Time: 7:30 p.m.
Bracket: 3A West
Seeds: No. 10 Rutherfordton-Spindale Hilltoppers vs. No. 2 West Rowan Falcons
Records: R-S Central 9-3; West Rowan 12-0
Power ratings: Ken Massey’s system ranks R-S Central 81st in the state. West Rowan is 7th.
Head coaches: R-S Central: Mike Cheek; West: Scott Young (12th year, 115-37)
Hilltoppers offense: 27.0 ppg
Hilltoppers defense: 13.4 ppg
West offense: 43.0 ppg
West defense: 9.3 ppg
R-S Central vs. winning teams: 3-4, beat Polk County (10-2)
R-S Central on the road: 4-2
West vs. winning teams: 5-0
West at home: 6-0
Common opponents: South Rowan. R-S Central beat the Raiders 28-21 in the first round. West beat South Rowan 28-0 in September.
Both teams handled Freedom.
Who beat R-S Central? Tuscola (10-1-1), Shelby (11-1), Burns (6-6)
Series: First meeting
Next week: Next for the winners is No. 3 Asheville or No. 6 Franklin
Game notes: R-S Central placed third in the South Mountain 2A/3A behind Shelby and Burns.
R-S Central shoved it down South Rowan’s throat last Friday for 398 rushing yards, while West allowed zero rushing yards to Freedom.
That indicates the key struggle tonight will be R-S Central’s strong O-line against West’s defensive front.
On the other side, West’s K.P. Parks needs 233 yards to break the all-time state rushing record, and this should be a game in which he’s out there for four quarter for a change.
West has won 26 in a row because it has 40 good players in addition to Parks. Maxx Gore is a terror on special teams. Davon Quarles is a masher on the O-line.
ó Mike London