North Rowan (9-0, 3-0 CCC) at Thomasville (4-5, 3-0 CCC)
Ranked No. 1 in 2A, North Rowan is looking for the 350th win in school history. If you’re keeping score, the Cavaliers have lost 257 and tied 10.
Thomasville’s overall record is not a misprint. The Bulldogs’ early schedule included 4As North Davidson and Davie, but they’ve won all their CCC games, including last week’s 15-14 squeaker against Salisbury.
Jareke Chambers (1,287 rushing yards) sparks Rowan County’s top offense (39.1 points a game). End Cecil McCauley (8.5 sacks) and linebacker Xavier Robinson lead the county’s best defense (13.7 ppg).
Running back Demoris Payne sparks the Bulldogs. He carried 24 times for 120 yards against Salisbury.
Thomasville leads the all-time series 13-6. The most recent meeting was Thomasville’s 23-20 win in 2007. North hasn’t beaten Thomasville since 1988.
Central Cabarrus (8-1, 5-1 CCC) at East Rowan (3-6, 2-4 SPC)
Central, led by Shrine Bowl QB Hasaan Klugh, has scored 45 or more in seven of its nine games. Only West Rowan and Mount Pleasant have slowed down the Vikings, and Concord’s Spiders were able to outscore Central in a game that basically decided the SPC championship.
Central holds a firm grip on second place in the SPC.
East has league wins against Cox Mill and Northwest Cabarrus, but the Jekyll-and-Hyde Mustangs have lost five of their last six.
East’s offensive numbers are good. Samuel Wyrick leads the county with 102 completions, 1,412 passing yards and 15 TD passes. Seth Wyrick has broken East’s record for catches in a season with 60 and has 10 scoring receptions.
East isn’t stopping people from scoring, however. Five of East’s last six opponents have topped 30 points, and that’s a scary stat with Central in town.
Central has ruled the all-time series 18-7. This will be the first meeting since Central rolled 38-20 in 2000. East’s most recent win over the Vikings was in 1998 when coach Danny Misenheimer was a player.
Cox Mill (3-6, 2-4 SPC) at West Rowan (5-4, 3-3 SPC)
WSTP-1490 will broadcast this game.
These are strange days at West, where the Falcons have lost three of their last four.
Still, the Falcons are a formidable team, allowing under 20 points a game. West held Central Cabarrus to 28 and Concord to 24, and those are teams that routinely put up 50. Safeties Najee Tucker and Zeke Blackwood, lineman Teoz Mauney and linebacker Nick Collins lead West’s physical defense.
Offensively, West will look for another big night from tailback Daisean Reddick (710 rushing yards), who is only 5 yards away from 2,000 for his career.
QB Harrison Baucom will look to get the passing game back on track. Baucom has rushed for 385 yards, but he hasn’t had a big passing game since he torched South Rowan on Sept. 27.
Cox Mill was demolished 54-14 by Central Cabarrus last week, but it owns league wins over South Rowan and Hickory Ridge. The Hickory Ridge victory shows that the Chargers, coached by South Rowan grad Craig Stewart, are dangerous.
West and Cox Mill never have met in football.
West Davidson (4-5, 0-3 CCC) at Salisbury (1-8, 1-2 CCC)
WSAT-1280 will broadcast this game.
Through some awful times early in the season, Salisbury coach Ryan Crowder insisted that the Hornets would be OK when they got into CCC play.
He was right. They’ve been more than competitive against 2As with two one-point losses and a victory against Lexington.
Salisbury has really improved defensively in recent weeks, especially in stopping the run. Tim Rhodes (353 rushing yards) has energized he ground game.
West Davidson is paced by Kyle Smith, who rushed 40 times for 242 yards in last week’s 34-32 loss to Lexington. Smith has 866 rushing yards on 174 carries this season, so the Hornets’ chances tonight will depend on whether they can stop him.
Salisbury leads the all-time series 9-3, including a 39-7 win in 2012. The last time the Green Dragons beat Salisbury was 2007.
South Rowan (0-9) at Central Davidson (3-6)
South has been blown out by Carson, Central Cabarrus and Hickory Ridge the last three weeks, but this is one of those games the Raiders have a chance in.
South has never lost every game, but the Raiders are running out of chances to maintain that streak.
Bryson Deaton and Tyler Fuller played well last week, and Alex Parham shocked the world with a rushing TD, but the Raiders still lost 64-20 to Hickory Ridge.
South’s 44-41-35-34-65-45-48-62-64 line isn’t a list of Davis Richards’ golf scores. Those are South’s points allowed numbers this season, and that tells most of the story. Well, that and the injury to AB Aaron Kennerly.
Central is coached by former East Rowan coach Chad Tedder, who piloted the Mustangs to wins over South in 2009 and 2010.
Central’s Spartans run the ball well. Desmond Mabe has 778 rushing yards and freshman Marquez Stiller has 608.
This is the first meeting.
Hickory Ridge (4-5, 3-3 SPC) at Carson (5-4, 3-3 SPC)
Rowan fans who didn’t follow the SPC last season may be surprised to learn that Harrisburg-based Hickory Ridge is the defending league champion. Coach Marty Paxton’s Ragin’ Bulls were a prolific offensive machine in 2012 when the SPC was an all Cabarrus league, and they beat Concord and A.L. Brown in back-to-back weeks to earn the league title.
The rebuilding Bulls started slow this fall, but they’ve won their last three games and now have set their sights on finishing third.
Carson also aspires to finish third, or at least tied for third. Carson has dropped two straight, one to Concord that was expected and one to Northwest Cabarrus that wasn’t.
The Cougars are cardiac types and have played five games by a touchdown or less. This one could be the sixth.
Carson features a strong running attack that has produced 220 rushing yards per game. Hickory Ridge leads the all-time series 3-1, including a 48-30 win in 2012. Hickory Ridge held Brandon Sloop to 70 yards on 22 carries last season, but Carson QB Austin McNeill threw for 283 yards and four TDs.
West Charlotte (0-9, 0-5 MECKA) at A.L. Brown (6-3, 3-2 MECKA)
West Charlotte’s Lions lost close games to North Meck and Harding, but they’ve been blown out most weeks and shouldn’t have a chance against the Wonders.
A.L. Brown is going to be hungry after back-to-back losses to state powers Hough and Mallard Creek.
Brown’s offense has managed just seven points the last two weeks, but it should produce 40-plus tonight.
The schools met a few times in the 1990s, and the Wonders won a memorable battle in 1995 at Memorial Stadium — a year that West Charlotte went on to win the 4A state championship.
Davie County (3-6, 1-3 CPC) at R.J. Reynolds (1-8, 1-3 CPC)
Davie and Reynolds both own a CPC victory against Parkland, but the similarities end there.
Reynolds has dropped three straight in the league, with none closer than 39 points. Meanwhile, Davie had its chances against strong West Forsyth and Reagan.
Davie has walloped Reynolds in the last three meetings in the series to take a 17-13 all-time lead.