MOUNT ULLA — Practice for tonight’s playoff game at South Point had just ended, and West Rowan volunteer assistant coach Scott Young chatted optimistically about his 1A status at the top of the waiting list for a heart transplant.
As he marched briskly away from the field, Young paused and smiled briefly at one of his fondest coaching memories.
“Where it happened was right over there, the 17-yard-line on this end of the field (the end zone nearest the school),” said Young, pointing a finger. “We called two timeouts and we made South Point punt the ball at the end of the first half. Then we blocked the punt. Ballgame.”
That epic West Rowan vs. South Point confrontation seems like yesterday, but it was nearly seven years ago — Dec. 5, 2008. Young was a healthy, driven head coach then and was kicking the program into high gear. Current West head coach Joe Nixon was Young’s bright young offensive coordinator and he was a nervous fellow with his wedding only a week away.
West was a No. 1 seed that year, while South Point was No. 2.
The two powerhouses crashed into each other like angry bulls in the regional championship game. West’s star back K.P. Parks was still hobbling with an ankle he’d badly sprained two weeks earlier, so the visitors from Belmont were favored.
“I remember those South Point fans were something,” Young said. “Thousands of them. They started arriving here at noon, making sure they had good seats.”
After seven minutes and one long drive, South Point led, 7-0. But then West defensive coordinator David Hunt moved all his guys back a yard. They got a better read on South Point’s triple option. They stopped it.
By the late stages of the first half, West’s offensive line also had taken control. West scored on a run by Jon Crucitti with 1:10 left in the half for a 14-7 lead. After a South Point three-and-out, West went for the block on the punt. Film study had showed that South Point would punt from a shallower depth than normal, and Domonique Noble blew right up the middle to reject it. Austin Greenwood made the scoop-and-score 17 seconds before halftime, and it was 21-7. As Young said, that was the ballgame. Parks scored three TDs. The Falcons won going away, 35-7.
West claimed the first of it three consecutive state titles in dominating fashion the following week — and Nixon made it to his wedding on time.
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South Point had to wait patiently for five years to avenge the beating it took in Mount Ulla, but the Red Raiders exacted payback in 2013 against an average West Rowan team that finished 6-6.
That was a first-round game in Belmont, and third-seeded South Point beat 14th-seeded West Rowan, 28-7. The Falcons didn’t lay down. It was 7-7 at halftime, but it was all South Point after that. South Point rushed for 380 yards, including 226 by fullback Tyler Bray.
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Sixth-seeded West Rowan (10-3) enters tonight’s 7:30 third-round game at No. 2 seed South Point (11-2) with a much better team than it had in 2013, but it doesn’t have as good a team as it did in 2008.
In other words, West has a chance at Lineberger Stadium, but South Point is favored.
South Point is still South Point, which means it’s one of the best in 3A. The Red Raiders’ two losses came early in the season to Shelby (12-1), which has lost only to Crest, and to Crest (13-0).
West Rowan lost opening night to 4A Mooresville (8-4). The Falcons’ other two losses were to South Piedmont Conference opponents Concord (12-1) and Hickory Ridge (7-5).
South Point coach Mickey Lineberger has been part of the program since 1969. He was an assistant that night in 2008 when South Point lost to West Rowan and he was the winning head coach in 2013.
It’s a spread-offense world, but South Point, which beat East Rowan in a third-round tussle last season, is still a triple-option team. South Point is a master of old-school power football, combining brute force with precise execution. It’s a lot like watching Carson-Newman or Lenoir-Rhyne run the football.
The South Point offensive line storms off the ball with an intensity that borders on ferocity, and that’s why the Red Raiders average 318 rushing yards per game.
In its two recent games with West Rowan, South Point has thrown 10 passes and completed one.
In last week’s 42-21 win against Statesville, South Point QB Diontrae King was 0-for-2 throwing the ball. King has 423 passing yards for the season and may try to surprise the Falcons with a pass or two for a big play, but there’s not much mystery involved here.
“South Point is going to run the ball a lot more than they’re going to throw it and we’ve got to stop the run and try to make them throw,” Nixon said. “They’re good at what they do.”
King is a terrific runner. He’s rushed 202 times for 1,507 yards. He carried 16 times for 103 yards in the win over Statesville, the ninth time this season he’s topped 100 rushing yards.
South Point also has a typical South Point fullback in Ryland Etherton. He also has nine 100-yard games. Like Aaron Crumbley in 2008 and Bray in 2013, Atherton is the workhorse. For the season, he’s rushed 267 times for 1,755 yards. Against Statesville last week, he pounded 38 times for 215 yards.
West would have a better chance of dealing with South Point’s fullback-driven offense if its biggest lineman Derrick Moreland hadn’t gone down with an injury. West allowed 398 rushing yards in the regular-season finale against Hickory Ridge and 181 in the first-round overtime win against Carson. The Falcons allowed 321 rushing yards to West Henderson in the second round, although many of those came after the 41-19 outcome was no longer in doubt.
West is 5-2 on the road. South Point is 7-1 at home. South Point has scored 40-plus point five straight games. South Point averages 36.6 points per game and allows 14. West Rowan scores 28.4 per game and allows 15. Eleven of West’s 53 TDs have been scored by the defense or the special-teams units.
Offensively, running back Jovon Quarles gave the Falcons a spark last week with a kickoff-return TD and a rushing score. Quarles has 645 rushing yards and has scored eight TDs.
“Jovon had his best game of the season,” Nixon said.
The Falcons have to establish the run in order to throw effectively.
West senior quarterback Kacey Otto has thrown for 1,746 yards and run for 946 yards. He’s accounted for 26 touchdowns (11 rushing, 15 passing). Otto’s top target is Kortez Weeks (64 receptions, 940 receiving yards, 11 TDs). Juwan Houston has seven TD catches. Jai Hogue, who has contributed a defensive TD and a special-teams TD, had his best receiving game of the season last week.
West’s offense has been balanced with 2,218 rushing yards and 1,946 passing yards. Otto has been efficient with a 63-percent completion rate and only five interceptions.
In the third round of the playoffs last season, East Rowan had serious success throwing the ball against South Point. But the Mustangs couldn’t find any answers for a South Point running game that posted an astounding 544 rushing yards and lost, 42-32.
If West does find a way to prevail tonight, the Falcons would be at home next week for the regional final as the highest surviving seed.
The 3A West was viewed as wide open when the playoffs started, and it’s no surprise that the bracket has been busted. No. 12 Hibriten (8-5) is playing at No. 8 Kings Mountain (11-2) in the other West semifinal tonight. Kings Mountain knocked off top-seeded Morganton Freedom last week.
PICK: South Point 28, West Rowan 21