From staff reports
South Rowan coach Jason Rollins dedicated his team’s 38-20 win against Salisbury to defensive coordinator Barry Lipscomb, who is serving a tour in Iraq.
“This game and every game this season are dedicated to him,” Rollins said. “He’s risking his life for us. The least we can do is let him know we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing back home.”
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NEW LOOK: South’s defense presented a different dimension with all-county standout Cadarreus Mason shifting from defensive end to linebacker.
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SCORE-BORED: South hasn’t treated its fans to a close game in a while. Dating back to last season, South’s last five games have been decided by 18 or more points. That should change Friday when the Raiders take on A.L. Brown.
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HANDS TEAM: There was still a tiny bit of doubt when Salisbury scored a TD with 4:46 remaining to pull within 38-20 on Friday, and the Hornets had chances to come up with the ensuing onsides kick before South safety Brandon Ledbetter emerged with the ball after a wild scramble.
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TAKE A KNEE: South was at the Salisbury 17-yard line late in the game, but didn’t try to rub it in. Rollins allowed the clock to wind down, and QB Blake Houston took a knee on the game’s final snap.
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SECOND WIND: South had 187 of its 244 rushing yards against Salisbury in the second half. Workhorse D’Andre Harris picked up 64 of his 80 after intermission.
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LOWE RIDER: Thomas Lowe rushed 19 times for 157 yards against the Hornets and has 2,329 rushing yards for his varsity career.
Lowe passed standouts Lamont Smith (West) and Rick Vanhoy (East) on the county’s all-time rushing list on Friday. Lowe could pass several more greats, including North’s Jimmy Heggins and West’s Ben Hampton with a productive game against the Wonders.
Lowe actually has a string of six 100-yard games in a row, spread over three seasons ó his last two at East Rowan in 2007, his three games at East in 2008 and his debut with the Raiders.
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FIREPOWER: Lowe owns 25 varsity TDs, while Harris has 23, and receiver B.J. Grant has 15. That’s a lot of offensive potential.
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HE’S GONE: Grant’s 94-yard kickoff return for a TD against Salisbury was the first runback for a score by a Raider since Josh Wike went 88 yards against Mount Tabor in 2006. Wike had two runbacks for scores that season. He also went 90 against North Davidson.
Grant’s KOR was a huge, momentum-swinging play, coming immediately after Salisbury had taken advantage of a mistake on a punt attempt to take a 7-0 lead.
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LOOSE BALL: Linebacker Jacob Nance came up with South’s first turnover of the season ó a fumble recovery on an errant Salisbury pitch.
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STRAIGHT AND TRUE: South kicked zero field goals in 2008, but Jacob Jester looked like an all-county candidate in the opener.
Jester, who booted 19 extra points last season, provided eight points against Salisbury with his first varsity FG and a 5-for-5 effort on PATS.
Jester’s field goal was the first by a Raider since Lucas Soares’ school-record 51-yarder against A.L. Brown in 2007.
A bright spot for the Hornets in the loss to South was sophomore running back Dejoun Jones. He had four carries for 33 yards and scored the Hornets’ final TD.
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BOUNCING BACK: Salisbury coach Joe Pinyan told his team the non-conference loss to South didn’t change the season at all. What was important, he said, would be the manner in which the Hornets reacted to that loss during practice this week.
“We’ve got to move on,” Pinyan said. “We can’t let South Rowan beat us twice.”
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LAW OF AVERAGES: Pinyan said this season is going to be “a process” and said some of his players have to get better in a hurry.
“Some of our guys that are average have to improve to above-average and some of our guys that are below-average have to get up to average,” he said.
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BRUISING BRUCE: When Lowe fumbled on South’s first possession, Chris Bruce was there to make the recovery for the Hornets.
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THREE LEGS: Frankie Cardelle handled all the kicking duties for the Hornets for several years.
Pinyan tried to replace him with a trio of specialists on Friday, with Paul Kollie kicking off, David Simons booting PATS and quarterback John Knox punting.
Kollie, a soccer standout, got a workout. His first two kickoffs looked good and sailed deep, but he had to try to to make the tackle on both of them after South return men broke through the first wave of kick coverage.
Kollie slowed Harris long enough to get help, and his effort limited what would have been a 99-yard kickoff return to a 69-yard return to the Salisbury 30. Then South turned it over and failed to cash in.
Kollie was less successful trying to contain the elusive Grant who made a move on him and finished off his 94-yard return for a TD.
Simons was 2-for-2 on PATs. Salisbury went for two points after its final TD, trying to cut its deficit to 16.
Knox punted very well early but with decreasing success as the game wore on. Fatigue may have been a factor.
West Rowan’s Jon Crucitti, a versatile offensive threat who also punts, should make his season debut Friday against Northwest Cabarrus.
Crucitti practiced enough to be eligible for West’s opener last Friday, but his workouts in South Carolina during the Rowan County American Legion baseball team’s run through the Southeast Regional didn’t officially count toward his preseason total.
Crucitti still had a role in West’s 54-0 victory against Central Cabarrus.
“He had a ball Friday night; he helped us coach,” said Scott Young, West’s head coach. “He was helping coach some receivers that were in there in his spot.
“Jon has a presence about him. He’s just a winner, whether it’s baseball or football or the classroom, community service. He brings the spirit of our team up with him.”
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TACKLE TESTED: Offensive tackle Rodney Cline, a senior, made his second career start Friday.
“He went above and beyond the call of duty,” Young said. “He really had a good game.”
Cline was West’s third tackle last year as he backed up Tim Pangburn and Davon Quarles. Pangburn has moved inside to center, opening up a spot for Cline at left tackle.
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PARKING LOT: K.P. Parks’ five TDs against Central Cabarrus were one short of the Rowan County record, a mark he shares with Landis legend Billy Ray Barnes.
