Prep football notebook …
For the first time in 44 years, East Rowan (2-1) has a new all-time passing leader.
C.M. Yates’ 3,910 passing yards had stood as the standard in Granite Quarry since 1970, but Samuel Wyrick moved past him with a 300-yard effort in Friday’s wild 46-43 South Piedmont Conference win against Cox Mill. Three games into his senior year, Wyrick has accounted for 3,923 yards through the air. That puts him seventh in county history.
Wyrick’s 300-yard passing game was only the second time in East Rowan history a quarterback passed for 300 or more yards. Shawn Eagle threw for 301 yards against Northwest Cabarrus in 2007.
• Wyrick also rushed for a career-high 95 yards Friday for a 395-yard total offense outing that was the sixth-highest in county history and another school record. Derry Steedley had held the single-game total offense mark at East Rowan since 1976.
Wyrick became East Rowan’s all-time leader in total offense in the Mustangs’ win against Salisbury and now ranks 12th in county history with 4,610 yards.
• Wyrick is closing in on another school record held by Yates — career touchdown passes. Yates threw 50 touchdowns from 1968-70, mostly to Johnny Yarbrough, the county’s all-time leader in receiving yards (2,862) and TD catches (43). Wyrick already has 12 TD tosses this season and has 48 for his career.
Wyrick’s back-to-back five-TD games have gotten everyone’s attention.
The county’s all-time leader in TD passes is West Rowan’s B.J. Sherrill with 66. Sherrill has a sense of humor and tweeted this week that teams needed to start playing a little defense to protect his record.
• Finally, Wyrick’s 24 completions on Friday were a career high and one of the highest totals in county history. The Post doesn’t have a complete list of records on that stat, but North Rowan’s Melvin Brinkle’s 29 completions in a game against Davie in 1966, is believed to be the county record. North Rowan’s Mitch Ellis had 28 completions against Mount Pleasant in 1994.
• Wyrick’s brother, Seth, is still doing his thing as a receiver. Seth’s 10 catches on Friday pushed his career total to 105. Yarbrough, who produced 136 receptions, is the only other Mustang to reach 100 career catches.
Both Wyricks have benefited from the emergence of Naquis Caldwell as a receiving option. Caldwell had three TD catches Friday and has five for the season.
East Rowan tight end Simon Soles also enjoyed a career receiving game Friday with six catches, including his first TD of the season.
• East Rowan’s 6-foot-5 offensive lineman Sawyer Kimmer has been offered by Old Dominion.
Mount Ulla’s Mike McCullough died at 60 on Monday.
He was one of the driving forces in the Rowan County Youth Football League, as a founder, a longtime board member and a coach of West Rowan youth teams for three decades.
“Mike probably coached 75 percent of the players on our team,” West Rowan coach Scott Young said. “We’ve got heavy hearts this week. He will truly be missed.”
• Young said several players continued to make strides for the Falcons (2-1) during their open week, including QB Kacey Otto, DB Quameak Lewis and OL Jacob Radtke.
While South Rowan’s county-leading defense recorded two safeties and made most of the noise in Friday’s 18-13 SPC win at Northwest Cabarrus, South Rowan’s offense also made a few strides.
Heath Barringer, stepping in at quarterback with Aaron Kennerly out with a shoulder injury, recovered from an early pick-six and threw for 118 yards and two TDs.
“The game is moving pretty fast when you’re a young quarterback,” South Rowan head coach Jason Rollins said. “I thought our guys played well enough around Heath that he was able to settle down, take a deep breath and start looking for the things he’s been coached to look for. He relaxed a little bit and played the way he’s capable of doing.”
• Rollins had a lot praise for defensive linemen Grex Urey, Alex Parham and Luke Frizzell.
“Those three have high motors, and they’re getting after it,” Rollins said. “They’re playing so well that they’re giving our linebackers an opportunity to look good.”
• Bearded assistant coach Jarrod Smith had a ready explanation for bearded linebacker Burke Fulcher’s career game on Friday.
“Facial hair is the key,” Smith said with a laugh.
• Eric Stowe, an experienced receiver, returned to action in the Northwest Cabarrus game after missing South Rowan’s first two outings. He made an impact with a 55-yard TD catch. Barringer found him on a seam route.
• After South Rowan (2-1) had a disastrous time with punts in the A.L. Brown loss, the Raiders changed their punt packages, personnel-wise and scheme-wise, during their open week. Punter Marshall Long had a good night at Northwest Cabarrus.
“He looked a lot more comfortable after some of the changes we made,” Rollins said. “His punting was unbelievable. He changed the field several times.”
Offense wasn’t an issue for North Rowan (2-2) in a 35-32 loss at Davie County. The Cavaliers put up 217 passing yards and 271 net rushing yards.
Jareke Chambers rushed for 256 yards, matching the career high he achieved against Salisbury in 2013, and he did it on just 13 carries. Chambers is averaging more than 9 yards per carry.
Alexis Archie topped 200 passing yards for the second time this season and for the seventh time in his career.
Sakil Harrison enjoyed his second 100-yard receiving game of the season against Davie County and the fourth of his career.
• North Rowan’s run defense has actually been tougher than it was at this point a year ago, but the Cavaliers are getting hurt through the air. The Cavaliers have allowed 809 passing yards. Against the same four teams a year ago, they allowed 315.
• North Rowan forced three fumbles against Davie. Pouncing on them were Shane Parker, Kenyaun Coney and Jalen Sanders.
• Jake Pritchard leads North Rowan with six sacks. Sophomore Zion Debose has 3.5. Omar Lipscomb is North Rowan’s leader in tackles with 29.
Carson lost a 28-21 SPC struggle with Central Cabarrus, but coach Joe Pinyan was philosophical about it.
“We’re 1-2, but we also were 1-2 at this point last year, and last year Central just blasted us,” Pinyan said. “This time we were right there. We just missed a few plays that were open and we made too many little mistakes.”
• Carson’s defense made strides against the athletic Vikings. The Cougars forced three punts and Ryan Bearden came up with an interception.
• Pinyan praised junior fullbacks Dalton Cauble and Dylan Livengood. Both had productive runs in limited carries.
Not a lot went right for the Hornets (0-4) in a 49-7 loss at Lake Norman that was stopped by weather at halftime.
Positives for the Hornets have been Jeffrey Burton (44 tackles in the first three games) and Antwond Glenn, who leads the team in all-purpose yards. Glenn has rushed for 108 yards, has 98 yards in receptions and has accumulated 101 yards in kickoff returns.
Damon Johnson had his most efficient game of the season — three TDs, no picks — in a 42-21 win against Berry, but the Wonders (2-2) plan to give Brandon White, who was the starting QB at Northwest Cabarrus last season, some QB reps this week.
White is playing safety for the Wonders and had a pick against Berry. He also had a pick-six in the scrimmage against East Rowan.
With Cade Carney out, QB Parker Correll was huge in the 35-32 win against North Rowan with a career-best 147 rushing yards.
“He ran with a purpose,” North Rowan coach Joe Nixon said.
• Davie is 3-1 and is headed for a winning season after last year’s 4-7. The War Eagles will be heavily favored to beat Thomasville, Parkland and R.J. Reynolds.