From staff reports

CONCORD — West Rowan lost 59-7 at Robinson on Friday.

West couldn’t pressure Robinson QB Isaac Lee often enough, and he frequently found wide open receivers against man coverage.

Lee threw seven touchdown passes, including three to Brian Rowe. All of his touchdown passes were at least 25 yards.

Robinson had 359 passing yards and 145 rushing yards — more than 500 yards of offense.

West’s only score came on a pass from Brant Graham to Evan Kennedy. Graham passed for 82 yards, Kennedy had seven catches for 72 yards.

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CONCORD — Playing without quarterback Michael Guiton, who broke his collarbone in the Concord game, Carson couldn’t get much offense going against a stout Northwest Cabarrus defense and lost 37-0. It was the fifth shutout for the Trojans.

Carson held Northwest to a field goal on its opening drive and Carson was good enough on defense to hang in the game for almost a half.

It was 13-0 late in the second quarter, but Northwest hit a 60-yard screen pass for a touchdown and got a pick-six to close the half with a 23-0 lead.

Alex Walker was named homecoming king and threw four TD passes for the Trojans, Cross country star Gatsby Goode was the homecoming queen.

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If the state playoffs started this week, West Rowan and Carson would be joining South Rowan and East Rowan as spectators.

But the playoffs are still in the future, and the Falcons (2-5, 2-2) and the Cougars (2-5, 1-3) still have three weeks left on the schedule to change that narrative.

They most likely will have to win them all the rest of the way to do that, but it certainly can be done. Both of them have Robinson and Northwest Cabarrus in the rearview mirror now, and that’s a good thing.  Yes, the Northwest at Robinson game on Oct. 20 is going to be worth whatever they’re charging.

Outscored 296-164 and blown out four times, West is having an unusually challenging season for what has been an exceptional program for decades.

The Falcons played a difficult non-conference schedule. That helps their RPI, but not their record. They are currently No. 32 in the 3A West RPI rankings. It’s a 32-team 3A West playoff bracket, but West is still barely out of the mix right now because it’s not quite as simple as it sounds. At least one team with a worse RPI than West projects to make the playoffs ahead of West as an automatic qualifier from its conference. That sort of thing happens, especially in the split 2A/3A and 3A/4A leagues.

West finishes with Central Cabarrus, Concord and East Rowan. The Falcons will be favored against Central and East. Concord is 5-2 and 3-2 in the South Piedmont Conference and is 23rd in the 3A West RPI rankings, so that will be a pivotal game for the Falcons. They will have to play better than they’ve played the last two weeks to beat the Spiders. Concord’s two remaining SPC games are with Northwest Cabarrus and West, and they’ll finish with non-conference rival A.L. Brown. That’s not an easy road.

Outscored 161-89 this season, Carson lost to West but beat Concord, an interesting dynamic. Carson is 34th in the current 3A West RPI rankings, so the Cougars aren’t in terrible shape, but they have some work to do.

The good news for Carson fans is the Cougars will be favored in their last three — East Rowan at home, Central Cabarrus on the road and South Rowan on the road.

Central Cabarrus is 41st in 3A West RPI, with East Rowan 42nd and South Rowan 46th.

West and Carson still have a chance to finish third in the SPC.

Lake Norman Charter also adds some oddness to the playoff picture. While Lake Norman Charter is a member of the SPC, it does not compete in SPC football and instead plays an independent schedule. Lake Norman Charter is currently listed as No. 33 in 3A West RPI — right between West Rowan and Carson — but is not in the 3A playoff mix.