Prep football notebook …
West Rowan’s 13-0 SPC victory against Northwest Cabarrus on Friday marked the 41st time that the Falcons have shut out an opponent during Scott Young’s coaching tenure.
It was the first time the Falcons have blanked the Trojans since 2004.
The Falcons (3-1) extended a streak of recording at least one shutout every season since 1999. West Rowan’s defense put up 12 goose eggs during its run of three consecutive 3A state championships from 2008-2010. West Rowan has not been shut out since Mooresville managed the feat in 2002.
• Young’s coaching record is now 167-50. The county record is S.W. Lancaster’s 183 wins.
• West Rowan’s secondary allowed 489 passing yards in its first two games but only 47 in the last two.
Kevin Galliard and Lee Poteat intercepted passes against Northwest Cabarrus. Daquan Byrd picked off one against Salisbury. Safeties Quameak Lewis and Amos Duncan have played well.
• Quarterback Kacey Otto doesn’t have big stats, but Young likes the progress he’s made. Young also believes Shakir Simmons is emerging as one of the county’s better receivers.
• The Falcons have injury issues. Linebacker Owen Harrison (knee) and 6-foot-4, 295-pound offensive lineman Hezekiah Banks (toe) are expected to be out a while.
• Young’s son, Bryant, threw two TD passes for the West Rowan’s jayvees in Thursday’s win against NWC.

Salisbury’s breakthrough 41-31 win against South Iredell on Friday was unexpected, but the Hornets (1-4) may be better than they’re perceived. The Hornets have moved the ball reasonably well and they’ve stopped opponents at times. Their problems have been the same issues that plague most losing teams — turnovers and penalties.
Salisbury fumbled on the first play of the game against both Carson and West Rowan. When the Hornets finally managed to limit turnovers (one) and penalties (two) against South Iredell, they won.
“We had five turnovers against East Rowan, four turnovers against Carson and four turnovers against West Rowan,” head coach Ryan Crowder said. “And those weren’t turnovers between the 40-yard lines. Those were turnovers that put points on the board for them or took points off the board for us. We didn’t give ourselves a chance to be in those games. You have to be in it to win it. Now we’ve seen what we can do when we don’t have penalty-killing drives and don’t have turnovers that put our defense in bad position.”
• Offensive lineman Matt Woolly threw the key block on the game-clinching screen pass from Riley Myers to Ryan Jones. Woolly blocked the cornerback who probably would’ve made the tackle, and then Jones used his speed to split two defenders.
“Our offensive line had its best game,” Crowder said. “We were able to play keepaway from South Iredell with some long drives.”
• Salisbury’s victory against South Iredell was satisfying. South Iredell crushed the Hornets 56-0 last season. That was the worst defeat in the school’s 100-year history.
• The Hornets are off Friday. They’ll return to action at home against 4A Southeast Guilford (3-1) on Oct. 3.
The Brandon Sloop trains rolls on. The hard-nosed senior plowed for 151 yards and three TDs on 19 carries in Friday’s 48-21 victory against East Rowan.
“We got momentum against East, and when we get momentum we’re pretty hard to stop,” Sloop said.
A four-year starter, Sloop has put up rushing totals of 956, 1,380 and 1,127 in previous seasons. He has 561 yards this season for a career total of 4,024 rushing yards. He’s only the fifth in county history to reach the 4,000-yard plateau. West Rowan’s K.P. Parks, Dinkin Miller and Wade Moore and Carson’s Shaun Warren are the others.
Sloop has been a workhorse. He’s carried 788 times and has pounded for 100-plus yards 19 times.
Sloop’s yards per carry (7.9) are up from previous seasons, and he’s getting in the end zone more than he ever has. He has eight TDs in four games. His career high for a full season is 11.
• The other half of Carson’s prolific halfback duo is Darren Isom. Sloop and Isom have scored 28 TDs apiece in their careers. Six of Isom’s TDs have come on pass plays. Isom surpassed 1,500 career rushing yards on Friday.
• Fans call it the hook-and-ladder and football purists refer to it as the hook-and-lateral, Carson coach Joe Pinyan prefers to call it the hitch-and-pitch.