Barnes’ six TDs against Rockwell in 1952 and Parks’ six scores against Northwest Cabarrus in 2007 are the only documented cases of six sixes being compiled by a Rowan player in a single game.
Players known to have scored five TDs in a game include Rockwell’s William Yates, North Rowan’s Mike Steele, Price’s Joseph Johnson, West’s Phil Hogue, West’s Ernie Peace, West’s Lamont Smith, South Rowan’s Chris Torrence, North’s J.R. Neely, North’s Mark Sturgis Jr. and West’s Wade Moore.
Parks also produced a five-TD game against West Iredell in 2008.
All 228 of his rushing yards against Central Cabarrus came in the first half of the rout. When East Rowan’s Cal Hayes Jr. gained a county-record 344 yards against Robinson in 2001, he gained 240 first-half yards.
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NUMBING NUMBER: West’s shutout of Central was the 20th its defense has recorded since an opponent managed to shut out the Falcons.
The last time West was blanked was a 35-0 beating by Mooresville in 2002.
When Evan Hiatt was pulled up from jayvee to play his first varsity game last season, it was against eventual 3A state champ West Rowan.
He made his mark.
“He was one of the few people who actually had a tackle on K.P.,” East coach Brian Hinson chuckled.
Hiatt added to his list of stops on Friday in a 7-0 win against North Rowan. The junior defensive back made what Hinson thought was a touchdown-saving tackle in the third quarter.
“He’s got some good skills,” Hinson said of the 5-11, 158-pound junior.
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LINE OF FIRE: Hinson was very pleased with his defensive line of noseguard Jeffrey Haltom and tackles Jesse Meismer and Sam Sherman.
“Defense is the strong suit of our football team,” Hinson said. “Those three are tough to block.”
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O-LINE: A former offensive lineman, Hinson was an All-American at Catawba. He realized there were no All-American performances from his offensive line on Friday. East managed just 67 yards on the ground and 17 through the air.
“I expected much better than we saw,” Hinson said. “It’s more of a want-to. And if they don’t want to, we’ll find somebody who does.”
North’s defense, particularly the line, played well in a loss against East.
The effort marked the fewest points allowed by North defenders since a 34-0 shutout of Forbush in the Cavs’ fourth game of the 2007 season.
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DOUBLE TROUBLE: North DB Eric Roberson recovered fumbles last season against West Davidson and Providence Grove and led the team with two recoveries.
He matched his 2008 total on opening night with a pair of recoveries against the Mustangs.
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ZERO HOUR: North had negative passing yardage against Carson in 2008 when it officially completed three passes, but Friday’s game marked the first time this century the Cavaliers had played a game without completing a single pass.
The closest North had come to zero completions in the last decade was a 1-for-6 effort by Alfonzo Miller against Lexington in 2000.
North had started the 2000 season with Graham Hosch at quarterback, and Miller moved from receiver after Hosch was injured.
In 2001, Miller had one of the top offensive seasons in county history.
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COMPLIMENT: East coach Hinson couldn’t dole out enough kudos to the Cavalier defensive front.
“Their defensive line beat the heck out of our offensive line,” Hinson said. “I don’t know if we’ll see anybody better until we play West Rowan.”
Playing two straight nights because of lightning could have taken a toll on some bodies, but Carson coach Mark Woody didn’t report any injuries after his two-day, 25-13 loss to Hickory Ridge.
Lightning forced the postponement on Friday and Carson went back to play the final 11 minutes on Saturday, trailing 19-13.
“We fully expected to take the ball 40 yards, go up, then hold them and the game would be over,” Woody said. “But we went 3-and-out and they had a long drive to score. It was totally the opposite of what we anticipated.”
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PLAYER’S TAKE: Senior defensive back Zach Grkman said of the game, “That is probably the weirdest thing I’ve ever been through.”
Hopefully, there will be no lightning delays this week when the Cougars visit North Rowan.
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WARREN WATCH: Shaun Warren ran 22 times for 140 yards but only two of those yards came on Saturday when Carson lost 8 yards on seven offensive plays.
Junior Travis Riley enjoyed the first 100-yard rushing game of his career when he rolled for 150 yards in a 35-13 victory against Statesville.
It was the most prolific rushing effort by a Wonder since Artrele Louis’ surreal 242 yards on only three carries against Piedmont in 2007.
There were concerns about an offensive line that returned only one starter, but the 347 rushing yards were the most A.L. Brown has produced since a 361-yard output against Marvin Ridge in 2007.
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JOHNNY ON THE SPOT: Defensive lineman Mark Goodjohn picked up right where he left off last year.
Goodjohn, who made his first varsity fumble recovery in the 3AA championship game against Dudley, secured two Statesville fumbles.
Davie scored in 80 consecutive contests between a 42-0 loss to A.C. Reynolds that ended its 2002 season and a 24-0 loss to Butler that brought the 2008 season to a close.
When Davie was blanked 3-0 by Alexander Central on Friday, it made it back-to-back shutouts for a once fearsome offense.
Davie had not been shut out in the regular season since a 28-0 loss to Mount Tabor late in the 1998 season.
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DA FOOT: Davie received an outstanding debut from punter Sean Newman, who trotted out nine times and averaged 34 yards per kick. Most were not returnable and his longest was 48 yards.
“He did a great job,” coach Doug Illing said. “He had one shank, but he was trying to keep the ball inside the hash like we’ve coached him. I’m proud of the execution there.”
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HURT: Two Davie players sat out the opener with injuries: quarterback Jacob Barber (bruised ribs) and defensive lineman Greg Brill.
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Mike London, Bret Strelow, Ronnie Gallagher and Brian Pitts contributed to the notebook.