Roaming the county getting ready for tonight …Salisbury is 9-0. North is 0-9. They meet tonight at Ludwig Stadium but how much luster has been taken off this rivalry game because of the records?
“None,” says Salisbury coach Joe Pinyan.
He knows North coach Tasker Fleming will experience his first rivalry game and is convinced the Cavaliers will be motivated to play Salisbury, which is located just four miles from North.
“North’s got a lot to play for,” Pinyan said. “They can get their first win. And it would do them all kinds of good to knock off Salisbury. It’s their Super Bowl.”
How does Pinyan keep his Hornets from being overconfident?
“We’ve got something to play for, too,” he said.
A win means at least a tie for Salisbury’s sixth straight Central Carolina Conference championship. And, of course, the Hornets want to keep that zero in the loss column.
“We’ve gotten to the point where we’re playing for perfection,” Pinyan said.
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As far as being 0-9?
Pinyan’s been there. In his second season as a high school football coach in 1986, he was at East Rowan when it went 0-10. West coach Scott Young was also a part of that team.
“It’s not a whole lot of fun,” Pinyan said. “But Tasker hit on it when I talked to him the other day. He’s got kids who haven’t given up and we had that at East. You couldn’t tell we were 0-9. You can take a lot of positives from something like that when you’ve got good kids.”
Pinyan pointed to Billy Brown, a Mustang on the 1986 team, whose son, Kirk, is currently one of the better players in the CCC. He’s the quarterback at Central Davidson.
“I’ll guarantee you Billy has taught him a lot of character things about what happened to him,” Pinyan said. “It will make that kid a better person.”
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At least one person who bleeds North Rowan green is having a good year.
Ryan Gettys, a North grad, is head coach at Fred T. Foard near Hickory. Buddy’s boy has the Tigers 8-1 and tied for first place.
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There’s another county clash tonight as West Rowan visits South Rowan.
Other games we’ll be covering: Northwest Cabarrus at East Rowan, Statesville at Carson, Davie at North Forsyth and Porter Ridge at A.L. Brown.
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One town we won’t be visiting is Boone.
The Post covers Appalachian State’s home games but the Mountaineers are playing tonight on ESPN2 against Wofford.
It’s wrong.
Colleges need to support the kids and give them their time. Friday night is high school night.
What’s going on? There are college games being played practically every night of the week.
I know. I know. Tough to turn down ESPN and all that money.
But I don’t care.
It’s still wrong for colleges to play and take fans ó and money ó away from the high schools who don’t have millionaire boosters to fund the coffers.
Watauga, which is located in Boone, actually switched its home game against Freedom to Thursday night because of App’s Friday night adventure, according to a secretary in the office.
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Just thought you ought to know …
Carson’s senior offensive lineman D.J. Safrit won a eating contest recently by gulping down 17 hamburgers in one sitting.
Burp.
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On the air tonight …
– The dynamic duo of Howard Platt and Wilson “Don’t call me Wild” Cherry will bring us the North-Salisbury game on WSTP 1490 AM.
– The fast-moving football show on WSAT 1280 AM will be anchored by Mark Loman. His version of Ed McMahon is Johnny Cloer. They’ll have cut-ins with other stations to bring us play-by-play and have updates at all the games from a host of reporters.
– The politician, Carl Ford, and the coach, Bob Parker, will call South Rowan’s game at home against West Rowan on WRNA 1140 AM.
– The velvet-voiced Randy Whitley and former A.L. Brown coach Buddy Amerson will call the Wonders’ game at home against Porter Ridge on WRKB 1460 AM.
Go enjoy a game tonight, folks. And be nice.
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Contact Ronnie Gallagher at 704-797-4287 or rgallagher@salisburypost.com.