Time: 7:30 p.m.
Records: Carson 3-7, 2-3 NPC 2-8, 1-4 NPC
Series: North Iredell leads 3-2
Last meeting: Carson romped 56-14 in 2010 as Jacorian Brown scored four touchdowns.
Last week: Carson fell 44-14 to West Rowan, although the Cougars played better than it sounds. North Iredell lost 48-19 to West Iredell.
Next week: Carson should be a playoff team if it can register its fourth overall win and square its conference record at 3-3 for a fourth-place finish. But if the Cougars somehow flounder in Olin, it’s highly unlikely they’ll make the postseason.
Game notes: Carson still hasn’t beaten anyone outside Rowan — North, East and South are the Cougars’ only victims — and this looks like its final opportunity to accomplish that modest feat.
Then again, if Carson can’t beat North Iredell it probably doesn’t deserve a playoff berth. The Raiders have sustained a number of lopsided losses this season — 54-14, 49-0, 54-0 and 48-19. Their wins have come at the expense of 2A West Lincoln and East Rowan.
Carson is scoring 19.5 points a game, about half the offensive production the Cougars had in 2010. Defensively, the Cougars haven’t wowed anyone either. They’re allowing 26.8 points per game.
Still, Carson is talented and could win 49-0 tonight if it suddenly puts it all together. Brandon Sloop (838 yards) is second in the county in rushing, Austin McNeill (1,096 yards, 13 TDs) is second in passing, and K.J. Pressley (36 catches, 656 yards, 10 TDs) is second in receiving.
C.J. Cain will be counted on to block, while Nick Martin will be counted on to help contain North Iredell’s decent running game. Kemuel Brown (761 rushing yards) is the main threat for North Iredell.