Gallagher column: Roaming the county getting ready for tonight

Published 12:00 am Friday, September 28, 2012

By Ronnie Gallagher
rgallagher@salisburypost.com
Roaming the county, getting ready for tonight …
East Rowan football coach Danny Misenheimer is one of those guys who doesn’t get ahead of himself. Yes, his Mustangs are sharing first place in the North Piedmont Conference, but he wants everyone to be realistic.
“Being in first is just something for the fans,” he said. “We don’t really think about it. We really don’t talk about it.”
Beat West Rowan tonight, however, and eveyone’s talking.
West Rowan is tied for second place in the NPC with South Rowan at 1-1 – unfamiliar territory to be sure after four straight 3A state title appearances.
East is the league’s biggest story, standing 2-0, tied with Statesville, which handed West its only loss. The Mustangs are 3-3 overall, and that’s two more wins than last season.
“The only thing we want to talk about is playing (tonight) and beating West Rowan,” Misenheimer said. “We’re trying to get our kids to believe it can be done. It’s a tall task. That’s a great football team they have over there.”
You’ve got to love what Misenheimer has done at his alma mater so far. The players are executing and making big plays. The fans are as loyal as any school. They pack the place. It was even said on these pages last year that East had the best student section and the Mustang kids don’t seem to want to give up that title. They are wacky and fun-loving.
It has carried over to the players. Whether it’s Dalton Moose or Dalton Bost, whether it’s Donte or Dock or Dustin or Dominique or Donald or Daniel, they have all bought in. That’s all a first-year coach can ask for.
Don’t forget West Rowan wasn’t a power until the Falcons began buying into Scott Young during his second season. Look what has happened since.
Misenheimer has said “Why not us?” since taking the job last spring.
“It’s got to start somewhere,” he reasoned. “To get to where we’re going, we have to get by everybody.”
Misenheimer is quickly making a name for his school.
“You’ve got to respect where respect’s due,” he said. “But at the same time, you’ve got to demand respect as well. So we hope to come out and earn some of that.”
Too late. East Rowan already has.•Two familiar faces from West Rowan’s past – Bryan Aycoth and Brett Hatley – are Misenheimer assistants.•Another team wanting respect is South Rowan. And the Raiders are favored tonight when they play host to winless North Iredell. Win tonight, and like East, South will surpass its total of last year.•In other games, North Rowan starts its road trips – North Moore tonight – and should be 3-0 when Albemarle comes to town on Oct. 5.
Salisbury is the most impressive team currently. Joe Pinyan’s Hornets are rolling. And they’re playing host to West Davidson. Carson is the underdog at Statesville. Davie starts CPC action at Reynolds and A.L. Brown tries to stay undefeated in the SPC when it travels to Cox Mill.•One more little bit of advice on the West at East game. Better get there early, or you might be walking a mile. This crowd might rival the 2010 mass of bodies we saw at Carson when West visited.•On the air tonight …
• WSTP 1490 AM will be at East with Hall of Famer Howard Platt and sidekick Wilson Cherry.
• WSAT 1280 AM with Johnny, Mark, Glenn, Jeff and boys will be at Salisbury.
• WRNA 1140 AM will be there for South with the “Commissioner of high school football” Carl Ford.
Go to a game tonight, folks. And be nice.•Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com.