By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — A ruling by a Wake County Superior Court Judge will allow the state’s public school athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL) in the very near future.

That decision could change high school football, as fans know it, just as the eight-classes realignment that’s coming next fall certainly will.

The devastation by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina could change the athletic calendar for fall sports, although it’s too soon to know exactly what will happen. Many schools won’t have classes or games this week, and some schools may not be back on their feet for a long time. There has been no shortage of photos of flooded football stadiums and floating scoreboards.

For now, however, it’s business as usual for local football players, and they’ll be thankful for normalcy even in what looks like an awfully bland week.

Salisbury at South Davidson

What could possibly go wrong for the Hornets (5-1, 2-0) in Denton against the winless Wildcats? The Hornets are favored by 45 in the Central Carolina Conference contest, and that’s probably not enough. Salisbury won 56-6 last season and all the recent meetings have been like that.

East Davidson at North Rowan

The good news is Jeremiah Alford will get to break the Rowan County and North Rowan career passing yardage record at home and on homecoming. He needs 22 yards, so he’ll probably do it with his first pass. Mario Sturdivant’s 25-year-old record is 6,556 yards.

As far as the Central Carolina Conference game, North (4-2, 2-0) is favored by 29 points to beat the Golden Eagles (1-4, 0-1). While North won 47-12 last season and leads the series 18-5, East Davidson upset the Cavaliers as recently as 2022 and the teams battled into overtime in 2021. North coach Josh Sophia will remind his team of those struggles.

Cox Mill at A.L. Brown

The Wonders  lost by an ugly 42-2 at Lake Norman on Monday — 42-2 somehow sounds worse than 42-0 — but should bounce back in a Greater Metro Conference game against Cox Mill at home. The Wonders (3-2, 1-1) are favored by 17 against the Chargers (0-6, 0-2), who have been getting blown out a lot. The Wonders lead the series 7-4, but they’ll be looking to break a three-game losing streak.

Carson at Concord

Carson’s 12-9 win against Concord in 2023 may have been the highlight of the Cougars’ season, but the Spiders (3-2, 2-1) appear to be stronger than they’ve been in a while.

Carson (2-3, 0-2) is a 16-point underdog in the South Piedmont Conference matchup and is given a 22 percent win probability by the Massey Ratings. Carson has won the last two meetings but trails 6-2 in the all-time series.

East Rowan at Robinson

This looks like a one-sided South Piedmont Conference matchup. Shutout out four straight times, East (0-5, 0-2) is taking on what looks to be the best team in the South Piedmont Conference. Robinson (5-0, 3-0) is trying hard not to look ahead to the showdown with Northwest Cabarrus, but it can’t be easy. East is given  a zero percent chance of winning by the Massey Ratings and is a 42-point underdog.

Robinson romped 49-0 last season. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 3-1. The Mustangs’ victory was in 2001 when Cal Hayes Jr.  set some school rushing records against the Bulldogs.

West Rowan at Northwest Cabarrus

The Falcons (3-2, 2-0) have ruled the all-time series 21-10, but not the recent series.

Northwest (4-1, 2-0) smashed West twice last season — 49-9 in the South Piedmont Conference and 52-21 in the playoffs.

West is tied for first in the SPC but is a 21-point underdog, according to the Massey Ratings. West is given a 16 percent win probability.

South Rowan at Central Cabarrus

South (1-4, 0-2) beat Central Cabarrus 29-26 in 2023 but is given only a 15 percent chance of repeating that feat against the Vikings (0-4, 0-2).

The Raiders are 21-point underdogs.

South leads the all-time series 11-8.