By Mike London

mike.london@salisburypost.com

Like winter, realignment is coming.
Realignment will mean change for the four Rowan County teams currently in the South Piedmont Conference.
Obviously, it will mean a new beginning for South Rowan, a school that will be competing at the 2A level for the first time in its history. South will be replacing North Rowan (headed to 1A) as Salisbury’s Rowan partner in the Central Carolina Conference.
Realignment also will mean change for West Rowan, East Rowan and Carson. Those schools will be competing with Iredell schools — Statesville, North Iredell and South Iredell — and things will be a lot like they were four years ago when the Falcons, Mustangs and Cougars were playing in the North Piedmont Conference.
South Iredell and Statesville are often very good, but from the standpoint of winning football games, realignment should be welcomed by West, East and Carson.
It’s been a tough four years competing in the SPC with larger Cabarrus schools.
Last Friday saw four Cabarrus SPC schools win against four Rowan SPC schools.
And there are four more Rowan vs. Cabarrus match-ups tonight. West should win and East could win, but it’s probably going to be a challenging night for South and Carson.
For the record, the four Rowan schools in the SPC are 28-54 the last four seasons against the Cabarrus league members. That’s four years worth of games against Concord, Hickory Ridge, Cox Mill, Northwest Cabarrus and Central Cabarrus and two against Robinson.
West, as you’d expect, has fared the best. The Falcons are 12-8 vs. Cabarrus and still have games against Cox Mill tonight and Hickory Ridge next week. West went 4-0 against Northwest Cabarrus, and give the Falcons a pat on the back for 2-0 against Robinson. None of the other Rowan teams have beaten the Bulldogs. West, like everyone else in Rowan, was 0-for-4 against Concord.
East’s 8-13 record against the Cabarrus schools was enhanced by a 4-0 mark against Northwest and a 3-1 effort against Cox Mill. East went 0-for-4 against Hickory Ridge as well as Concord. East plays Central Cabarrus tonight and a win would give the Mustangs a four-year split with the Vikings.
Carson is 7-13 against the Cabarrus schools and has been the hardest to predict. Carson split four with Northwest and is 2-1 against Hickory Ridge and Cox Mill. Carson finishes up the regular season against those two schools.
South is 1-20 against the Cabarrus schools. That win came against Northwest in 2014. South hosts Robinson tonight before finishing up with East Rowan.
There will many scheduling changes next season, as the Rowan and Cabarrus schools now in the SPC go their separate ways. Hickory Ridge heads to 4A, and the other five Cabarrus schools will join with A.L. Brown (coming down from 4A) in a revised league.
West, Carson and East will be playing in a six-team league next season, so they’ll need to add a lot of non-conference games to fill the schedule. It will be interesting to see how many of those scheduling voids are filled by the Cabarrus schools that also are dealing with new openings.
The picks were not good last week, struggling to a 4-3 mark. Picked to win on the road, West Rowan, Carson and Salisbury failed to do so. All three had their chances.
The picks are plodding along at a dismal 40-15 for the season.
Davie returns to action after an off week.
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THOMASVILLE (4-5, 2-1 CCC) at NORTH ROWAN (7-2, 3-0 CCC)
LAST WEEK: North won a big one, 14-13, at East Davidson. Thomasville stayed in the CCC race by holding off Salisbury, 28-26.
THE SERIES: The Bulldogs won, 17-7, in 2015 and lead the series, 14-8. That’s counting two playoff games. North rolled, 31-13, in 2014.
OUTLOOK: Thomasville’s 2015 win against the Cavaliers was the only game North has dropped in the CCC in the last four years. Thomasville has one league loss (to East Davidson) but stays in the title chase if it knocks off North. Statistically, North has a small advantage offensively and defensively.
PICK: North 21, Thomasville 14
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SALISBURY (2-7, 1-2 CCC) at WEST DAVIDSON (3-6, 0-3 CCC)
LAST WEEK: Salisbury lost 28-26 at Thomasville, while West Davidson was losing in four overtimes to Lexington.
THE SERIES: The Hornets lead the series, 12-3. West Davidson’s three wins over SHS came consecutively from 2005-07.
OUTLOOK: Salisbury is still hopeful of a playoff berth and should be able to handle a West Davidson club that was shut out by Thomasville and North Rowan.
