High school football: Rowan County Jamboree set for Friday

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, August 10, 2021

Staff report

SALISBURY — The first Rowan County Jamboree was held at West Rowan to kick off the 2019 season.

By all accounts, the Rowan County Jamboree, a series of scrimmages including most of the elements of a standard football game, was an overwhelming success.

Rowan football fans looked forward to the Jamboree becoming an annual event.

COVID shut down fall football in 2020, but the plan is for a normal 2021 football season. That means the Jamboree, which rotates hosting responsibilities among the Rowan schools, is back.

This one is at Salisbury High’s historic Ludwig Stadium and should be even bigger and better than the original.

It will showcase 10 schools in five scrimmages. Not only are all six Rowan schools involved, so is neighbor A.L. Brown.

Also making the trip to Salisbury are Anson, Central Davidson and West Stanly.

Gates will open at 4:15 p.m. Admission is $5.

No one scrimmages an opponent they’re scheduled to face in the regular season, and there are a ton of county games this year. The only county matchup in the Jamboree will be Carson vs. Salisbury.

Five county teams will be breaking in new quarterbacks, so the scrimmages will tell us a lot.

At 5 p.m., South Rowan, directed by new head coach Chris Walsh, takes on former Central Carolina Conference rival Central Davidson.

At 6 p.m., East Rowan scrimmages Anson County. Always athletic, the Bearcats were 2-3 back in the spring.

At 7 p.m., North Rowan takes on West Stanly. The Colts were 3-1 in the spring.

At 8 p.m., it’s A.L. Brown vs. West Rowan. Enough said.

At 9 p.m., Salisbury, state champs in the spring and boasting one of the nation’s top seniors in linebacker Jalon Walker, will take on a Carson team that went 3-4.