central Carolina Conference. Salisbury, Central Davidson, Providence Grove and Ledford all lost in the first round. Lexington and West fell in the second.
Lexington lost its second-round game in Tabor City. Google the place and it says, “A small town near Myrtle Beach.” Why in the world is Lexington traveling that far?
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The CCC selected Javon Hargrave of North Rowan as the Defensive Player of the Year.
North Rowan didn’t win a game on the field this season. So some old-schoolers, who think top players should come from the top teams, are shaking their heads.
Hargrave will definitely be an all-county selection this season. And he might win the defensive award in the county one day.
But not this year.
The Post went with co-defensive players, one each from (you guessed it) the county’s two best teams: West’s Chris Smith and Salisbury’s Pierre Jimenez.
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There was no doubt about the county’s offensive player of the year: West’s K.P. Parks.
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The all-county team always comes out during the Christmas holidays. The rest of the squad, with a heavy dose of West Rowan Falcons and Salisbury Hornets, will be named then.
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An odd stat on Parks. We’re heading into the 14th week of the season and the star tailback has not had a Friday Night Hero story yet.
Heck, Young said, the Post could make Parks a Friday Night Hero every week.
We’ll just give him a Lifetime Achievement Award.
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On the air tonight…
– The dynamic duo of Howard Platt and Wilson “Don’t call me Wild” Cherry will do the West Rowan-Carver game on WSTP 1490-AM.
– The velvet-voiced Randy Whitley and former A.L. Brown coach Buddy Amerson will bring us the Wonders’ game at Charlotte Catholic on WRKB 1460 AM.
The Post’s own dynamic duo of Mike London and David Shaw will be in Mount Ulla for West’s game. Bill Kiser will be traveling with A.L. Brown.
Go watch a game tonight, folks. And be nice.
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com.