PICK: Salisbury 27, West Davidson 13
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WEST ROWAN (7-2, 6-1 SPC) at COX MILL (3-6, 3-4 SPC)
LAST WEEK: West Rowan lost at Concord, 41-32. Cox Mill won, 17-2, against Central Cabarrus.
THE SERIES: Cox Mill leads 2-1. Scoring on a blocked punt as well as an interception return by L.J. Robinson, the Falcons romped 41-0 in 2015.
OUTLOOK: Cox Mill is actually in fifth place in the league right now, but the Chargers lost to East Rowan and they were pummeled by the SPC’s big boys — Concord, Hickory Ridge and Robinson. A win would put West in position of playing for a conference championship or co-championship next week.
PICK: West 28, Cox Mill 7
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CARSON (3-6, 2-5 SPC) at HICKORY RIDGE (7-2, 5-2 SPC)
LAST WEEK: Carson lost at NW Cabarrus, 17-14, on a last-second field goal. Hickory Ridge won easily at South Rowan, 55-0.
THE SERIES: Carson won 24-6 last season with a stunning defensive effort and also beat the Bulls in 2010 and 2013. The series is 3-all.
OUTLOOK: Hickory Ridge beat South Rowan 55-0 and Carson lost to South Rowan, but the Cougars have given the Bulls problems in the past. Hickory Ridge coach Jason Seidel said he has no idea which Carson team will show up. “We watched two of their games on film, and it was like watching two completely different teams,” he said after last week’s romp at South.
Hickory Ridge is a hot team and has its last five SPC games.
PICK: Hickory Ridge 31, Carson 14
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EAST ROWAN (3-6, 2-5 SPC) at CENTRAL CABARRUS (3-6, 2-5 SPC)
LAST WEEK: East lost to Robinson, Central lost, 17-2, against Cox Mill.
THE SERIES: Central Cabarrus leads, 20-8. Central won, 34-24, last season. East won, 28-21, in 2014 in a lightning-delayed affair that took two nights to play.
OUTLOOK: East hasn’t taken a road game since a Week 2 win at Salisbury, while Central has been a pretty good team (3-3) at home.
PICK: Central Cabarrus 17, East Rowan 14
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ROBINSON (7-2, 6-1 SPC) at SOUTH ROWAN (1-8, 1-6 SPC)
LAST WEEK: South Rowan lost, 55-0, to Hickory Ridge. Robinson beat East Rowan, 49-23.
THE SERIES: Robinson leads, 2-1. South won in 2009. Robinson beat South, 66-16, last season.
Robinson is one of four schools (Salisbury, A.L. Brown and Statesville are the others) that South beat in 2009 but hasn’t beaten since.
Robinson was winless as recently as 2014.
OUTLOOK: South should be able to draw some inspiration from several things. The school and football program will be honoring the late Larry Deal. It’s also Senior Night. Then there is South’s desire to show that it’s better than it looked last week.
Still, Robinson is really good and could end up as the SPC champ or co-champ.
PICK: Robinson 42, South 14
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A.L. BROWN (6-3, 2-2 MECKA) at WEST CHARLOTTE (2-8, 2-3 MECKA)
LAST WEEK: West Charlotte lost, 31-0, to Hough. A.L. Brown lost, 24-7, to Mallard Creek.
THE SERIES: The Wonders have won the last three years and lead the series, 4-1.
OUTLOOK: The Wonders have an annual lull where they lose to Hough and Mallard Creek, but they’ll get back on track tonight and start their push toward a strong finish in their final season in 4A.
West Charlotte beat North Meck and Hopewell but has been smashed by the league’s good teams. This is the season finale for the Lions.
PICK: A.L. Brown 35, West Charlotte 7
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DAVIE COUNTY (8-1, 4-0 CPC) at MOUNT TABOR (8-2, 4-1 CPC)
LAST WEEK: The Spartans spanked Parkland, 58-12. Davie was off.
THE SERIES: Mount Tabor leads, 19-11. The Spartans have won 11 of the last 14, but Davie won a 40-33 decision in 2015.
OUTLOOK: It’s hard to say how the open week will affect Davie, which had a lot of momentum rolling. Mount Tabor is good, has a high-powered offense and has lost only to East Forsyth and CPC foe West Forsyth. Davie is 4-0 on the road and should clinch at least a share of the CPC title.
PICK: Davie 28, Mount Tabor 21