Time: 7:30 p.m.
Records: West Iredell 2-2; East Rowan 4-1
Series: East leads 3-1
Last meeting: West Iredell won 34-21 in 2008
Last time East beat West Iredell: Mustangs won 48-27 in 2007
Last week: West Iredell was off last week; East beat Cox Mill 30-6
Next week: West Iredell is home against West Rowan; East Rowan is at Carson
Game notes: East’s four wins are against teams with a combined 2-15 record, and the Mustangs’ lone venture against a strong team (Salisbury 46, East 10) wasn’t successful, so the jury is still out on just how good East is.
Still, 4-1 is 4-1. The Mustangs haven’t been 4-1 very often, so tonight’s NPC opener against a West Iredell, a winnable home outing, looms as a statement game.
West Iredell’s two losses came against undefeated teams ó Lake Norman and Alexander Central.
The Warriors have a big-time athlete in P.J. Clyburn, a 208-pound safety who has a stack of D-I scholarship offers. He hasn’t touched the ball often on offense, but he could make an impact returning kicks.
QB Sayer Robinson has led West Iredell’s offense. He’s rushed for 243 yards and four TDs and is 23-of-51 passing for 290 yards.
East’s defense ranks second in the county to West in most categories and is allowing 14.8 points a game. Lineman Chris “Bamboo Panda” Demitraszek and Jeffrey Haltom have been leaders.
Chris Moore is the county’s No. 5 rusher (405 yards), and Jamey Blalock ranks fourth with 324 passing yards.
The schools first met in 1974, the year West Iredell opened. Current East assistant principal Rick Vanhoy helped the Mustangs win 52-0.