By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — It’s not expected to be a run-of-the-mill high school football Friday locally unless you regard South Rowan’s status as a 26-point favorite and A.L. Brown’s role as a 35-point underdog as  perfectly normal things.

Salisbury is off tonight, thanks to its unusual Week 10 open week, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing for fans of the 8-1 Hornets. It means two weeks to prepare for the  coming showdown with North Rowan that should be the county’s biggest game of the regular season. Salisbury has won seven in a row, while conference rival North Rowan has won five straight.

Speaking of North Rowan, the Cavaliers’ game at Lexington is expected to be the game of the night. North Rowan is a 6-point favorite, according to the Massey Ratings. Score projection: 34-28.

Tonight’s games will provide a clear leader in the South Piedmont Conference, where unbeaten Robinson finally clashes with Northwest Cabarrus, also unbeaten in the league. Northwest Cabarrus has won seven in a row but is a 17-point underdog, which says a lot about how good Robinson is.

Tonight will also provide some clarity in the middle of the South Piedmont Conference. West Rowan expects to make the playoffs, of course, while South Rowan and Carson hope to make it. West is a two-TD favorite against Concord. Carson is a two-TD favorite over Central Cabarrus.

I have no idea when the last time was that the Raiders were favored by 26 over anyone, but they are given an 89 percent win probability against an East Rowan team still searching for its first win. East has gotten its offense going some the last two weeks, however, so if a Raider fan wants to give you the Mustangs and 26, I’d take it. WSAT will broadcast the action.

A.L. Brown is a 35-point underdog — 42-7 score projection — because the Wonders are playing Mooresville, and the Blue Devils have been smashing people.

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East Rowan (0-8, 0-5 SPC) at South Rowan (3-5, 2-3 SPC)

South leads the series 33-24. That’s a lot of games. They’ve played almost every season since South opened.

South QB Brooks Overcash will break the school career mark for TD passes if he gets one tonight, and it’s likely he’ll get more than one.

South won the matchup with East 32-13 in 2023, but East had a long run going against the Raiders prior to that.

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Carson (3-5, 1-4 SPC) at Central Cabarrus (1-7, 1-4 SPC)

Carson is coming off a game with crazy rushing yardage against East Rowan, and the Cougars may try to stampede Central Cabarrus in the same way. Carson’s Damo’n Broussard and Rosean Perkins both went over 100 yards last week.

Carson is favored by 14 with a 35-21 score projection and a 73 percent win probability, but Central leads the all-time series 6-3 and beat the Cougars 30-27 in 2023. Carson won in overtime in 2022.

On the road, Carson will be happy to win this one by a point.

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Concord  (4-4, 3-3 SPC) at West Rowan (4-4, 3-2 SPC)

Evan Kennedy has more than 2,000 receiving yards for his career and is chasing 2,000 rushing yards for an unusual double.

Kennedy, QB Brant Graham and RB Jaylen Neely form an explosive offensive trio for the Falcons, but this may be a game where West’s defense has to come to the forefront.

The score projection is for a 28-14 West victory. The Falcons are given a win probability of 77 percent by the Massey Ratings.

Concord leads the all-time series 17-9. West won 33-20 last year. The Spiders’ most recent victory against West came in 2021.

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Mooresville (7-1, 4-0 GMC) at A.L. Brown (4-4, 2-3 GMC)

Well, the Wonders won an incredible jayvee game against Mooresville on Thursday for the conference championship, so you never know.

Still, Mooresville, is given a 98 percent win probability tonight at Memorial Stadium.

The Wonders still lead the all-time series 26-19, but the Blue Devils have won six in a row.

Mooresville beat A.L. Brown twice last season, but both games were scraps. Mooresville won 30-20 late in the regular season and 20-14 in the 4A state playoffs.

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North Rowan (6-2, 4-0 CCC) at Lexington (5-3, 3-1 CCC)

North has gotten large offensive seasons from record-setting QB Jeremiah Alford, receiver Emari Russell and running back Jo Jo Tarver.

North is given a 58 percent win probability by the Massey Ratings, which makes this the closest thing to a tossup game on the schedule tonight.

North leads the series 29-16 and beat the Yellow Jackets 21-14 in 2023.

Lexington’s most recent win against North was in 2019.