Coach Joe Pinyan and the Cougars (3-1) pulled it out of their bag of tricks again on Friday, hitting the Mustangs with it right before halftime. Again, Isom carried the ball to the house. QB Andy Lear made the throw. Brandon Huneycutt made the catch and lateral.
Since Isom was credited with receiving yards for the ground he covered — but no reception — he had an odd-looking boxscore. He has one official reception this season for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
• Carson’s offensive line, led by left tackle Chris Martin, was at the top of its game on Friday.
“We were blocking so well, we couldn’t call a wrong play,” Pinyan said.
• Carson’s defense had its strongest game, with Ryan Bearden and Alex Lyles getting high-impact sacks, Jonathan Rucker producing an interception, and Braxton Peele grabbing a fumble.
“We’ve only got three guys back who were in the same position they were a year ago on defense,” Pinyan said. “It takes time to build a defense, but our defense is starting to catch up.”
• Freshman QB Owen White tossed the first pass of his varsity career, but officially he was 0-for-0. The pass was incomplete, and there was a flag for pass interference.
Injuries have been a big factor for the Mustangs (2-2), who are more banged up than people realize.
“We had six starters out for Carson,” head coach Kenneth McClamrock said. “That’s a lot to overcome when you’re playing a good football team.”
• Samuel Wyrick’s fourth-quarter TD pass to Seth Wyrick on Friday was his 13th of the season and the 49th of his career. He’s one shy of C.M. Yates’ school record for career TD passes.
• McClamrock, a Concord assistant before coming to East Rowan, knows the Mustangs face a tough assignment when they play the Spiders on E.Z. Smith Field at Bailey Stadium.
“That’s a program that has won an awful lot of games,” McClamrock understated.
South Rowan allowed 274 rushing yards and 158 passing yards to fifth-ranked Concord — both season highs — but the Raiders hung in their pretty well. They were down 14-0 at halftime.
• Heath Barringer had another positive game filling in at quarterback for injured Aaron Kennerly. Barringer has four TD passes and one interception in two games as the starter.
• Alex Helms returned an interception for a touchdown against Concord, the first pick-six for a South Rowan player since Mark McDaniel and Reid Shaver both accomplished the feat in 2008.
North Rowan had its best defensive effort of the season Friday, holding Providence Grove to 170 yards and three points.
Jake Pritchard logged his seventh sack of the season. Linebacker Omar Lipscomb racked up nine tackles and leads the Cavaliers for the season with 38.
• Jareke Chambers enjoys playing against Providence Grove. In two games against the Patriots, he’s carried 27 times for 406 yards and nine touchdowns. That’s 15 yards per carry.
North Rowan’s all-time rushing leader, Chambers is up to 3,841 career rushing yards. Chambers now ranks sixth in Rowan County history and is chasing Carson’s Sloop,

After an off week, the Wonders (2-2) return to action Friday with a Mecka game at North Meck.
• Bob Trott, a standout for A.L. Brown in the early 1970s, is now the Richmond Spiders’ defensive coordinator and successfully recruited a high school Spider — Concord linebacker Logan Sedergren, the 2013 SPC Defensive Player of the Year.
Concord secretaries and office personnel were wowed by Trott’s Spiders’ attire when he visited the school until Concord head coach Glen Padgett broke the bad news.
“I believe Coach Trott went to A.L. Brown,” he said.
Trott, this week’s Friday Night Legend, says he was considerably less popular after that revelation.
At 5-foot-11, 145 pounds, junior receiver Ben Ellis doesn’t look special, but his production is.
Ellis had 27 catches for 673 yards and five TDs in Davie’s five non-conference games, including a 253-yard outing against West Rowan. He is the go-to guy for senior QB Parker Correll, who has 1,209 passing yards.
• Correll is getting some recruiting interest from Wingate.
• Running back Cade Carney, who has missed three games, is expected to return Friday when Davie (4-1) opens Central Piedmont Conference play against Reagan and reigning CPC Player of the Year Jake Easter.
Davie has matched last season’s four victories already.
Follow Mike London on Twitter at @mikelondonpost3.