It’s a significant Week 4 as West Rowan, East Rowan and Carson hit the road for South Piedmont Conference games against Cabarrus County schools.
West Rowan at Robinson, East Rowan at Cox Mill and Carson at Central Cabarrus are games with uncertain outcomes. Rowan could go 3-0, but Rowan might go 0-3.
If this season is going to produce a Rowan SPC champ, the turnaround has to start tonight.
The SPC was reshaped prior to the 2013-14 school year into a nine-team league with four Rowan and five Cabarrus schools. Robinson’s appearance in the SPC this season, after two years of taking lumps in 4A, makes it six Cabarrus schools and four Rowan schools in a 10-team league.
The Cabarrus schools have held the upper hand the last two seasons. The head-to-head tally: Cabarrus 26, Rowan 14, in SPC match-ups.
Part of the Rowan-Cabarrus gap can be traced to South Rowan’s struggles. The Raiders are 1-9 in SPC games against Cabarrus County schools the last two seasons.
Also part of that equation is Concord. The Spiders went undefeated in the SPC the last two seasons, meaning that Concord was obviously 8-0 against the four Rowan schools.
Here are the records in Cabarrus vs. Rowan SPC matchups the last two seasons:
Concord 8-0
Central Cabarrus 6-2
Hickory Ridge 5-3, two losses to West Rowan but two wins against East Rowan
Cox Mill 5-3, two wins vs. West Rowan but two losses to East Rowan
NW Cabarrus 2-6

Now Robinson joins the fun.
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West Rowan 5-5
East Rowan 5-5
Carson 3-7
South Rowan 1-9
Last week, Concord beat East Rowan, 49-28, in the first Rowan-Cabarrus SPC matchup of the young season.
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The picks were 5-0 last Friday (and Monday), but it was a routine week when the favorites ruled. The season record is 12-1, but that level of prosperity won’t last. Six of tonight’s seven games offer some degree of doubt. The key stat, as always, will be who turns it over and who doesn’t.
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West Rowan (1-1, 0-0 SPC) at Robinson (2-1, 2-1 SPC)
Rained out Friday, the Bulldogs lost Monday to Hickory Ridge, 32-24, in a league game.
West is coming off a bye week, so the Falcons had two weeks to prepare while Robinson had three days. That’s a huge edge for the Falcons. They’ll take advantage of it … Falcons 35, Bulldogs 21
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East Rowan (1-2, 0-1 SPC) at Cox Mill (0-2, 0-0 SPC)
Cox Mill is a pretty good 0-2 squad with close losses to Mount Pleasant (2-1) and 4A North Meck (2-1). It’s going to be close and probably high-scoring. Cox Mill is hungry for a win and playing at home … Chargers 35, Mustangs 28
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Carson (2-0, 0-0 SPC) at Central Cabarrus (1-1, 0-1 SPC)
Central had an impressive win against Mount Pleasant to start the season, but then got clocked, 35-7, by Robinson, so there’s no way of knowing which band of Vikings will show up. Is Carson’s defensive improvement for real? I’ll say yes … Cougars 24, Vikings 16
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NW Cabarrus (0-2, 0-0) at South Rowan (0-2, 0-0 SPC)
Both programs have circled this Cabarrus-Rowan matchup for obvious reasons. It appeared Northwest lost quite a few players to injury during Friday’s A.L. Brown game, but the Trojans are still favored by a little … Trojans 34, Raiders 24
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Lake Norman (2-1) at Salisbury (1-2)
This matchup sticks out on tonight’s schedule as the surest thing. A Salisbury win would be world-shocking … Wildcats 42, Hornets 14
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Davie County (0-3) at North Rowan (1-2)
North is the healthier team and the home team, but it’s still a 4A against a very young 2A and Davie led West Rowan, 14-0, late in the first half … War Eagles 24, Cavaliers 21
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Mooresville (2-1) at A.L. Brown (3-0)
As far as quality, this is the game of the night, a matchup of teams that are in the top 40 and maybe the top 25 in the state. Mooresville’s been in three tough games already and that should help the Blue Devils stay in it against a really talented squad … Wonders 28, Blue Devils 21