By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

CONCORD — Robinson romped 83-0 against East Rowan on Friday in a South Piedmont Conference football game.

Robinson is really good and East is really struggling, so it was a perfect storm for records to fall. The Mustangs’ 69-0 loss to West Rowan in 2008 finally was expunged from the school record book.

The loss to the Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0) is now the most lopsided setback in program history and also marks the most points ever scored against the Mustangs.

It also was the fifth straight game in which East (0-6, 0-3) has failed to score. That’s never happened before for the program. East didn’t score during the first four games of the 1963 season, but one of those games was a scoreless tie.

Robinson led 42-0 after the first quarter and by 69-0 at halftime, as WSAT radio dutifully reported all the painful action. Obviously, the second half was played with a running clock. A continuously running clock (except for timeouts and injuries) is employed when a team owns a lead of 42 points or more at halftime or at any point in the second half.

That’s the NCHSAA’s version of the “mercy rule,” and since it was adopted in 2014 it’s helped hold down some potentially frightening scores. NCHSAA basketball has a similar rule, but it’s 40 points in basketball. That 40-or-42 debate has sometimes led to confusion among fans.

Robinson QB Jon Bissonette may have had the highest QB rating ever recorded on Friday as he was close to perfect — 14-for-15 for 315 yards and six touchdowns.

Brian Rowe and Xavier Burnett caught two TD passes each. LJ Watson ran for three touchdowns. Nick White had four tackles for loss.

Robinson (6-0, 3-0) has been crushing people since opening night, but is taking a beating from the RPI system used for NCHSAA playoff seeding. With the RPI format, all that matters is your winning percentage, the winning percentage of your opponents, and the winning percentage of your opponents’ opponents. Winning 83-0 is just another win and means no more than winning 3-0, just as losing 83-0 is no different than losing 3-0.

While Robinson has won all of its games with no problem, Robinson’s opponents have won just 28 percent of their games. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, three of the teams Robinson has mauled — Hickory Ridge, Central Cabarrus and East — have a winning percentage of zero.

That’s why Robinson stands only 14th in the 3A West RPI rankings after Friday, even though Robinson may be a legit contender for the 3A state title.

But back to East Rowan.

The highlight for the Mustangs on Friday was a 27-yard pass completion from Will Klingler to Jaden Reid. East had 41 passing yards and netted 6 rushing yards.

Jamal Christian and Ashur Tesh registered tackles for loss. Jayden Riley was credited with forcing a fumble.

While it was an awful night, East didn’t start struggling last night or last week or last month. It’s been a downward spiral for some time — 0-10 last season and 1-9 and 1-8 the two seasons before that. In the last four seasons, East hasn’t won a football game against any program other than South Rowan and South got over that hump in 2023.

That doesn’t mean East doesn’t have any talented players. What it means is East doesn’t have enough of them right now.

There’s hope for the future. East has won three jayvee games, so the Mustangs aren’t likely to stay down forever.

East’s new coach Brian Flynn understands there’s no quick fix or easy solution. He knew that when he arrived. A month after he arrived, he realized just how much work there was to do, but he’s trying his best.

Flynn has coached a successful high school program. People tend to forget these things, but Flynn coached North Davidson teams to two regional finals. He’s coached in a state championship game. It wasn’t that long ago that Flynn coached a North Davidson team that came to Salisbury and beat a very talented Hornets team.

The worst should be behind the Mustangs now. East has played six straight winning teams, although Robinson was the best of those six.

The next three weeks for East are Central Cabarrus, Carson and South Rowan. East may not win any of them, but the Mustangs will have a chance.

 

 

 

 

 

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