nTime: 7:30 p.m.
nClass: 3A
nPod: Midwest
nSeeds and records: No. 3 Concord Spiders (10-3) at No. 1 West Rowan Falcons (11-2)
nRecords vs. winning teams: West is 6-2, including a pair of wins against NPC rival Statesville.Concord is 5-1.
n Common Opponents: Both mauled East Rowan. Both scored five TDs in wins against Mount Pleasant.
nStats: Concord scores 35 points per game and allows 17. West scores 33.5 and allows 15.5. The stats are even. West has played the tougher schedule.
nBest wins: Concord really hasnít beaten a high-profile foe. Concordís best effort probably came in a 31-26 loss to A.L. Brown. The Spiders were down 24-0 before they mounted an amazing road rally.
West has beaten several good teams outside its league, including Salisbury, Davie and Reidsville.
nSpiders on the road: 4-2. The losses were at A.L. Brown and early in the season at Gastonia Huss.
nFalcons at home: 6-1. The loss was to South Pointe, S.C.
Massey Ratings computer prediction: West by 8.
nSeries: Concord has dominated 11-3, but West coach Scott Young is 2-2 against the Spiders. West beat Concord 48-28 in the third round of the playoffs last season. Young also directed a memorable victory at Concord in 2000. The last time Concord beat West was 1999.
nLast week: West won a 32-27 thriller against Statesville. Concord took a relatively routine 35-8 decision against Rockingham County.
nNext week: Winner advances to play the Burns-Franklin survivor. Either way, the West-Concord winner will be the road team.
nGame notes: Concordís 6-foot-7 QB B.J. Beecher is a different challenge than mobile Statesville QB Tristan Mumford posed last week. Beecher will be a stationary target for aggressive West defensive linemen like Jarius Lewis, but heís lethally accurate and courageous. Heíll stay in the pocket and wonít panic. … Westís Young and Concordís Glen Padgett are old adversaries. Padgett coached NW Cabarrus for years and he was coaching Salisbury in 1998 on the night Young won his first game at the helm of the Falcons. … Look for the Falcons to go with smashmouth and ball control behind double tight ends Jack Gallagher and Louis Kraft. It worked against Statesville Theyíll try to keep Beecher off the field with Dinkin Miller and Zay Laster pounding out first downs.