East Rowan has been counted out of the playoffs since the N.C. High School Athletic Association set the playoff brackets Nov. 8. The Mustangs went into the postseason coming off a loss to South Rowan and had to travel to an unbeaten Morganton Freedom in the first round.

That’s cool. The Mustangs, seeded 15th in the 3A West, embrace that role.

“I think our team has relished in the fact that no one believes in them outside this locker room,” head coach Kenneth McClamrock said. “The guys take pride in proving people wrong.”

Common Sense was proven wrong the first week of the postseason and proven right last week after a few tosses of the coin told it to pick the Mustangs.

This week, East Rowan is an underdog. The Mustangs head to the other side of the Catawba River for a date with No. 6 Belmont South Point.

The Red Raiders look tough on paper.

They’ve won their two playoff games by 16 points, including a second-round upset of previously unbeaten No. 3 Concord. Only twice this year has a team put up more than 30 points on them. Three of the four teams they lost to are still in the playoffs. The Red Raiders average 35 points per game.

East Rowan is wildly unpredictable. It’s been said over and over that the outcome depends which Mustangs show up Friday. The good Mustangs take West Rowan behind the woodshed and knock them senseless. The bad Mustangs lose the regular-season finale and give up a chance to host a playoff game.

So, it’s easy to say the Mustangs will lose. It’s easy to say they’re underdogs.

But don’t think for a second they believe themselves to be underdogs, that they shouldn’t win Friday.

“We never feel like underdogs. We always feel like we should win every Friday night, and that’s the expectation we play with,” McClamrock said. “That’s how we practice. Our fourth core value is to expect and to demand success every week, every day, every drill and every play.

“So we want to go into a game with the mentality that we’re going to be successful. We want to go into a game with the mentality we’re going to win. We sure as heck aren’t practicing to lose. And our kids are starting to believe that they can play with anybody.

“If we play fundamentally-sound football and we’re able to stop the run and able to run the ball a little bit, we feel good about our chances Friday night.”

Common Sense went 2-2 last week. No gain. No loss. Break even. Not a bad week. The overall record is 62-17.

We move to this week’s picks. Er, pick. Whatever. Let’s do this.

3A West: East Rowan at Belmont South Point

As little as they believe it, the Mustangs go into this one as underdogs. The Red Raiders beat Concord by two touchdowns and two extra points. The game, though, didn’t even seem that close.

South Point has ridden a tough road. The Red Raiders started the season 1-3 with losses lost to Crest, Lincolnton and Asheville Reynolds. They later lost to Forestview. The Chargers, the Wolves and the Jaguars are still playing.

The Red Raiders, with their option-based rushing attack, have two 1,000-yard rushers in Tanner Muse and Ryland Etherton on their roster and a third on the precipice with Jaquan Brooks. The defense allows less than 19 points per game.

Without a doubt, the Mustangs have a tall task ahead. Too tall really.

East Rowan comes close but ultimately comes up short.

Common Sense pick: South Point 38, East Rowan 32